Foozer and Wee Fighters:
Black Converse, preachers, and Canadians

Jonathan Lavigne

Editor-in-Chief

“Redeem yourselves sinners. God will not allow rebels in,” said the preacher on the front steps. “But I have a ticket” said the fan awaiting entry into the Key Arena for the Weezer/Foo Fighters concert. Makes you wonder why certain people show up for certain events, or for that matter, why certain bands are matched up on the same bill.

Weezer and the Foo Fighters have been touring together since the end of summer in a 25-date tour which included a stop in the shadow of the Space Needle this past Oct. 26. Earlier stops on the tour welcomed opening band Kaiser Chiefs, the second half greeted Canadian band Hot Hot Heat.

Rivers Cuomo, lead singer of Weezer, said that the crowd seemed too quiet and immobile during most of the show. Later he was informed of the non-crowd surfing or moshing rule that was now being enforced to avoid crowd injuries. Culprits of said rule-breakers were marked with a marker to be expelled if caught again by security. “Odd, from the home of grunge,” said Cuomo in a later interview.

The set from the Canadian band Hot Hot Heat was shorter than I expected, but seeing as how most of the fans didn’t even know who they were, perhaps it was just about right. “They’re pretty good for Canadians,” said a concert go-er behind me.

As the lights dimmed after the first intermission, the crowd started to whistle and quiver with excitement. The speakers hummed to life and the Walt Disney classic from Pinnochio, “When You Wish Upon a Star” could be heard as a reminder of Weezer’s latest album’s title: Make Believe. The set decorations were mostly tame and toned down - just the band and a lighted backdrop.

The set list jumped from hit to hit, resonating like a best-of album that is yet to be released out of my dreams. Cuomo, dressed all in black with blank converse sneakers, seemed awkward and uncomfortable during most of the set, yet happy. He danced and moved in strange ways that were almost unnatural to him. He seemed to take the role of band leader to a new level this tour, letting himself go and getting into the fact that yes, he is a rock star.

The Foo Fighters are a different breed of musicians. They appeared on stage surrounded by screens filled with images that ran from lurid to band members performing. Dave Grohl, lead singer of the Fighters, seemed to have been shopping at the same store that Cuomo had, sporting the black threads and converse sneakers.

Grohl waxed nostalgic reminiscing about his early days in Seattle when he was a part of Nirvana without actually ever mentioning the name. He talked about his time recording in his basement down on the corner of 178th and Aurora and how the Foo Fighter were pretty much created here in Emerald City. All in all, it was a cavalcade of surreal sound that left me partially deaf for a few hours and a light show that left me in awe.

The difference between Weezer and the Foo Fighters is multi-faceted. Cuomo and Weezer seem more at home talking about the latest flick to hit the multiplexes as opposed to Foo Fighters who would rather have a kegger. Cuomo in a recent interview talked about his need to drink an orange soda after his set. Orange soda. Not exactly the makings of an international rock star.

In a show earlier in the tour, Cuomo was grabbed by a fan while he was making his way back to the stage after his acoustic performance of Island in the Sun, she asked him to kiss her, his response? “I can’t” referring to his year long vow to celibacy and meditation diet. Although fans of Weezer and the Foo Fighters are not self-exclusive, in my opinion they should not share the same bill. Cuomo might just end up being the winner in all this when all has been said and done. He learned from watching and talking to Grohl to be less inhibited by the stage, to let his inner rock star break loose and explode on stage. Maybe one day when a fan grabs him, he will be able to not only kiss her, but slap her on the butt too.