Live Review: Weezer at O2 Brixton Academy

O2 Brixton Academy, London 06/07/2011

One of only two UK appearances Weezer are making this summer (the other is at Sonisphere), tickets for this concert at Brixton were in spectacularly high demand.

After support from UK three-piece Male Bonding, Weezer appeared on the refreshingly no-frills stage (just a simple backdrop carrying the band’s name) and launched straight into Undone – The Sweater Song.

This Weezer classic set the template for the night, as the band stayed away from poorly-received recent albums Hurley and Raditude; delivering instead a best-of set with a couple of cover versions thrown in for good measure.

And make no mistake, this was a night for hardcore Weezer fans, with the likes of El Scorcho and Across The Sea receiving a warmer reception than Buddy Holly, and the 4000+ audience shouting along with fan-favourite lines like ‘wrestle with Jimmy’, ‘I’ll bring home the turkey if you bring home the bacon’ and ‘If everyone’s a little queer, why can’t you be a little straight?’

A set like this makes it hard to pick out a best moment, but pushed to answer it’s a toss-up between The Greatest Man that Ever Lived (an impressively sprawling song built up from 11 different musical styles), the joyous crowd singalong of Pork Beans, and Island in The Sun. The dreamy 2001 song from the Green album starts with frontman Rivers Cuomo alone onstage, singing and playing guitar, but midway through the rest of the band join in and create one of 2011′s greatest feelgood moments.

Halfway through the night, the guys take on Teenage Dirtbag, but that cover was blown out the water by the band’s incredible recreation of Radiohead’s Paranoid Android, which marks the end of the main set.

Coming back onstage to frenzied chants of ‘Weezer! Weezer!’ the encore consists of a thumping Hash Pipe followed by what is perhaps still their best-known song, Buddy Holly. A fan wearing a Weezer snuggie is brought onstage and through his singing, bouncing around and air guitar, he neatly sums up the genial, party atmosphere.

Simply put, the band are among friends.

In the future, perhaps shows will be bursting with tracks from Raditude and Hurley as age gives the albums greater clarity (certainly there’s always room for a live version of Represent) but for 2011, this comes close to the perfect gig.

Full set list:

• Undone – The Sweater Song
• My Name Is Jonas
• El Scorcho
• Holiday
• Pink Triangle
• Susanne
• Island in the Sun
• Teenage Dirtbag (Wheatus cover)
• The Good Life
• The World Has Turned and Left Me Here
• Say it Ain’t So
• Tired of Sex
• You Gave Your Love to Me Softly
• Pork and Beans
• Across The Sea
• The Greatest Man That Ever Lived
• Only In Dreams
• Paranoid Android (Radiohead cover)

Encore:

• Hash Pipe
• Buddy Holly