Karl's Corner - 12/05/2001

...in the dead center of the heartlands of America, into the Shottenstein Arena we go. The place nearly fills up, and its a monster. We can tell its big because it takes Pat and I an extra long time to skate/scooter around the outer perimeter access halls. The tour has settled into a healthy routine, everyone is rocking, everything is sounding good, and most everyone is having fun. Good loud crowd tonight, regular barricade, but not "G.A." so the pit was wild, but not crazy wild like in Madison.
...some fans' "p.o.v.'s"...
::: "I have been to in total 5 weezer shows and I'd have to
::: say that this was probably the second best show i've seen (right below
::: the Columbia show on Sept. 7th 2000). It was literally phenominal. And
::: I'm sure the weezer guys felt it too as Rivers felt the need to stay on
::: stage for another 3 minutes past everyone else and create sweet guitar
::: feedback and make Rock Star Poses. It was far better than the St. Louis
::: show in my opinion and I just hope that the cleveland show can hold up
::: to this one. The Weezer set was extremely well done, but I thought that
::: the D set was better in St. Louis, although I was pleased to see that it
::: was an almost completely different show from the one in St. Louis. And
::: unfortunately I missed the J.E.W set once again this time due to a Math
::: Final (the first time was because my flight to STL was delayed so we
::: couldn't get from the St. Louis Airport to the arena in time). I don't
::: know what weezer did since STL, but It was a great show tonight. Can't
::: wait to see the whole show again in Cleveland!" --Andrew
::: "It is a little past 3 A.M. I just got home from a
::: concert that ended at 11 o clock last night. I
::: somehow talked my father into driving my best friend
::: and I to see Weezer in another state. It took about 8
::: hours total, and was about 430 miles from here in
::: Indiana. But so completely worth it. Jimmy Eat World
::: was amazing, but I'm not surprised about that. I was
::: surprised that not too many people in the crowd seem
::: to be enjoying them. Tis whacky, I say. Only problem
::: during their set came when a girl, already drunk,
::: informed us that we were in the wrong row. So we had
::: to move. grrr. Next up we had Tenacious D. hah.
::: What can one say? My friend and I were thoroughly
::: entertained while my dad listened to his MP3 player
::: and fell asleep. And finally... Weezer comes out.
::: Wow. First time for Weezer. Hopefully, not our last.
::: I must admit any doubt I had in Green was erased when
::: we heard it played live, and a bit harder. I think I
::: never really lived until I heard 'Say It Ain't So'.
::: Rivers was talking to the crowd, though I wasn't
::: always so sure of what he was saying, and... I just
::: have no words. It was just amazing. 'Only In
::: Dreams', when the =w= drops down with the confetti...
::: my throat is still killing me now from yelling so
::: much. So, thank you Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, and The
::: D for getting me out of school early, and giving my
::: friend an amazing birthday present. (12 / 9 just like
::: Brian!)" --Bailey
::: "Out of nowhere emerged four men. With a quick introduction Jim gave the go for Bleed. S---, was I the only one standing on my seat singing along? It was also great to hear Heaven and Blister. And within what seemed like mere minutes Jimmy (and Rachel Haden mind you!) were gone and on stomped the two overappreciated imbeciles only known as Tenacious D. Hell I guess you had to be high to realize how hilarious these guys really were. I mean most of the time I couldn't hear what was said and when I did it usually started with an F or S. After The D's reign of terror finally Rivers and the gang made their way onto the stage. The crowd erupted and what can I say? There were few words to describe what was going on. It looked routine and the band didn't move about too much. But I couldn't complain, I was there for the music. It was great to see Rivers hadn't totally shunned out Pinkerton. I could have done better with Why Bother but Tired of Sex was fine by me. What an awesome show is all I can say. I may be 1 name out of a million faces, but I am now a weez fan for life. No doubt about it. Thanks you guys." --Brad
::: "In the words of my good friend Nate, "We just witnessed an incredible concert". This after Rivers held his 2 minute guitar note alone in the fog on stage, then dropping it and walking off, with the entire crowd in awe. Weezer's old stuff will always be classic, but the proved their talents and genius with their new songs, and by tweaking the old. If the remaining songs on the fourth album are anything like the new ones played tonight, this thing will be incredible. And whoever does the lights for this show knows how to put the entire place into an amazing trance. Advice to any Weezer fans living in upcoming concert cities: GO. No matter what it takes, get there. You won't regret it, and will be kicking yourself in the ass if you don't. Yes, Weezer is back: better than ever." --Tyler
