Historic event: 03/19/1992

first weezer show: Raji's, Hollywood

The very first weezer show took place at Raji's, a club on Hollywood Boulevard, made famous from the photo on the "Sliver" 7" by Nirvana. The show happened quite suddenly. The band somehow got offered an opening slot for Keanu Reeves's then-brand-new band, Dogstar. Apparently there was no show booked that night at all, and when Dogstar set up the show, there was a need for some opening acts to try and beef up the draw earlier on in the night. Meanwhile the as-yet-unnamed weezer was itching to start playing out, and had just started calling around that day to try and book some gigs. The desperate guy at Raji's said "hmmm...how about tonight?", and the band jumped on the opportunity. They only needed to come up with a band name at this point, and a major brainstorming session ensued. In the end, Rivers stuck with his "weezer" suggestion, and everyone else couldn't quite come up with something that sounded more distinctive. One name that got shot down that night was "This Niblet". Anyway, the band called everyone they knew to come check it out. Karl began his long tradition of driving the band gear to the gig [he was the only guy who had a vehicle, and the only frind with a vehicle big enough to take it all]The band got 17 people to show up and watch. Not too bad!

The other significant event of the day was the moving in of Rivers, Matt and their friend Justin Fisher to the "Amherst House" [2226 Amherst Ave, West L.A.]. This is the site of "the" garage, where much weezer rehersals and recording would take place, and eventually the "Say it Aint So" video would be filmed in spring '95. [see 4/9/95 story for many pix of 2226 Amherst]

Songs that were played for sure during the approx. 30 min. set were....

i cant forget the way
undone
the world has turned and left me here
the biggest animal
M.E. (Gary Numan cover, Pat and Rivers switch insturments: Pat sings)

possibly also played:

Mega Man (also pat singing)
Spiderbitch
colmasheen

Overall it was a totally chaotic gig. The whole band was utterly spazzing out, ecstatic to be playing out at last. Rivers went into a rock trance and actually fell right off the stage several times during the set in the middle of guitar solos.

Then some other band played [Annapurna, possibly], and then Dogstar. The funny thing about Dogstar back then is the rest of the band who wasnt Keanu Reeves looked and acted a lot like Joe Piscopo in his SNL years. Picture two goofy white guys with big curly afros and leather bomber jackets freaking out and jumping all over the place like a bar band, and then Keanu in a white t-shirt, standing in the corner quietly playing bass, looking straight down the whole gig. Well, it was their first show...

sadly there are no [known] photos from this historic show. here's a famous Nirvana 7" shot from the same stage a few years back in '90, and a shot from 1992 of an unknown band. This shot shows the stage almost exactly as weezer played it, with the silvery tassels, "fancy"
Raji's logo and such. Raji's had to close or move due to the Northridge earthquake in early 1994.
[click on any photo for a larger size pop-up version]

See also

• Super-Chrono - 1992