Goat Punishment

Goat Punishment is a pseudonym used by Weezer when playing small, semi-secret club dates in the Los Angeles area.
==Overview==
According to Rivers Cuomo in a Riverpedia entry from 2020, "Mikey [Welsh] came up with the name when a cab driver asked him what the name of his band was." Cuomo added, "We were able to get out of our management contract because our manager broke the law when he booked the GP shows himself (instead of going through our agent.)" According to Welsh's friend Todd Philips (formerly of Bullet LaVolta and Juliana Hatfield's band), the name "Goat Punishment" was made up by Jon Williams of the band Volcano Suns, and that the name was then suggested to Welsh by Philips. Weezer first used the name at two club shows in 1998, which consisted solely of Nirvana and Oasis covers, respectively. Pat was either taking a break from the band or out of town at the time, so Philips sat in on drums.
The name was revived in late 2000, and again in late 2001, for a series of shows at small venues. The pupose of these shows were usually to practice a setlist for an upcoming opening slot, or work on new material in front of a live audience.
By the end of the 2001 run of shows, the psuedonym became rather common knowledge, partly because Los Angeles-area radio station KROQ leaked the news on several occasions. 
Just one more show was performed under the Goat Punishment banner, and even then, it wasn't an advertised, for-sale show. The May 13, 2002 Maladroit release party show was invite-only, as tickets were given away on the radio, to message boardies, and elsewhere. The band was about to leave for Japan, and since the Flying =W= and other equipment was already on its way to the Land of the Rising Sun, the =GP= lighting rig was used.
To date, there have been nine total shows that Weezer has performed under the name Goat Punishment.
==Logos==
A Goat Punishment t-shirt was designed utilizing the classic hand-drawn images of the band, which has existed since the early days, and has been changed to reflect the changes at the bass position. The image was altered to show each member as a sort of fictional version of himself. For instance, Rivers Cuomo was given a raised hand giving the 'metal' symbol and devil horns, Brian Bell was adorned with antennae to become an alien (or perhaps bug?) and a shirt adorned with the command division insignia from Star Trek: The Original Series, and Pat was shown as a disheveled bum. Scott Shriner, upon replacing Mikey, was transformed into a Mexican bandito. Also, the words Goat Punishment were depicted in the classic Futura Medium font. Additionally, a mock-up Flying =GP= was designed, a take-off of their classic Flying =W= logo. This in turn led the band to fashion a light-up metal =GP= for the stage.
==Shows==
===Show #1 - November 1998===
Location: Hollywood, CA 
Overview: Set consisted of (mainly) early Nirvana covers, including several songs from Bleach, plus a track or two from Incesticide and Nevermind. Bootlegged by the band.
Set list:
# "Mr. Moustache"
# "Aneurysm"
# "Breed"
# "Dive"
# "Swap Meet"
# "Blew"
===Show #2 - 01/23/1999===
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Overview: The second show was to be well attended, as hardcore fans had become aware of the Goat Punishment alias. Instead, police had arrived and reduced the crowd to approximately twenty to forty people. The set consisted entirely of songs from album Definitely Maybe. This show was not recorded.
===Show #3 - 12/14/2000===
Location: Spaceland, Hollywood, CA
Overview: A short (about 30-40 minutes) set was played at Spaceland in Hollywood as a rehearsal for the band's slot at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas show days later on December 17th. It is believed that this set was virtually identical to the KROQ show set, except that "El Scorcho" was played at Spaceland. This is the first show at which the band sold official Goat Punishment T-shirts. Karl Koch sold the now rare shirts at the merchandise booth for a mere $10. This concert was also the first time the Flying =GP= sign was used.
Set list:
#"My Name Is Jonas"
#"In the Garage"
#"Christmas Celebration"
#"Say It Ain't So"
#"The Christmas Song"
#"Undone"
#"Buddy Holly"
#"Surf Wax America"
#"El Scorcho" (place in the set unknown)
===Show #4 - 12/15/2000===
Location: The Troubador, Hollywood, CA
Overview: Another rehearsal show for KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas was played as the second band of a four-band lineup at The Troubador, two days before the KROQ event. Unlike the Spaceland show, "El Scorcho" was not played.
Set list:
#"My Name Is Jonas"
#"In the Garage"
#"Christmas Celebration"
#"Say It Ain't So"
#"The Christmas Song"
#"Undone"
#"Buddy Holly"
#"Surf Wax America"
===Show #5 - 12/30/2000===
Location: The Knitting Factory, Hollywood, CA
Overview: A longer set this time (about an hour) which served as a rehearsal for their opening slot at New Year's Eve show the following night. The band was apparently asked to play that particular show by Blink 182, as they are fans. Opening for Goat Punishment were the two indie bands Rilo Kiley and Ozma. It is believed that this Goat Punishment set was virtually identical to that opening slot. There may have been further sales of Goat Punishment T-shirts at this show. Tickets to the show were a scant ten dollars, and went on sale exclusively at the venue's box office at noon the previous Monday.
Set list:
#"My Name Is Jonas"
#"Undone"
#"No One Else"
#"The Christmas Song"
#"Hash Pipe"
#"Christmas Celebration"
#"In the Garage"
#"Say It Ain't So"
#"You Gave Your Love To Me Softly"
#"Only in Dreams"
#"Buddy Holly"
#"Surf Wax America"
#"Tired of Sex"
===Show #6 - HBO Reverb, 10/24/2001===
Location: The Knitting Factory, Hollywood, CA
Overview: The show was filmed for HBO Reverb, and the broadcast featured about eight songs. The broadcast songs were bootlegged. It was also the first show to debut the giant light-up flying =GP= In the background. Tickets to the show were a slim ten dollars, and went on sale exclusively at the venue's box office at noon the previous Monday.
===Viper Room Shows===
11/06/01: Goat Punishment at the Viper Room, LA #1
Recorded via minidisc walkman by the band. Fair-poor quality results.
11/07/01: Goat Punishment at the Viper Room, LA #2
The band also managed to get a partial minidisc recording off the soundboard, but it sounded kinda bad.
11/08/01: Goat Punishment at the Viper Room, LA #3
The band finally got a halfway decent soundboard recording of "My Weakness" which was released as an mp3.
===Show #10 - Maladroit release party, 05/13/2002===
Location: Whiskey A-Go-Go in Los Angeles, CA.
===Show #11 - SZNZ: Winter tryout, 09/19/2022 ===
Location: The Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA.Archive of a tweet posted at 4:02pm. September 9, 2022 announcing that the show had sold out. This came after a similar graphic was tweeted earlier that day to announce the show, but this post was subsequently deleted.Archive of ticket sales page for the show.
==See also==
*Weezer
==References==
Category: Weezer-related bands
Category:Goat Punishment
Category:Nirvana
Category:Featured article
Category:Oasis