Karl's Corner - 12/02/2001

12/02/01 Madison Mayhem

...well, it looks like people in this town really like to mosh it up. At times there was a seemingly endless stream of crowdsurfers coming over the barricade, and the mass pushing from side to side up front was looking pretty severe. There were some reports of injuries beyond the usual "getting squished and needing some oxygen" cases, and I spied at least one person being rolled to first aid on a stretcher after the show. Perhaps some of the previous nights Ozzy Osbourne show mayhem infected the crowd? I really hope everyone was ok. Please, be careful, folks!

...above right: Duvall coming correct with the good stuff...






...webmasters reunion: Anuj (+ his posse) meet up w/ karl after the madison show...

...some fans' "p.o.v.'s"...

"The month of apprehension for the day to come, the pre-concert three car

frenzy to the alliant, the slightly late start, the pleasant appearance of

Duvall, 19 friends, a few introduced backstage bettys, a little Bryan Adams

and Chop Suey from Kg and Jb, friendly and pleasantly smoky atmosphere for

all, a couple of shoulder rides for the ladies, an ex-girlfriend

intermission sighting and uneasy chat, plenty of wisecracks about the

unfriendly tattoed shoving wife beater man who jammed out to big pimpin,

many new friends (where else would someone make way for you to go ahead of

them), a perfect my name is jonas that one couldnt help but feel, a

masterpiece photograph, an arid hashpipe, the oncoming threat of an end to

it all, and then the encore, the truly out of body experience i achieved

when surfing during the aptly named surfwax america is unparalleled and

indescribable, it was the feeling you get when just release all your worries

and give yourself in to the music. this wasnt a show, it was a sensory

experience, and one that should be aptly praised in its entirety. thank you

for it all gentlemen." --Owen

"What a lovely day it began as I departed from my hometown of Roscoe, IL

with five of my dearest friends; the sun shining brightly in the pellucid

sky, looking so beautiful and promising was taken by my party as a good omen

of my day ahead. The first part of the day we spent roaming aimlessly down

State Street enjoying the beautiful day, where we stumbled upon what we

thought were two more omens further guaranteeing an evening of joyous mirth

and splendor at the Weezer concert: amazingly enough, my comrades and I just

so happened to pass by both Brain and Pat on separate occasions. (To Pat I

said, "Hello. Play a good show tonight." I dared not to say anything else

as I had no intention of being obnoxious and pesky, but rather respected his

privacy as he took a casual stroll. Pat - this probably won't help you to

remember me whatsoever, but I was wearing a blue Oxford University hoody,

jeans, and had black glasses.)

Anyway, we next departed from State Street and headed for the Alliant

Energy Center to get in line early. We were among the first people there, as

we arrived at 3:00, and remained outside in the cold for the next three hours

that followed, knowing that a spot up front near the stage would adequately

compensate for our shivering, near frozen limbs. Finally when 7:00 rolled

around and the doors were opened, I darted in as I was the first let in from

my group. What wonderful feeling it was as I soon found myself second row,

center. In a short while Duvall took the stage and proved to be worthy of

opening up for the evening's headliners.

Then, as they finished and the crew set up for Tenacious D, some pretty

smart people in the back decided it would be a good idea to try and rush to

the stage, creating a domino effect of Weezer fans in front of them. This

continued to happen, and many fans were injured helplessly crying out in

agony to be taken out of the violent crowd. Next, when Tenacious D took the

stage all hell broke loose, and hell so happened to come from the friendly

people behind us. I was being crushed from what seemed like all directions;

the air was being squeezed out of my lungs, and was tossed about in the sea

of hot and sweaty (not to mention foul smelling) crowd of fans. I would like

to thank the two ogars that were in front of me, who remained passive as

shouted in fear of my life, "Oh my God! I can't breathe! Help! Get me out

of here!" who just glanced at me and went back to saluting Tenacious D with

the horns, instead of helping me up so the event staff could lift me over to

my safety. I gasped for breath in panic, and due to lack of oxygen was near

to passing out where I would have been left to have been trampled on by the

savage crowd. Miraculously I escaped, though I'm not sure how, but became

separated from my group. My prime spot which I had waited so long for in

vein was now gone, and most of my my friends were no where to be found, but

at least i was alive. I know this is getting rather lengthy, so here is all

that I have to say in summery to the reckless and inconsiderate bastards who

made my night miserable: BURN IN HELL!!!" --Brett Daniels

"Just wanted to pass along a quick note to say the Madison show rocked. As a

Smoking Popes fan, it was a cool surprise to see Duvall hit the stage to

begin the evening. Tenacious D was freakin' hilarious. And Weezer rocked

like nobody's bid-niz. It was my first time seeing any of them (well,

except for a couple of the guys in Duvall, I guess), and none of the acts

disappointed. Nice to see Rivers messing with the Gibsons. Everything

sounded great, too. Which is saying something, since that arena wasn't

exactly designed to have good acoustics.

