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Rivers Cuomo, Weezer enjoying a high-spirited tour
Author: G. Brown (The Denver Post)
Published: July 10, 1997
When Weezer's 1994 debut album spawned three modern rock smashes "Undone (The Sweater Song)," "Buddy Holly" (an MTV Video Award winner for the "Happy Days" parody in the clip) and "Say It Ain't So" - the band traveled thousands of miles touring the world.
And Rivers Cuomo was an unhappy guy.
According to the notoriously press-shy singer/songwriter/guitarist, "I was miserable at that point. We had 10 songs. We were terrible I was an awful singer. But we had an incredible amount of exposure.
"I'm such a huge fan of pop music, and it was really exciting to be a part of the whole tradition of shallowness and fickleness. I always said I wanted to be a one-hit wonder, and then we ended up having three hits.
"I just felt like running and hiding. And I wasn't drinking, I wasn't having fun, I wasn't meeting girls."
After two years in hibernation, the band re-emerged with "Pinkerton," the followup to the double-platinum "Weezer." Weezer by-passed Ric Ocasek, who gave the debut its spark and vigor, and produced the new album alone. The sound is rawer, and Cuomo takes fans through his fun, juvenile take on personal relationships.
But "Pinkerton" has struggled commercially, and there were rumors of inner-band turmoil after Weezer finished up a tour in late January. In February, Cuomo started another semester of college at Harvard. The rest of Weezer - bassist Matt Sharp, drummer Pat Wilson and guitarist Brian Bell - returned to work on projects with their own bands.
But now Weezer has gone back out on the road. Before a show at the Ogden Theatre on Tuesday night, Cuomo was in a reflective mood.
"This time, the whole experience is a party," he said.
"We have a lot more songs now. We're better. I'm not as nervous about people hearing me. I started drinking more.
"On the first tour, we were painted as 'the nerd group' - it was the big thing. There are definitely times when I want to be alone and I don't want to party. I just want to be by myself and write songs or read books, which is kind of nerdy.
"But then the other half of the year, I'm out on the road just totally drunk, picking up girls, getting in fights, whatever. And those things are not considered traditionally nerdy."
At the Ogden, Weezer rocked the house with playful, catchy pop-punk tunes, from a celebratory "Buddy Holly" to the resignation of "Why Bother?" The guys were still dorky - Bell relied on geeky poses, Wilson lost the tempo for no apparent reason and Sharp talked to the crowd and careened around the stage.
Cuomo seemed especially loose, perhaps because he was tugging on a bottle of beer during the entire show.
"You name it, we've done it on this tour. It's been crazy, and it's taking its toll physically. I've gotten in a couple of brawls, mostly with girls. This psychotic girl came backstage the other night and beat the crap out of me. I couldn't believe it! I'd just gotten really high in the parking lot, too, so I was not in the right space to think logically and defend myself. And she was very large.
"It happens every night pretty much."
Weezer is in such high spirits that another song from "Pinker-ton" has been released to radio, the heartbreak of "Pink Triangle." Cuomo discovers that the woman of his dreams is a lesbian: "Everyone's a little queer/Why can't she be a little straight?"
"It's about a girl I met at school," Cuomo explained.
"Whenever I write about a character or a story, something fictitious, it comes out sounding really cheesy. I don't have that skill yet. I've only been able to write about the events of my life using all the little details.
"And maybe even that's cheesy. but I don't notice it because it's my life, so at least I'm interested in it. I've got to try to do something else. I think everyone's sick of hearing. about my life.
"Next year I'll be done with school, which will be very strange. I've been going back on and off since I was 4. I'll probably move to New York and just rock for the rest of my life - which may be very short at the rate I'm going"
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