Tenacious D, Weezer & Jimmy Eat World

the Rose Garden Arena, Portland, OR

2001-11-13

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For the permanent record I want to say that I think Tenacious D should’ve headlined this show. That’s why I put them first in the title. Man, fuck Weezer. Just because they sold about a bajillion albums and everyone seems to think they’re God’s gift to power pop doesn’t mean that they are some kind of wonderful shit live. I’ll get to that later, here’s how the show went.

Jimmy Eat World played a quick fucking set. It had to have been less than 15 minutes long because we showed up at 7:45 (the show started at 7:30 and we had trouble negotiating a foreign city drunk) and we saw about 30 seconds of their last song. Either they only have eight two-minute songs and they played them all hella fast and got the fuck off stage, or they were forced to play a really quick set. If you are a Jimmy Eat World fan you would’ve demanded your money back because they didn’t play long enough at all.

Tenacious D hit the stage next and acted like they’d been playing arenas all their lives. Kyle Gass (lead guitar) remarked that, “It’s nice to play these intimate settings. We’re used to places a lot bigger.” Jack Black (vocals, rhythm guitar) agreed, “Yeah, where does the Portland football team play? We should play there next time.” They rolled right into “Exploding Brains,” “Wonderboy” and “The History of Tenacious D.” Once again, playing with only acoustic guitars and no back-up band, The D reigned. They reigned supreme. J.B. was a wild man throwing down some wicked voice solos during “Tribute” and “Cosmic Shame” while K.G. whipped up some hot guitar licks on “Jesus Ranch.” Hands down, an awesome, tight set by the self-proclaimed “Greatest Band On Earth.” If you have the means, I highly recommend checking them out.

Then came Weezer. Here’s my beef with Weezer: they’re boring. They brought some cool light props with them. And believe me, they needed it. It was sort of a two-tiered stainless steel and white curtain thing that reflected various shades of color and gave the show a spacey feel. Cool yes, but that alone did not a furious rock show make. They just stood around, played their instruments and sang. Whoopee. My show-going companion on this eve had a beef with them too. Here’s what Cricket had to say:
“I’m a big Weezer fan, but they played the song I really wanted to hear, ‘Island In The Sun,’ first. Then I fell asleep. And even more booze couldn’t help to make them interesting. I woke up for ‘The Sweater Song,’ but that was it.” There you have it. They also played happy favorites “Say It Ain’t So,” “Hash Pipe” and “My Name Is Jonas” and the crowd went wild.

– M. Cameron Newell

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Weezer

Bio[+]

Weezer began making a name for themselves when their self-titled 1994 debut album spawned three modern alternative rock staples (“Undone,” “Buddy Holly,” and “Say It Ain’t So”). After a hiatus (during which singer / guitarist Rivers Cuomo attended Harvard University), the group reconvened to record their highly anticipated follow up, Pinkerton, which did not surpass the popularity of their first album. Bassist Matt Sharp left the group to work on his other musical project The Rentals, and was replaced with Mikey Welsh (ex-Juliana Hatfield bassist). Weezer dropped out of sight for over a year, fueling rumors of their breakup. However, the group re-emerged in 2000 on the Vans Warped Tour and released their second self-titled record (often referred to as The Green Album) to excellent reviews. Unbeknownst to the band, their fan base had grown exponentially during their hiatus, and the group easily dusted off their collective alternative rock-god crown. Maladroit was released a year later, and currently, the group is reinventing themselves as the next Kiss.

– Maurice S. Teilmann (August, 2002)