Karl's Corner - 10/30/2005

10/30/05 that's just the way it is, it's always the say/(me)

...MB '05 Tour: Day 133: The Joint at the Hard Rock Casino - Las Vegas, NV
Back to the city of lights out in the Nevada desert, where a few months ago it was the scene for one of the bigger shows in weezer's career, the 100th Birthday bash for Vegas with the Chili Peppers. This time, its a much more intimate gig at "The Joint" to round out the 'Make Believe' 2005 USA touring schedule. Deep in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, the gear was loaded in and the dressing rooms stocked with water and some snacks, for the last time in what looks to be a long time for the US - though only about 6 weeks for Japan. We were staying in the Hard Rock Hotel upstairs, so getting to the gig only involved some "Employee Only" access.

The surreal town o' Vegas holds many secrets, but the ones we learned about today were the back employee-only hallways that you dont see while out in the casino or chowing down in the Hard Rock Cafe. This is the second casino type show this year, the first being at Atlantic City's Borgata, and the backstage vibe is the same - basically lots of foodservice dudes pushing big carts around, and mysterious people with photo badges walking around looking worried.

Actually, this is the second time weezer has played "The Joint". The first time was the very first show ever at the Joint, when they opened the casino on March 10, 1995. Back then it was an all star show that was partially televised, featuring a bunch of bands including Weezer, Duran Duran, and an amazing performance by Al Green, who was riding high from his fresh exposure on the soundtrack to "Pulp Fiction". Today its the same place, over 10 years later, and its aged pretty well.

The Vegas crowd was a combo of super stoked young fans and a swath of semi-touristy types, people from out of town taking in the show because its there and they are looking for fun. Any show in a casino has got to expect such a mix, and the net effect was a happy crowd who werent moshing for the most part, but were definitely pretty loud. Today's "Undone" acoustic helper/guitar winner was Morganne, who later confessed to being a total beginner on guitar, but sorta had us fooled as she was actually hitting the chords for the most part, and making the rest up with her charm.

The Vegas crowd got a Halloween treat tonight, with the band coming out in costumes for the encore. Pat was done up in a Roman toga (hail Caesar?), Brian had a mysterious scarlet wizards hood on and kinda looked like he was in early 70's Yes or Genesis (Stonehenge! where the demons dwell...), Scott was done up as a caveman and regaled the crowd during the opening of Undone with such Cro-Magnon classics as "Me like tree. me fall in lake." And Rivers emerged as the escaped convict in the classic 'stripes' getup. Fun stuff, and a triumphant end to the US touring in 2005. A bittersweet moment to be sure! See ya'll next time! (Except for Japan - see you guys in December!)

Large size picture link: here, more: 1.

The current tour merchandise(updated 10/25/05).
(Note: these shirts are bootlegs - do not buy them if you see them! *updated 10/15*)

..."Perfect Situation" single: The video is in the final stages - the band has seen a rough cut and the final version should be ready for the world soon. The single is the 3rd from "Make Believe", and its out now. I've heard it several times on L.A.'s KROQ in the last few days, and I don't turn on the radio very often! Call your local station and request it - let's push this great song to the heights it deserves! It was the #1 requested song on Rock 102.1 in Milwaukee this past week, thank you Milwaukee fans!

...There is a new interview with Rivers online now, from AOL.com. This interview was conducted with AOL IM, and the transcript is here.

....A new Yahoo! news story about Rivers' springtime plans and more is here. Also see similar takes on the subject at Billboard.com and CNN.com.

...Weezer on AOL Sessions (taping) on Wednesday 11/01 - air date TBA (schedule change)

...A full account of Weezer's 10/17 visit to The Howard Stern show (incl. pix!) is here.

...December Japan Tour Dates (try for tickets here, good luck with the language gap)

December 15, 2005 Osaka - Zepp
December 16, 2005 Osaka - Zepp
December 17, 2005 Fukuoka - Zepp
December 19, 2005 Nagoya - Zepp
December 20, 2005 Tokyo - Studio Coast
December 21, 2005 Tokyo - Studio Coast
December 22, 2005 Tokyo - Studio Coast