Weezer is a multi-million dollar band that is either pretty good, not bad, or bad, with one record that stands overall as their best album: “Weezer” (The Blue Album). This year, on May 10, the album turned 30 years old, and in celebration of their achievement, they will be releasing a special deluxe album on Nov. 1. They’ve been traveling around the country and stopped in Portland on Oct. 6 as part of the Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour.
Let’s talk about the pre-show before we get to the main show. There were two performers, Dinosaur Jr. and The Flaming Lips. I will only talk about the Flaming Lips as they were the only act I saw because I got to the Moda Center super late. The Flaming Lips are a small band from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, that has a history of touring in Portland. I had just heard of them when I went to the concert. They had a perfect show with the stadium going crazy. I think that half the concertgoers came just to see the Flaming Lips and Weezer was a plus. Flaming Lips played the fans’ favorites and, since I had never heard of them, I was lost and was starting to get bored when the lead singer put on a wearable blanket with Wonder Woman on the front of it and then threw confetti at the people on the ground. At that point, I was hooked. As they played their next song, they started to inflate giant robots from their album, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” and when they were done inflating, the robots started to sway in time with the music. The last thing I want to mention is a song they called “The Yeah Yeah Song.” The lead singer stood in front of the stage wearing giant lips like a sash and giant eyes that danced behind him, Nothing but pure perfection. Overall, I enjoyed the pre-show and might check Flaming Lips later.
In a show within a show, Weezer built up a story that begins with a news report about the discovery of “the Blue Planet” and how a team of astronauts is going to travel there. Instead, they send Weezer. When Weezer enters the stage, they start to play some of their fan favorites, like “Pork and Beans,” and “Hash Pipe.”
The story takes a twist when the audience is told to look out for a green alien named “Bokko,” who has caused trouble by stealing drummer Patrick Wilson’s sweater. They stop by a shopping mall to get Wilson a new sweater, and they start playing “Beverly Hills,” where the lead singer, Rivers Cuomo, improvises the line “Living in Beverly Hills” with “Living in Portland, Oregon,” instead.
Other hits followed, like “Island in the Sun,” during which Booko comes out of nowhere in his spaceship and damages Weezer’s ship. The band gets stranded in an asteroid belt called “The Pinkerton Asteroid Belt,” a reference to their second studio album of the same name. As you might expect, they start playing songs from the Pinkerton album while the ship’s robot looks for parts.
Once their ship is fixed, they arrive at Blue Planet and find that it is no longer blue, but gray, because the planet is dying and the only way that they can heal it is by playing the whole “Blue Album” in its entirety. So, they planted their flag and started playing “My Name is Jones.” As they played, the planet started to turn blue again.
They continue playing through the album until they get to “Buddy Holly,” and everything changes. The lights go out, and then they start playing and everyone in the entire stadium sings along. It was one of the coolest crowds I have ever been to, and I have been in a wave several times.
After they played “Undone – The Sweater Song,” we met the Weezernoids, the aliens living on the Blue Planet. The Weezernoids look like little Rivers Cuomo and they have laser vision. We find out that Rivers is a Weezernoid and that he is from the Blue Planet. With the Blue Planet revived, Weezer gets ready to lift off home when Booko comes out of nowhere and starts attacking the ship, but Weezernoids attack Booko with their laser vision and Booko is defeated as the show ends.
Overall, I thought it was a perfect show from both Weezer and The Flaming Lips (Sorry, Dinosaur JR.) because I would recommend seeing them even if you’re not a mega fan. I’m not and I had a blast. I would give it an 8/10.
