Karl's Corner - 06/13/2005

...MB '05 Tour: Day 33: Birmingham, UK - Carling Academy
Today we rolled out from London on a weird little bus that soon became known as the prom bus due to its disco interior that was pretty impractical, but did include a dvd player, on which was watched a Tivo'ed USA v. Panama World Cup qualifying match on the ride up to Birmingham, and "The Life Of Brian" on the ride back. We made it to Birmingham in about 2.5 hours, and drove into a garage lane that led up to the loading dock for the Carling Academy. Entering the club I suddenty remembered where we were. For some reason I had pictued this club's interior as being in Manchester or something, but it all made sense now.
While the band soundchecked I wandered outside to take some pix of the rediculously long line that snaked under a bridge and out of sight, as well as do a breif 'car park interview' for Leeds Student Radio (details to come).
I gotta say, this has been one consistently excellent tour, performance wise. While the May USA tour ramped up from a good but somewhat shakey start, this one has come screaming out of the gate with a level of professionalism and consistency I dont think Ive ever seen before in this band. The crowds have all been great, and tonight was no exception. Everyone was screaming themselves hoarse, chanting "wee-zer, wee-zer" between most of the songs, and crowdsurfing, jumping, and generally going ballistic.
Today was Rivers' birthday, and the crowd knew it, bursting into impromptu renditions of 'Happy Birthday' between many of the songs in the set, and showing posters and such throughout the show. Scott led a special moment when he guided the crowd in 'officially' wishing the R man his props for the day.
large size picture link: .
...some early show repors: (see the comment page for more and feel free to add your own!)
"just got home and had to send you an email to say how excellently amazing the show was tonight!! first ever weezer gig and i will never forget it. how can people be disappointed by this band live?! they were excellent. raring with energy.. just like the crowd. yes, rivers does not look much at the crowd...but he's shy! i know i dont have the balls to get up in front of god knows how many people!! i could go on forever.. great night (except gettin squashed on the bars.. im only little!) all good songs!! ended with hash pipe.. brian sang getchoo briantly. scott was happy as ever and pat as energetic. thanks guys for a brilliant show ---'Stickola'
"We arrived in Birmingam at about 4:30pm, and eventually found the venue, after asking for directions twice. Seeing the cue at the entrance, i couldn't believe how many people were already waiting, they must have been there since midday. The first car park we tried to get into must have been right on top of the venue, as when we switched off the engine, i could actually here the band doing their soundcheck. The tracks i heard were the back end of In The Garage and the whole of Peace. I knew by now that this concert was going to rock. We switched car parks and walked around the center for a while, getting a bite to eat and a drink. We got back to the cue at about 6:00pm and started to wait in line. By about 6:45pm the fans were starting to cue around the block...We eventually got into the club at about 7:10pm and immediatley went into the center. It was very strange because we went into the club at ground level, yet we were on the second floor, right in the middle of the balcony area, where we stayed for the entire show. After a very long wait (an hour and fifteen minutes! what was that about?) of standing and waiting, the unknown to me band The Subways came on and were very well received.
After the crew spent about 20mins clearing the stage, and apparently tuning the guitars three of four times, the weez walked out of the shadows annnd into the light. They were AWESOME! Way better than Moby, but i was forced to wear the earplugs as the bass was just TOO bassy...I'm sure everyone was aware that it was Rivers birthday, so when Scott lead us all in an impromptu birthday sing along, it made the concert very personal. What was happening to Brians guitar during Beverly Hills? He seemed to be having a lot of issues with his leads. It was hilarious when Rivers asked him what was wrong and Brian said "he's not telling me!". Whatever it was the problem was sorted almost immediately, and the band continued to rock.
The Make Believe songs were very well recieved, especially We Are All On Drugs (possible next single?), the mosh pit was going mental at that point....Certainly the highlight of night was Undone, everyone in the building was singing, and the roof nearly came off! Hash Pipe was similarly popular with the mosh pit again making the building shake! I'm glad we got to see and hear some of Pats guitar skill, as i know what good guitarist he is, and his feedback solo was brilliant, and when the W lights went out, the place erupted...we left the venue with our heads in the clouds and slowly made our way back to the car park. After all the pictures and videos i have seen of weezer in concert, nothing comes close to actually being there. Easily the best night of my life, and easily the best weezer concert i have had the fortune to see in any way." ---Richard V.
Category:Karl's Corner - June 2005