 Foos' show a knockout
By Clay Jones: ....Weezer and The Kaiser Chiefs opened the show, with Weezer definitely being a crowd favorite. Another survivor of the '90s, Weezer pulled out a high-energy set that showed no signs of frontman Rivers Cuomo's eccentricities, as he seemed to be in high spirits.
Throwing a compliment to the headliners, Weezer played a version of The Foo Fighters' "Big Me" that sounded as though the band had recently learned it.
Cuomo shared lead vocals with each member of his band while trading instruments throughout the set.
In another fun moment, Weezer brought in an audience member to help the band play guitar on one of its hits. The highlight of Weezer's performance was during the closing song, "Buddy Holly," when the giant, flashing "W" finally appeared as their backdrop.
The Kaiser Chiefs remarked this would be a show each audience member would brag about years later. They included that prophecy inside their strong set opening for two huge, nationally known bands.
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Foo, Weezer kicked it in Fairfax.
By Jesse Scott: FAIRFAX--Just the names together is enough to send someone into convulsions:
Weezer and Foo Fighters.
Granted, their recent albums have received anything but critical acclaim, but their overplayed singles and noteworthy histories make them worth seeing any night.
Even Monday night.
Solo, they could sell out the Patriot Center in hours. Together, they sold it out in minutes.
Weezer opened up the co-headlined evening. Rivers Cuomo hunched himself over and waddled about the stage belting, "My Name Is Jonas." It was clear it was going to be an evening of Weezer classics, not newbies from "Make Believe."
The entire evening seemed to revolve around the good old days of the albums "Blue," "Green" and "Maladroit"--even the infamous winged "W" logo appeared lit-up on the backdrop toward the end of the band's set.
The group was lively and Cuomo was dorky. The man looked like a librarian who just finished reshelving the science-fiction section.
Dorkiness aside, Cuomo's vocals were smooth and fulfilling--especially during a rendition of the Foo Fighters' "Big Me."
But he did wear a pink shirt--that's a foul.
"Beverly Hills" was one of only two songs off "Make Believe" that received warm crowd reaction. The fans really weren't feeling the new stuff as much as the older, more delicious morsels.
You just had to give it to the band members--they knew what the crowd wanted, they gave it to them in a better-than-album manner and they even finished their set with "Undone--The Sweater Song" to a thunderstorm of confetti.
As if Weezer wasn't enough, the Foo Fighters hit the stage shortly thereafter. Dave Grohl's presence was felt from wall to wall. Come on, the man was in Nirvana.
Nirvana.
Not to mention Grohl hails from Springfield. This legendary musician and his band are also playing a "secret" show at Washington's own 9:30 Club on Sunday, but tickets are available only through radio station DC-101 contests.
Foo's latest album features a lot of plugged-in pieces with Grohl stepping away from ballad vocals, and into the realm of screaming.
Unfortunately, the front man took the screaming that is oh-so-present in "Best of Me," and threw it into some of the band's smoothest- sounding classics.
"This Is a Call" and "Learn to Fly" were two pieces completely obliterated by Grohl's rugged-beyond-belief voice. It was like a hellion tore through a quiet nursery.
But, Grohl has a way of making everything perfect in the end. His stage presence is unlike any other in the industry, and he easily connected with his hometown crowd through stories of pullovers on Interstate 66 and high-school lacrosse games.
"Monkey Wrench" and a perfect performance of "Everlong" made Foo's set worthwhile--Grohl lovingly devoted the latter to his wife and another to his mom.
What a nice guy. It's just hard to understand why he screams so much. |
