REVIEW: Weezer performs in E Center
The E Center in West Valley City is home to more than just hockey – it houses some of the best concerts to come to Utah.
The center kicked off its summer series with Jimmy Eat World and Blink 182 in May. It continued with Tool and many other big names.
But the concert that drew the most crowd participation was none other than Weezer. The night of July 6 was a relatively calm evening in West Valley. This all changed when the general admission line began near the entrance to the E Center and continued to grow until it reached half-way around the side of the building. The arena floor of the E Center was open for general admission ticket holders while the chairs with backs were for reserved seating.
Dashboard Confessional, a band hailing from Boca Raton, Fla. opened for Weezer. The opening band is most known for its hit song “Screaming Infidelities.” Dashboard got the audience involved when its lead singer and guitarist, Chris Carraba, invited those in the audience to participate.
“If you know the words, sing along,” he said. “If you don’t know the words, make some up and sing along anyway.”
Dashboard put on quite a show with the audience members doing just what they were asked to, singing along.
Weezer’s ‘jump out of the box and let’s get started’ attitude found at many of their other concerts, was somewhat lacking at this one. This could be because this was the first night of a long tour or because there wasn’t enough motivation among the band members.
It was apparent lead singer, Rivers Cuomois’, attitude throughout the entire concert was uneasy. But despite the strange mood, Weezer still rocked hard, playing songs from its four different albums and headlining its new release “Maladroit.” Pyrotechnics were used throughout and the audience members kept their fists in the air. The fists pumped to a new level when Weezer played an unreleased song “Modern Dudes.”
Even with the uneasiness in the air, Weezer didn’t disappoint its fans. The fans came for the band and left with a feeling of the musicians’ superhuman abilities and their ability to come up with new ways to excite a large group of people.
Guitarist Brian Bell rocks out for the fans that waited hours to get into the packed arena. ( )
Weezer´s bass player, Scott Shriner, pumps out the bass for a screaming audience. ( )
River Cuomo was a god-like figure to the thousands of fans that flooded the E Center. Cuomo is the lead singer and guitarist for Weezer. The band played songs from its four albums. (Photos by John Zsiray )