Weezer

September 18, 2024

Greenville, SC

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Review by Joseph Hett

Weezer Is Otherworldly In Greenville

Weezer brought The Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour to Greenville, SC on Wednesday night at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The capacity crowd came to see Weezer perform classic material and their 1994 self-titled debut studio album commonly known as the Blue album in it’s entirety. It was truly a celestial event.

The cosmic themed stage setup featured a large video screen, planets and rock formations. Throughout the evening, the screen would document Weezer making the journey in space to the Blue planet.

On the screens, a news reporter briefly interviewed the band dressed in spacesuits before the five minute countdown clock started. At T-minus zero seconds, the spaceship in the center of the stage blasted off revealing the band standing on the drum riser. Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards) and Scott Shriner (bass) were all dressed in blue space overalls. They immediately went into “Anonymous” and the accompanying instrumental “Return to Ithaka.”

Weezer kept the classic tunes coming with the riffing “Dope Noise” and the hard rocking “Hash Pipe.”

After “Pork and Beans,” Cuomo addressed the crowd, “Hey, yo, South Carolina, how are you space cadets tonight? Well, we are still about 30 lights years out from the Blue planet and we are so excited to get back there. Thank you guys for coming with us on this very important mission…this very dangerous mission.”

They continued with the fan-favorites “Beverly Hills” and “Island in the Sun.” During “Perfect Situation,” Cuomo encouraged the crowd to sing along to “Oh ho, oh ho, oh ho whoa” portion of the song.

The evil alien, Bokkus, that was depicted on the big screen finally got the upper hand on Weezer’s spaceship by damaging it. They ended up being stranded in the Pinkerton Asteroid Belt. That led to a mini-set of 1996’s “Pinkerton” album songs: “Getchoo,” “Why Bother?,” “Pink Triangle,” “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly,” and “Across the Sea.”

Once their spaceship was repaired, Weezer finally made it to the Blue planet. Cuomo came out wearing a Star Trek-like uniform resembling Captain Kirk. Weezer noticed the Blue planet was gray and dying. The only way to bring it back to life was by performing the Blue album from start to finish.

Blue streamers shot out of cannons at the beginning of “My Name Is Jonas.” Weezer continued with “No One Else” and “The World Has Turned and Left Me Here.”

After the catchy “Buddy Holly,” numerous tiny spectacled cartoon caricatures of Cuomo appeared on the big screen. Cuomo explained, “Those are Weezeroids…Well, they are the aliens from the Blue planet and, um, actually I’m one of them. This is where I’m from. And all of these guys (pointing at the audience). Welcome to our home.”

Bell started “Undone – The Sweater Song” with localized spoken lyrics. Bell was phenomenal all night while sharing lead guitar duties with Cuomo. Wilson was rock solid on drums all night. Bassist Shiner was excellent in laying down a groove.

After the up-tempo “Surf Wax America,” they played the last single released from the Blue album, “Say It Ain’t So.”

Shriner laid down a bass groove as Cuomo addressed the audience for the last time: “Well, guys we made it. 30 lights years across the galaxy. Thank you all so much for sticking with us all these years. We could have not made it with without you. And thanks also to the Weezer flight crew for keeping us safe. Thanks to the amazing Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr.”

Weezer closed the show out with their longest song, “Only in Dreams.” White and blue confetti rained down as the band took their final bow.

There was a lot of hype surrounding this tour when it was announced. It was well worth the wait to see Dinosaur Jr., The Flaming Lips and Weezer share the stage. The close to sold out arena got their money’s worth. It was absolutely an astronomical event.