I Just Read About That…

[DID NOT ATTEND: June 27, 2023] Weezer /Future Islands / Joyce Manor

Weezer has turned into the Barenaked Ladies for me.

What does that mean?

Well, I have seen Barenaked Ladies a bunch of times (starting back in the days before Steven Page left). In the last decade or so, they have been doing a Last Tour of Summer every summer, where they have two opening bands and they play most of their hits.   Every year the shows are fairly similar with a few new songs thrown in the mix.  But I have since decided I would go based on the opening bands.  If they pick one (or two) bands I really want  to see, then I’ll go.  If they pick bands I actively don’t like, I won’t go.  This year, they picked two bands I didn’t like (I would have happily seen Semisonic, but they were only on the west coast).

Now it appears that Weezer will also be doing an annual summer tour.  I’ve only seen Weezer three times, but they’ve all been fairly recently, so I find myself in the same boat.  I’d be happy to see Weezer again, but only if the opening bands are ones I want to see.

And look at the support bands!  Modest Mouse!  Spoon!  Momma!  even White Reaper.

But instead, we got the only two bands that I have no interest in seeing.

Future Islands is a band that NPR loved (loves still, possibly) that they overhyped to the point where I didn’t care about them anymore. I don’t actually dislike their sound.  In fact I find it kind of interesting, their synthy vibe and their singer’s strangely old-fashioned (I guess) delivery.  But they’re basically just meh for me, especially given the other choices,

Joyce Manor is a punk band from California who I always think are someone else.  Their latest album 40 oz to Fresno was described by The New York Times (!!!) as “relentlessly tuneful 17-minute collection of all-killer, no-filler power-pop.”  I rather like their clean punk sound, but they couldn’t make me get to the Mann Center for this show.