It can be a risky business, going to a concert by a band you loved years ago and with whom you associate a time, a place and feelings. A friend said he couldn't go to such a concert as he would become overwhelmed with feelings of nostalgia and that there was something infinitely sad about a crowd of people gathered together and reliving their youth. He even used the word loser.
There was nothing loser-ish about the crowd that packed the Palais in St Kilda on a balmy 40 degree night. When Weezer announced they were playing the whole of their blue album from start to finish, there was an immediate demand for the same treatment for Pinkerton, the initially misunderstood and badly received follow-up to the band's first highly acclaimed offering. It felt as though the crowd had a sense of pride in its own power to make the night happen...we asked for it, and we got it.
And there was certainly nothing loser-ish about the band itself. They were enthusiastic and full of energy and happy to be there. It must be great for the boys in Weezer who went through a dark time after Pinkerton came out in 1996 and was voted second worst album of the year by Rolling Stone records. But something miraculous happened with the gilding of time and by 2002, Rolling Stone readers had changed their mind and voted it the 16th best album of all time. That's a pretty big change of mind. Now it receives cult-like appreciation.
Hearing it live was like living a memory. Has it really been 16 years?
No comments:
Post a Comment