American alternative-rock band Weezer finally hits our Island in the Sun after propelling into mainstream radio more than 20 years ago.
The band, made up of frontman Rivers Cuomo, drummer Patrick Wilson, and guitarists Scott Shriner & Brian Bell, has sold over 17 million albums worldwide and picked up a couple of MTV awards along the way. It was just a decade ago when they were known in their locality as the band that made personalized songs. Now, armed with their latest self-titled album (also known as The White Album), the quartet was ready to entertain the ‘90s kids at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre with their first ever concert here on 15th August, 2016.
As if they were apologizing for making fans wait decades for them to perform locally, the band started just 15 minutes after the stated start time. Visibly, the crowd was caught off guard as international stars are notorious for making fans wait close to an hour or more.
But then again, the guys are not your conventional rock stars. Case in point: the band is named after Cuomo’s childhood nickname when he was teased for his asthma, and secondly none of them were spotted wearing leather-anything. After all, they ain’t got a thing to prove to you.
The band warmed up the crowd with one of their latest song, California Kids, before breaking into one of their first hits, My Name Is Jonas, which did the trick to hype up the crowd. The band played crowd’s favourites such as Beverly Hills, Pork and Beans, Perfect Situation, Buddy Holly, The Sweater Song and I Want You To.
They also took the opportunity to perform their new songs off their latest album, such as King of The World and Thank God for Girls; the latter which is best described as a modern ode to all females. During the song, a montage of accomplished women such as Oprah Winfrey, Audrey Hepburn, Michelle Obama, Beyonce and local songstress Kit Chan & Stefanie Sun, was played on the background screen.
Throughout the whole concert, the band was true to their introvert “geeky” persona, choosing to address the crowd less than thrice during the entire one and half hour concert. However, lead singer Cuomo did most of the heavy lifting in entertaining the crowd. The 46-year-old gamely donned a crown and a king’s robe during King of The World, while rocking out on his guitar. The band also put on Indian flower garlands and joked about how apt that they are singing Island in The Sun in sunny Singapore.
Notably, midway during Perfect Situation, Cuomo spontaneously walked through the more affordable ticket sections, allowing some lucky fans to take pictures with him. Despite the crowd’s obvious approval, security personnels were quick to guard him back to the stage just in time for him to join his band members to play Thank God for Girls.
It was a night filled with great music with minimal frills or fake crowd-pleasing tricks such as declaring “this is the best crowd they’ve played for”. Weezer stayed true to who they are – embracing themselves as outsiders, which has won them a loyal following throughout the years. As the band expressed their gratitude to the crowd and bid their farewells, fans were probably wishing they’ll Say It Ain’t So.
Set List (Singapore, 2016):
- California Kids
- Hash Pipe
- My Name Is Jonas
- (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
- Pork & Beans
- Jacked Up
- Perfect Situation
- Thank God For Girls
- Beverly Hills
- Mash Up Of: Dope Nose, Back To The Shack / Keep Fishin’ / The Good Life / Surf Wax America
- Undone (The Sweater Song)
- Island In The Sun
- King Of The World / Only In Dreams
- Say It Ain’t So
- El Scorcho
- Buddy Holly
Photo Credits: LAMC Productions
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