Todays show takes place at the Del Mar Racetrack, a scenic horse racing joint about 20 miles North of San Diego. The races are going as usual all afternoon, then at 7 PM Weezer hits the stage...
(later)
The Racetrack was also the site of the Del Mar Fair, so on top of the daytime horseracing going on there was a midway with all the usual fair food and such we've come to expect at or near a Weezer show this summer. "Del Mar" means "from the sea", and yes indeed we were by the sea, the glorious Pacific. As well as a sea of people who braved a sea of traffic to get here! No trippin down this freeway - yours truly was crawling down the 5 freeway for 4 hours and 45 minutes to make the 100 mile trip, and that was true of many who attended. Wow. Is it time to make the I-5 a double decker freeway? Weezer waited a little while extra before they started tonight to allow for the many people who were still stuck in traffic at 7 PM to park and actually get near the stage. By the time the band started, there was just an incredible sea of people massed and ready to rock, filling in every nook and cranny, literally surrounding 3 sides of the stage as far as the eye could see. And despite the logistical and technical challenges that this unusual venue location afforded, rock they did, just as much as the band rocked. Which was quite a lot!
Tonight was the earth-shaking world live premiere public performance of "Memories" and it went down like gangbusters!
- Karl Koch