Pixies & Weezer
July 31, 2018
Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater – Greenwood Village, CO
Words by: Tyler Hypnarowski
By the time Weezer released their 1994 debut Blue Album that took the music world by storm, Pixies were already over a year into what would be an 11 year breakup after carving out their place as one of alternative rock’s most important bands. Fast forward to the summer of 2018 where both bands are in fine form and touring the country together when they stopped in Greenwood Village, Colorado’s Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre. Everything seemed to be aligned for a great night; a sherbet purple and pink sunset draped the Front Range visible behind the stage as friends came together to enjoy the music that made up their youth. A Perfect Situation, indeed.
Pixies were able to pack in over 20 songs in about 70 minutes, showcasing the power chords, witty lyrics, and anti-glam that caught the attention of people like Kurt Cobain and Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo nearly 30 years ago. Whether hollering on classics like “Gouge Away” and “Debaser” or crooning on a cover of Neil Young’s “Winterlong”, the versatility that helped define frontman Black Francis was on full display. Francis even got to show off some of his smooth talking Spanish on “Isla De Encanta”, the uptempo rocker from their 1987 debut Come On Pilgrim. Both the crowd and the band got a kick out of the lead singer when he spaced in the middle of “Here Comes Your Man”, stopping the song and admitting he got caught up in the moment and remembered “oh yeah I was playing a show.”
One of the biggest aspects of the Pixies’ sound was the interplay, both vocally and with their guitars, between Francis and bassist Kim Deal. Since Deal left the group in 2014, the Argentina born Paz Lenchantin has had the daunting task of trying to fill her big shoes. While it’s impossible to compete with the originality of her predecessor, Lenchantin left no doubt that she is the woman for the job right now. After playing with artists such as A Perfect Circle, Zwan, and Queens of the Stone Age, she has clearly found her groove with the Pixies and the guys seem happy to be together with her playing music. So Happy Together, I’d say. Her lead vocals on the set ending “Gigantic” were just lovely, as were her melodic howls on “Where is My Mind?”.
To contrast the fairly bare bones stage setup of the Pixies, Weezer’s production included three different stage backdrops rotated at strategic times throughout the show. Fans were in full singalong mode when the show kicked off with 90s radio staple “Buddy Holly” in front of the same Happy Days inspired diner which the music video was set in. From there they went into their 2008 single “Pork and Beans”, an underrated track that features strong hints of the band’s earlier work. The Colorado crowd then particularly appreciated the appearance of “Hash Pipe” in the setlist, the guitar-n-grunt heavy track from 2001’s Green Album, appropriately enough.
By the time the backdrop changed to that of a garage, Weezer played three choice tracks from their iconic debut “In the Garage” “My Name Is Jonas” and “Undone – The Sweater Song”. Replacing “Green Day” with “Pixies” in the lyrics of the latter, Cuomo knew he had another nod to Billy Joel Armstrong and his buddies later in the set when they would work in a snippet of “Longview” into of all songs, their cover of The Turtles “So Happy Together.”
The covers continued when Cuomo, donned in sailor gear, rode a makeshift boat through the amphitheater and into the thick of the crowd for a brief solo set. A little cheesy, especially when he requested everyone to shine their phone, but hey, it’s Weezer. a-Ha’s 1984 One hit wonder “Take Me On” led into a sweet version of one of Weezer’s biggest hits, the ultra-poppy “Island in the Sun”. As the singer made his way back the stage, the band began playing without him allowing rhythm guitarist Brian Bell take lead vocals on “Burndt Jamb”, a deep cut from 2002’s Maladroit. The set then wrapped up with a cover of Toto’s “Africa”, a single released earlier this year that has amounted to be one of Weezer’s biggest hits of the last 15 years.
The encore was classic Weezer, beginning with Cuomo dangling from the speaker trusses playing the intro for “Sweet Child of Mine” before climbing down to throw it back to 1996’s Pinkerton for “The Good Life”. The band then finalied with “Say It Ain’t So”, the guitar driven single from Blue Album that helped shape the musical landscape of the 1990s. When the band segued right into a blazing abbreviated version of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” before taking their bows, the crowd was fired up. Not bad for a Tuesday.
Weezer has proven over the years that it’s possible to make great, honest music without taking yourself too seriously in the process. Their show was a great representation of that. It was well rehearsed and coordinated, with elements of Broadway being brought into rock and roll, yet it still felt genuine. And when you’ve been listening to a band for as long you have with Weezer, seeing them is sort of like seeing your buddy’s band. You know the songs, you air guitar to them, you turn them up when they (still) come on the radio, but they seem so familiar to you. This tour has proved that rock is very much still alive in 2018, you just have to know where to find it.
