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And the Band Played On
Author: Jeffrey Lee Puckett (The Courier-Journal)
Published: June 9, 2010
- It's been an emotional rollercoaster, but the ride continues for nerd rock icons Weezer
Almost from the start, Weezer's career path has involved strange detours and weird alleys. It's actually kind of surprising that the band is still around, much less enjoying respected veteran status.
There was leader Rivers Cuomo's general retreat from music in the late 1990s, which resulted in a three-year hiatus. After a multi-platinum debut, the band's second album thoroughly tanked. Bassist Mikey Welsh suffered a nervous breakdown and ultimately retired, while original bassist Matt Sharp sued the band over songwriting royalties.
Through it all, Cuomo kept writing anthems that strongly implied the geeks would inherit the Earth. Said geeks hunkered down, becoming some of rock 'n' roll's most loyal fans and turning Weezer into an arena act long after it seemed likely.
After 18 years of drama, drummer and band co-founder Patrick Wilson endures with sense of humor, and his gratitude, intact. He's enjoying a tour that stops this Friday at the Horseshoe Casino for its summer concert series.
"We're pretty fortunate." he said. "I mean, there aren't many bands that came out when we started that are still doing anything, so I'm stoked. I'm loving it."
Wilson said the key is simple: You take a punch and keep going.
"Our philosophy in keeping the band going is not quitting" he said, laughing. "I'm sure there are lots of times when bands go. I'm not sure how we're going to work through that, but so far we've done it."
He offered a counter-intuitive piece of wisdom for young bands.
"My advice to bands is to not start out by getting along" he said. "I think bands need to start arguing and then you get used to it and it's not a surprise when you start arguing later. The bands that start out like four guys against the world are the ones that break up."
Weezer began in Los Angeles in 1992, with Cuomo, Wilson, Sharp and guitarist Jason Cropper. Everyone was in several bands at once, some with each other, before finally forming Weezer. It was the height of the grunge movement, when angst, volume and the soft-to-loud songwriting dynamic ruled.
Enter Weezer with "Undone - The Sweater Song" and "Buddy Holly," arch power-poo with a twist of nerd. Perhaps tiring of fannel and heroin, America fell in love to the tune of 3 million copies sold, and 1994's "Weezer" (aka "The Blue Album") remains the band's best-selling record
But even as Weezer was breaking big, the socially awkward Cuomo was in retreat. He wrote the second album, 1996's "Pinkerton." while enrolled at Harvard, where his music theory classes and failed romances influenced the dark, prickly record.
Although "Pinkerton" was eventually regarded as a classic, its commercial failure contributed to Cuomo dropping out completely for three years.
It was widely assumed that Weezer was finished, but while Wilson was recording and touring with his own band, The Special Goodness, Cuomo kept writing. In 2001, the band released the million-selling "Weezer" (aka "The Green Album") and all was right with the world.
"All in all, I think the breaks were good," Wilson said. "A lot of bands just go out and milk it endlessly, and after a while I think people just kind of get burnt on you."
So, when it comes to backlash prevention, less (seven studio albums in 18 years) is more?
"(Some bands) put out so much that people get disinterested. And I'm certainly not saying that people aren't disinterested in Weezer," Wilson added, laughing, "I'm sure a bunch of people are, but somehow we manage to keep it going. I think it's our live show, which is killing it right now. It's a super-big rock show and people dig it."
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