::: "Our trek to the Schot began at 3 PM and not so surprisingly, people were
::: already gathered outside, some draped over the walls in hopes of catching a
::: glimpse of Weezer(fulfilled when we heard a unanimous scream of "RIVERS!" at
::: about 4). After an hour and a half of being baited by an announcer’s voice
::: the fans were finally admitted at 6:30; we made a beeline for the stage, I
::: have never seen so many self-proclaimed slackers run so fast. A relatively
::: unknown JEW took the stage first, but the crowd responded favorably, a few
::: people surrounding me chanted out the lyrics to every song. Tenacious D
::: played next, pelting eager fans with phallic shaped pieces of styrofoam
::: between songs. Jack Black impressed us with his mad saxophone skills and his
::: smooth way with the ladies. Our anticipation of seeing Weezer was further
::: fueled by the sight of Karl as he stepped in front of the pit to film the
::: antics of Tenacious D. Weezer finally took the stage at around 9:45, greeted
::: by the screams of shimmy shakers as they rocked "The Dawn", the crowd got
::: violently wild when "Island in the Sun" began, and those of us in the front
::: row were shoved so forcefully that I felt the railing move. The crowd was
::: great, responding with =W= hand signs and shouting things like "Scott, you
::: rock the Casbah!" and "Happy Birthday Brian!", it’s good to see Scott
::: getting appreciation. We all screamed out the lyrics to every song, even
::: blurring our way through some of the lesser-bootlegged new ones like "Change
::: the World". The chanting reached a climax during "Tired of Sex" to the point
::: where I could no longer hear Rivers, I guess it’s the anthem of us
::: frustrated youths. During "Only In Dreams", confetti rained like a silver
::: shower as we all greedily thrust our arms into the air, half to catch the
::: falling flakes, half to catch the endless round of crowd surfers. Taking
::: into account his taciturn reputation, Rivers seemed unusually talkative,
::: twice asking the audience what we wanted to hear. During the encore the
::: crowd started chanting "El Scorcho!" but expectedly, it was not played, even
::: rabid Pinkerton fans like myself were more than compensated by an awesome
::: rendition of "Buddy Holy". The night ended during "Surfwax America" with
::: Rivers artfully distortioning his guitar and leaving it still vibrating on
::: the floor. To top it all off, a kind security guard handed us a set list. It
::: was undoubted the best concert experience I have ever had." --A.I.
::: " I saw weezer 2 summers ago in Cleveland, and I've never been rocked so hard. This was not the case the second time through. I just went to the show in Columbus on Wednesday and I can't remember ever being so let down when I left. Jimmy was great, I thought they should have played second and played longer. Tenacious D, well, REDICULOUS!!!! How do people really enjoy some humor that sounds like it should come from a 14 year old pervert. I won't waste my time typing any more about them. Well, then there is all these thickheaded mainstream papa roach listening fans. These people acted as though they had to prove something to everyone. All they did was push push push! What is that? When kids fell on the ground they were not even given a helping hand up. I've been to plenty of shows and I know that the majority of the people down there on the floor that night just did not know what seeing WEEZER is all about. Be excited, be be emotional, be whatever, but do not be an ASS! There were people trying to fight people, what is that? It was the worst crowd i have ever seen! Then there is WEEZER, I feel weird saying this, but the phrase that comes to mind is "ohh so sad". It did not really seem as if they cared or if they were even awake for that matter. The only one who seemed as if he were having a good time is the new/fill in bass player. Sorry this e-mail was sent to complain,but I have loved =w= for a long time and I know their shows should not be this way." --Adam L.
::: "hi my name is andy p and i attended the weezer concert in columbus,
::: OH last nite, I wanted to let you know that after the show, a girl was
::: walking from the venue to her car or someplace, and was struck by a car. I
::: am not sure about the extent of her injuries, although if i see a report in
::: the next few days i will e-mail it to you. She was at the concert though
::: and she apeared to be hurt becues she was not moving and she was hit by a
::: car going 15-20 mph. I though i would let you know so you could wish her a
::: good recovery on the website, or maybe...just the web site get well wishes would make her
::: feel better (there were a lot of worried fans out there)" --Andy ...if anyone knows
::: more about this let us know so we can wish her(?) well! (other reports say it was a boy, and
::: that the injuries were pretty bad...)
(...as always, these and many many more fan's stories will be up in the "weezer fans" section, as soon as i dig out from the months-old backlog of great stories and get them all posted!)
Category:Karl's Corner - December 2001