 WEEZER, CAKE, STORY OF THE YEAR July 5 at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
The story of the day at this six-hour music fest wasn't the first act on the main stage, a prog-rock act called Story of the Year.
The real story was the size of the crowd generated by a corporate radio station that calls itself "the alternative" to mainstream radio. They called this event "Beach Ball I," but the subtitle could have been something like "You can have your Cake and Weezer, too" because the prospect of seeing both bands in one show was enough to make this event one of the best-attended shows of the summer. Nearly 14,000 people showed up - about 5,000 more than showed up to see big-name country acts like Reba McEntire and Toby Keith and numbers that obscure the concept of "alternative."
Weezer was the headliner and clearly the band most people came to see, but several thousand fans showed up at the crack of dinner time to catch some of the opening acts.
Two of those were bands from Kansas City: Veda and the Elevator Division, who played back-to-back on the two side stages set up on the lawn.
Despite the deceptively thick late-afternoon heat, both played to big and receptive crowds, especially Veda, whose diminutive lead singer, Kristen May, has a voice built for main stages and prime-time attention.
Story of the Year broke the seal on the main stage and its mix of prog-rock, modern rock and emo/punk turned out to be a good setup for what followed: the inimitable sound of Cake. The band's deadpan lead singer, John McCrea, led his funk/jazz/indie-rock band through a 45-minute set that included a cover of Bread's "Guitar Man"and Cake's first hit, "The Distance."
But this crowd was loaded with longtime fans who sang along boisterously to lesser-known songs like "Daria" and "Stick Shifts and Safety Belts." The crowd's response to "Sheep Go to Heaven" was so loud and heavy it seemed to penetrate McCrea's aloof demeanor. For a second, it looked like he nearly smiled.
Weezer's 85-minute set was front-loaded with hits and favorites like "Say It Ain't So" and "Undone - The Sweater Song," tunes that generated immediate rabid whoops and cheers of recognition. They'd play five songs from the "Blue Album," including "Buddy Holly" and "In the Garage," mixing those with cuts from the new album, "Make Believe."
Some of those new songs sounded much improved live, especially "Perfect Situation," which followed "Hold Me," a listless Rivers Cuomo love ballad that was one of only two duds all night; the other was another new one, "Haunt You Every Day," an underwhelming choice for what would be a brief encore.
Otherwise, Weezer's set turned out to be the perfect end to a summer day made-in-the-shade for people who think music with a little adventure and surprise should be the rule, not the alternative.
Setlists: Cake: Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle, Sheep Go to Heaven, Stick Shifts and Safety Belts, No Phone, Daria, Wheels, Guitar Man, Never There, The Distance. Weezer: Say It Ain't So, Photograph, Undone - The Sweater Song, No One Else, Peace, Pardon Me, El Scorcho, In the Garage, Hold Me, Perfect Situation, Getchoo, Island in the Sun, We're All on Drugs, Beverly Hills, Buddy Holly. Encore: Haunt You Every Day, Hash Pipe. |
