Karl's Corner - 05/10/2005

05/10/05 MAKE BELIEVE RELEASED! MB '05 Tour: Day 16: Philly

...so, Philadelphia. Ahh. Warm! SO nice after that wicked Boston Nor'Easter activity. The line up around the Electric Factory (and I do mean all the way around) was chock full of cool sights, from all sorts of homemade weezer t-shirts to several stoked youngsters waiting to get into their very first concert, to active JONAS members flying their colors. With all the good cheer and fun in the line-up it was suprising to see pockets of rough activity in the floor crowd tonight. The floor was packed to the gills so there wasnt any elbow room, and several people had to be carried out after fainting. Fan Mary Kate reports: "...there was people intentionally trying to push people down and slam into other people. [My friend] started screaming for this girl pressing down on her ribcage to stop, but the girl refused and Amber passed out. I had to carry her through the huge crowd and despite screaming for help, no one even tried to make way for me."
Unfortunately, the reports of pushing and shoving during this show were more than usual, and there was even a fight that broke out during 'The Good Life' (ironically). Apparently some young lads were a little too hopped up on goofballs and one had to be dragged out of the crowd by security after throwing some punches. Easy, there, guy! This isnt a Slayer show!
And remember, if you see someone having trouble in a packed crowd, lend a hand, help them out of a jam!
But all in all, this show was another stone jam, with a LOUD sing-along going on for many songs - I think "Jonas" gets the prize - every night it seems like every single person in the place is shouting along!

Setlist:
Tired Of Sex
In The Garage
No One Else
Pardon Me
Buddy Holly
Photograph
Hold Me
Getchoo
Say It Ain't So
We Are All On Drugs
Island In The Sun
My Name Is Jonas
Peace
Beverly Hills
Hash Pipe
Haunt You Every Day
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Undone - The Sweater Song
The Good Life

...the "Beverly Hills" video stream has just had a QuickTime7 version added. Future video clips on weezer.com will include a QT7 version as well.

...The first exclusive online clips, accessable only with the Make Believe enhanced CD, are now up.

...VOTE for WEEZER! MSN's artist of the month June Poll!

...The day we've been waiting for for a long time is here! weezer's 5th album, "Make Believe", is out TODAY! That's right, "Make Believe" is reality at last. To the fans, thanks for being so patient and not losing faith! Check out "Make Believe" and I think youll find that the wait was worth it!

"Make Believe" (North American Edition) includes an enhanced cd-rom media player that includes "Weezer talks about Make Believe", a 10 minute interview/studio footage segment. The player also unlocks exclusive online media that is accessable ONLY with the "Make Believe" cd, that will be periodically updated.

The International editions of the album contain exclusive bonus tracks. The UK edition includes "Butterfly (live)" and "Island In The Sun (live)", while the Japan edition includes those 2 songs plus "Burndt jamb (live)".

The song "Butterfly (Live)" is now available as a Digital Exclusive single at Wal-Mart.com. Click Here to get the song!

...as revealed in yesterdays 'weezer radio network' interview with Jim McGuinn, the version of "We Are All On Drugs" on the initial CD pressing of "Make Believe" is actually an incorrect version, containing different (earlier) lyrics in the bridge. Somehow the wrong version went to mastering. Its sonically identical to the correct one in every detail except for those 2 lines of vocals. The booklet has the correct lyrics. Later pressings will have thhe correcccted version on the CD.

...review round-up - Rolling Stone mag gives it a glowing 4 star review, saying "Make Believe is a breakthrough for Weezer" and "Cuomo's songs are his most plaintive and brilliant since Pinkerton". Q magazine agrees with a 4/5. IGN gives it a 9.3. More reviews here, here and in the "are you kidding me?" dept., give me a break!

...more reviews: Canoe.ca sez "4/5. "Don't get us wrong. We like Weezer as much as the next guy. Sometimes, though, we wonder what all the fuss is about...Now we get what all the fuss is about." MSNBC chimes in here. Norway's VG newspaper sez 4/6, while Daglbadet sez 5/6, and the big national radio station P4 sez 6/6!

...Beverly Hills international radio action: #9 on the UK singles chart, which I believe is Weezer's highest ever single ranking there. This may hint at a higher debut charting for the album in the UK. Its also at number 7 on UK iTunes. Meanwhile in Austria, its #2 on the leading alternative radio station FM4, As well as being #3 here and number 1 here.

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NEW: This picture was not part of the original post. It was provided exclusively for Weezerpedia by Karl Koch.

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