Karl's Corner - 08/22/2005

08/22/05 whip crackin', oxen a-pulfin'

..MB '05 Tour: Day 75: London, UK - Hammersmith Odeon / Carling Apollo
Today we cruised over to the London venue everyone knows as The Hammersmith Odeon, but has been re-named the Carling Apollo by Carling, a beer company that seems to have bought or owns the naming rights to half the venues in the UK these days. Weezer has never played the Odeon before so it was a real treat to finally set up shop in this classic place.

Soon after arriving, it was noticed that back in the back alley, groups of camera toting tourist kept being escorted to a particular spot where theyd all take pictures and gawk. When asked about this, the security guard explained that this happens constantly, as the metal fire escape stairs at the rear of the building were featured in the Beatles movie "A Hard Day's Night", in a scene where the Beatles make their escape from the show, and therefore Beatles fans making the Beatle tourism rounds in London are always coming by to check it out. Pretty cool!

Anyway, tonight was a real corker by any account (See the comments section for a taste of the reactions!) First up were The Kooks, who rocked hard with a neat sound that sorta took a dash of early 70s classic rock and mixed it into the UK pop thang to good effect. Then came Nine Black Alps who had a semi-Nirvana hard rock sound that sounded fresh. It will be cool checking out their show for the rest of these dates. Then came Weezer, and their 'A-Game' was thoroughly brought. The energy level on stage is at a high thats only been matched by a few recent shows, and tonight may have topped them all. The weez bag o' tricks was pushed even farther, including some balcony action the likes of which has simply never happened before. The overall vibe was just killer!

Post show, the band had the pleasure of meeting United States National team Soccer star Carlos Bocanegra, who was stoked to catch the show and rap about the rock and the footie with the guys.

fans react! (see the comment section for much more!)

"Last night was my first weezer experience live and i REALLY enjoyed it. I've been hooked on weezer for 3 months now and i just cant get enough of them. I had ordered the weezer ticket about a month ago and i had been counting the days which probably really annoyed my friends when i kept going on about it. When they came on the stage with their first song "Don't Let Go" i immedietly knew it was going to be a fantastic night....and yes it was! I was really happy that they included many of their blue songs and a few off pinkerton (which i heard they don't normally play). Man El Scorcho what a great song live...I was fortunate enough to be next to the rail. I don't suppose you remember a teenager waving around a cup on the right side of the rail (from the view of the stage...hehe that was me. I thought that "Surf wax america" was a nice choice for the end of the night, however i was dissappointed that i wasnt able to catch any plectrums at the end of the show or anything lol but thats ok because it was an awesome experience...one not to be forgotten and i will definetly see them again when they are next in london" ---Oliver

"Weezer last night in Hammermith...They were brilliant! 500% better than the Brixton gig in June. I dont wanna ruin the suprises for anyone else but lets just say they've made a lot of changes! Its like 10 years have passed since that June gig. Rivers isa changed man! I dont know what hes putting in his tea these days but whatever it is I hope he keeps doing it. This was hands down the best Weezer gig I have seen in the UK since The Garage in 1996." ---Danny

large size picture link: here.

The current tour merchandise can be seen here.

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

[click on the photo for a larger size version]