On an I'm-an-old-guy note: that was the same arena I saw Iron Maiden,

Metallica and David Lee Roth about 13 or 14 years ago, when I was in high

school. And Weezer rocked just as hard as any of those guys." --Pat

"I bought tickets the first day of internet presale...i was so stoked to see weezer again. i saw them in March at the rave, and they put on a great show.

This concert was different, but did not let me down one bit. I really liked the first band, Duvall, but apparently a lot of the people on the floor did not. I would just like to apologize for my fellow weezerfans that showed disrespect to duvall by flipping them off during their set. Then came Tenacious D. To be completely honest, i was all ready to hate them. I had only heard one of their songs before, and they just didn't seem to fit my taste. However, i could not help but love them. They were so hilarious it was impossible not to be entertained by their antics. The saxophone was the best part! The crowd was entranced by them, and it was very pleasant in the mosh pit for several minutes. After D's set, I followed a few people who decided to mush themselves forward. My andrenaline was pumping so hard that I didn't even notice that my lungs were being crushed. However, i could not cheer for Weezer because of the fear of passing out, and this concerned me. They took the stage, and i was enveloped in their sweet sound. Unfortunately, several people fell to the ground and were trampled. I was one of them. I started to panic, and when i was pulled up by a wonderful weezerfan, i decided to head out. The easiest way is up! with the help of more weezerfans i was passed over the front of the pit. From there i made my way back to a more peaceful weezer zone. I wasn't as close, which saddened me, but I was free to sing along with all of my heart. I will not lie, i would have loved to hear more pinkerton. But they did an awesome, awesome job, especially with the new twist to Don't Let Go andthe awesome green lights in Hash Pipe! And it could not have ended better: Surf Wax America was the ultimate encore! The flashing weezer sign on the empty stage with hazy fog in the air made me weep with joy and despair at the same time-it was great, but unfortunately, it was over." --Liz

"...there was one moment at tonights show (12/2 - Alliant Energy Center), that thoroughly troubled me...

During a lapse in the action, Rivers found himself at the mic looking for something to say. After the applause had died down following (I believe) Hash Pipe, he leaned into the mic and said, "Thanks...we really appreciate it." He then snickered and rolled his eyes. [editors note: have recieved no other independent confirmations of this]

I could make many comments about how I perceived this, and how much it truly bothered me...but I think it pretty much explains itself. I love Weezer and Mr. Cuomo is a songwriting genius...I just sincerely hope that he doesn't fall into that self-righteous, rock star martyr mold that so many others have. Weezer is about the music, I know, but its hard to like an a--hole, any way you cut it.

That aside, the show was great. Tenacious D are two of the greatest showmen I have ever seen. I know all that "greatest and best band" stuff is about their funny (as hell) fake rock star persona, but I think I might be starting to believe it...

Weezer was solid (as they always are) and technically proficient. Scott is a great addition and truly seemed to be enjoying himself. The setlist was a bit disappointing, due mainly to the lack of Pinkerton material, but I understand that there are reasons for that. The new stuff is very solid. I like the more 'metal' riffs. Opening with The Dawn was a great idea. People were kind of like "What is this? What the hell is going on?"...but I think thats why it was such a good idea. And that song rocks serious socks. Gold-toes, baby. Anyway...great show, all considered." --Jim

"The show last night was great! Something told me to leave

the crowd and the ever ongoing struggle to get to the front last night and

I’m glad I did. I’ve been to about three of four weezer concerts in the past

and I have NEVER seen a crowd move so vigorously! The term "sea of people"

could not better describe the crowd last night. The continuous crowd surfing

seamed to never ceased, with great exception to songs ‘Say It Aint So’ and

‘Only In Dreams.’ Most defiantly, one of the best parts of the show was the

ENTIRE arena’s reaction to ‘Only In Dreams’. Besides a very few cheers and

screams, when weezer played this song it was completely silent. Not only was

it weezer but also the fans that managed to make me speechless from the

harmony I heard. In addition, people held up lit lighters that created a

sense of content ness and possibly awe. Tenacious D created their own sense

too. They promised to leave the crowd pleased and they delivered. Everyone

Ive talked to said the loved the ‘D’ and that they were funny as H-E-double

hockey sticks! I agree. I knew they were funny but not that funny. They were

so good it’s hard to single out a best moment or their set, possibly Jack

and a fan blowing each other "*-KISSES-*" Basically, it was "Allllll good!"

I’m sure those unaware of the tremendous hilarity of Tenacious D left as

fans. As for Duvall (formally known as Smoking Popes) they were good. I

think they got a nice reaction from the crowd. All in all, the show was

good. The band looked kinda tired and were a bit stagnant (except Scott and

Pat, cause he has no choice) There was a surprising amount of young’ns there

but that only means weezer is getting bigger and there’s nada wrong with

that. Im a fan forever and that’s what matters." --Ryann

(...as always, these and many many more fan's stories will be up in the "weezer fans" section, as soon as i dig out from the months-old backlog of great stories and get them all posted!)