Karl's Corner - 10/25/2005

...MB '05 Tour: Day 128: Foozer/Wee Fighters #23: Memorial Coliseum - Portland, OR
PDX rocks! Portland is a city thats had a strong local music scene for years, and theres great enthusiasm here for rock shows, from the super indie level up to arena rock. Todays show was at the Memorial Coliseum, which is normally the home of the Portland Winterhawks hockey farm team, and is a little worn around the edges, but perfectly suited for rock. Next door is the super fancy Rose Garden, but that's not where the rock was destined to be today.
I made a quick visit to the Burnside skatepark before going to the show, revisiting the spot where in summer 1994 weezer pulled in enroute to their first Portland show, supporting a screening of the film "Rollerball" at La Luna. The hardcore Burnside skaters took one look at the Jabba The Hutt action figure mounted on the dash of our urban assault van ("Betsy"), and gave their blessings without ever having heard of weezer before.
11 years later, there are a lot more people in the Portland area who are aware of weezer and it appears that most of them came to tonight's show. The show was wicked good tonight, and the crowd reacted with more crowdsurfing and moshing than we've seen on most of this tour. Its hard to believe theres only a few Foozer shows left! This has been the best tour.
Todays 'Undone' guest acoustic player was none other than Portland local Pat Finn, the very dude who introduced the original members of weezer to each other back about 15 years ago and played with them in various bands back in LA before Weezer's rise. Now a Portlander for many years, Pat hasn't had a guest appearance onstage with weezer since about '92 at the 8121 club in Hollywood, but he has shared the stage with weezer a few times as an opening act with his band Organic Mechanic. It was a beautiful thing.
fan reactions! (see more in the comment section and leave your own)
"...The 5.5 hour trip from Spokane was more than worth it. my friends and I piled into my little red civic (which sucked for my two tall friends, 6'3" and 6'5", respectively). The Weez played every song I wanted them to except for one (Pink Triangle), but that's good cuz you have to leave the audience wanting more. Rivers looked like he was having a great time. Pat singing Photograph and Song 2 was great, but the highlight for me was a tie between El Scorcho and Say It Ain't So. Thanks for bringin' the rock to the beautiful pacific northwest! and try to get to spokane sometime, I swear it's not that bad!" ---Greg
"...This was my first real concert, and I am so glad...I ran all the way from the checkpoint to the front of the bar in the coliseum. Right before Weezer came on and the lights dimmed, the song "Wish upon a star" was playing and I could NOT stop laughing! wonderful fellas! It was so surreal to be there in the 2nd row...barely able to breathe, being smushed and elbowed constantly, almost suffocating...however, in the midst of it all I found myself gazing up through the fog at the band and screaming along to every word that came out of Rivers' mouth (and sometimes Brian or Scott's harmonies)...Not only was the set list amazing but Rivers got SO into it. I saw emotion in his eyes and heard it in his voice. He walked around the stage for 2 or 3 songs, it was brilliant...Brian's pants were amazing, so props to him!...his harmonies were astounding too! Also, whenever I would look over at Scott I just got more and more into it, he has so much enthusiasim and vibe coming off of him, as does Pat. Yup, Pat...what else is there to say? Pat Wilson, you rocked "Photograph"! GO PORTLAND! Going to the concert made me realize so many more reasons for why I love the band, and I think anyone that went to the show will have a perfect understanding of why..." ---Becca B.
Large size picture link: .
And see many more pix, shot by a fan here.
The (updated 10/25/05).
(Note: are bootlegs - do not buy them if you see them! *updated 10/15*)
...There is a new interview with Rivers online now, from AOL.com. This interview was conducted with AOL IM, and the transcript is here.
....A new Yahoo! news story about Rivers' springtime plans and more is here.
NEW: These pictures were not part of the original post. They were provided exclusively for Weezerpedia by Karl Koch.
[click on any photo for a larger size version]
Category:Karl's Corner - October 2005
2005/10/25