Foozer! (aka this is another long-ass post!)
Had a great night of rock music again last Friday. Went to Oakland with Joey, Ninya and Betty to see the last stop of the Weezer - Foo Fighters tour.
The concert was held at Oakland Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors. As we walked into the stadium we were greeted by the banners of Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain and the other retired Warrior greats hanging from the rafters. I didn't see any NBA Championship banners though. The stage was set up at one end of the basketball floor area, right about where the baseline would be. The crowd was still pretty thin by the time we got there and we were able to get a good position on the floor area: about 15 feet from the front of the stage and slightly to the left of center.
Hot Hot Heat was the front act and opened up the night's festivities. They were a good way to start the evening with their catchy hooks and upbeat sound. Their dance/alt-rock musical style were reminiscent of the Killers, with a little bit of No Doubt mixed in. Funny nga lang how the lead singer kept saying 'How ya doin, San Francisco?'. Ngongo, you gonna get beat up saying that! This is Oakland and people here don't take to kindly to being referred to as 'San Francisco'.
Next up was Weezer. I've actually seen them play before in Coachella but their setlist that time didn't include any songs from Pinkerton. Thankfully, this time they played a couple from that album (including 'El Scorcho'!), along with a couple of songs from the Blue album that I was hoping they would play in Coachella but didn't. Rivers Cuomo was animated and acting goofy all night, as opposed to his stoic disposition at Coachella. He and the rest of the group were having fun on stage and their vibe seeped onto the crowd.
The last song for their set had Rivers and Pat switching up. Rivers played the drums while Pat had guitar and vocal duties on 'Photograph' which segued into Blur's 'Song 2'. As they left the stage after that last song, the crowd was clamoring for more. With everyone focused on the stage, waiting for Weezer to come out again, Rivers surprised everyone by appearing on a platform at the other end of the floor. With the spotlight aimed at him, he began to perform an acoustic version of 'Island in the Sun'. It was funny, a girl from the crowd got up on the platform and started grinding on Rivers, making him pause slightly from his performance.
The other members of Weezer were back on stage by the time Rivers finished his solo effort. Scott, the bassist, then addressed the crowd saying that it will take some time for Rivers to get back on stage so they needed someone to sub for him on the next song. He then said that Pat was going to choose someone from the crowd to come up on stage to play guitar on 'Undone (The Sweater Song)'. A murmur rippled across the crowd. I thought that was totally cool that Weezer was going to have someone come up and play with them. It had me wishing that I knew how to play a guitar and that I knew the chords to 'Undone'.
After a few minutes, Weezer finally chose someone. This guy in a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over his head rushed into the stage with Pat, to the crowd's applause. Turns out that the 'lucky Weezer fan' was no other than Dave Grohl. I was able to see his face even before he pulled down his hood. It was funny, Dave Grohl was even play acting like he was a starstruck Weezer fan and was nervous playing the guitar. When they had him sing the song's chorus he acted like he was going to mess it up but then belted out the words in the familiar Dave Grohl wail. It was quite a sight to see Dave Grohl perform the same song with Weezer.
Unfortunately, I missed the latter half of Dave's performance with Weezer as well as the next song (which I don't even remember what) because I was distracted by the 'show' that was being put on right next to me. All throughout the concert, there was this group of 3 drunken ladies who kept on drifting in and out of the area we where in. They were hella drunk! Obviously they had some even before the concert since they were already acting crazy even during Hot Hot Heat's performance. Anyways, middle of 'Undone', the ladies come back to our part of the area and one of them suddenly goes up to this guy in a Brazil jacket next to me and starts ramming her tongue down the guy's throat. Of course, Brazil jacket guy doesn't fight or hold back and they start some pretty intense tongue fencing.
There was actually a lot of interesting sights during the concert. There was this one girl who was crying and had to being consoled by her friend. There was this one couple who were all lovey-dovey but then suddenly had this seriously intense fight during one of the intermissions. There was even this one guy who was dressed in roman garb. It's fun people watching in concerts.
Last song of the night for Weezer and they start playing 'Buddy Holly'. As the song commences 6 muscular men enter the stage, 3 to each side of the drums. They start dancing and gradually, as the song progresses, start taking their clothes off. Finally, all they had left on were thongs and they were shaking their thang Chippendale style. They had a letter painted on each of their chests in blue, spelling out the word 'WEEZER'. It was hella wierd but hella funny. And given Weezer's brand of humour, I wouldn't put it past them to pull of a stunt like that. It was goofy how some of the male dancers were doing the Weezer sign (hands brought together to form a 'W') while dancing. Weezer's act finally ends with confetti raining down on the crowd from above.
I was left wondering how Foo Fighters were going to match Weezer's performance. But match it they did. And they did so by simply rocking out and rocking out hard. They were intense and edgy and you can't help but be captivated by their performance. Especially Dave Grohl. He has such an amazing stage presence. A true rock star.
Which doesn't mean that they didn't know how to have a bit of fun, too. During one of the pauses between songs, Dave talked about how bands would pull pranks on each other during the last show of a tour. It was sort of a tradition, he explained. He then owned up to the stripper thing during 'Buddy Holly'. Weezer had totally no clue that it was going to happen. It was all Dave's idea. He was proud of it too! He goes on to say that "thanks to me, you were able to see 6 hot cocks on stage!. That's right send the checks to Dave Grohl!" LOL!
As for Weezer getting them back? He said he wasn't worried. "Look at them! They're a bunch of little boys!" This elicited laughter from the crowd and a few lighthearted boos from the Weezer fans. It was all in jest, though. He goes on to dedicate the next song, 'Up in arms', to the "boys of Weezer". It was a funny rendition as he would insert 'hot cock' to the lyrics every so often.
During 'Cold Day in The Sun', Dave switched it up with Taylor and went behind the drums. It was good to see Dave go back to his 'roots' for at least one song. I am reminded how talented this guy really is.
At one point Dave came down from the stage to go to the platform at the other side of the floor that Rivers was earlier on. We were off to the side and somewhere in the middle of the floor by now since we were quite tired already. Ayaw na namin makipagsisikan sa harap. It turned out to be a good move since Dave passed right in front of us. Ninya and the others were even able to touch him as he sped by. Kaso lang sabi nila kadiri raw sobrang pawis!
During another pause between songs, Dave mentioned his wife in passing while again bantering with the crowd. He goes on to say that his wife was actually in the crowd. He then tells the technicians to direct the spotlight on her so that he can introduce her to everyone. "Everyone say 'Hi Mrs Grohl!'". We all oblige his request. "Yep, that's what I say everytime I get home. 'Hi Mrs. Grohl, I love you Mrs. Grohl...'" Who says rock stars have to be all tough all the time?
Best moment of the concert, in my opinion, was when Dave sang 'Everlong' solo. Just him on guitar. He sang it subdued and mellow, without the usual screams and growls. This really brought out the quality of his voice. He sings 'and I wonder, if I sing along with you?' and with the silence brought about by the absence of the other band members, you can hear the whole stadium singing along with him. Amazing.
Earlier in their set, as Dave was talking about the Weezer prank, he mentioned that it was great to be on tour with Weezer and that it was rare nowadays to have two real rock bands tour together. I'm glad, and lucky, to have been able to see two great acts, two real rock bands (in Dave's words) perform live and in person. It was truly a great and fun evening of rock and roll music
