Karl's Corner - 09/08/2005

09/08/05 stool boom, from the parlor to the pool room

...MB '05 Tour: Day 82: Foozer/Wee Fighters #1: Atlanta, GA - Gwinnett Arena
A 10,000 person freakout! We rolled into the G A with a combo of stoke and nervousness, the first Foozer show! There is a lot of familiarity on this one, between various band members who know each other, to crew who have worked together before, to Foo crew who were actually on a weezer crew before, and vice versa. So there was a lot of old faces and it was cool.

Come showtime, all of our eyes were on the audience (whose eyes were on the stage) to see what exactly they would do. Was it a equal blend of loyal fans? Or were the majority "fans of both" as we hoped? While reports from some fans indicated "pockets" of diehards one way or the other, the majority apparently (and thankfully) turned out to be pretty stoked to see both bands. The attendance was very strong, about 10,000, which is a great early indicator in a year where many tours have been having trouble filling all the seats.

The crews - weezer, foo, and 'universal' (shared) put in herculean hours and effort over the last 48 hours to make everything happen, as they had to squeeze a 2 day production rehearsal (that probably could have used 3 days) into just 1 day. Kudos to them for having the energy and patience to forgo sleep and deal with the numerous issues that came up in the initial "merging" of the Foo and Weezer worlds on stage. Now that the machine is rolling, the tech stuff should get smoother and smoother.

The first American weez audience since July was suprised to see some of the hot new styles and mad techniques that were developed over the August oveseas shows, and their reaction was great!

Opener Mae did a great job, and we have just been informed that they will be playing the rest of the first leg, thru the 3 Texas shows.

Big ups to Zack from Atlanta for helping out on stage and to the SFS-Kimbeam Krew for parking lot gifts that will go a long way!

Before the show, the band taped an interview with Mtv News. We dont have word yet on when this will air so keep your eyes peeled, and if I get the info it will go up here.

large size picture link: here, more: 1.

The current tour merchandise can be seen here.
(updated 9/8/05).

*LAST MINUTE INFO: Hey everybody, theres been a last minute change! Tune in to The Late Show with Dave Letterman TONIGHT, (NOT tomorrow as originally scheduled), to see Weezer's performance that was taped on Monday in NYC.

Note that the weezer performance will be archived on The Late Show website for about 1 week, we think starting on Monday. Also, the "Gimmie Gimmie" vocals were again handled by the same person who sang them on "Make Beleive" (and the Hard Rock Live performance), Stephanie Eitel, who the band met during the recording of the album via Phantom Planet connections.