Saturday, November 04, 2017

Weezer Is Coming!

Guys, Weezer is coming to Salt Lake!

Wait! It gets better.

Weezer AND The Pixies are coming to Salt Lake! Now is the point where my Millennial friends say, "Who are The Pixies?" It's okay. I'll teach you.


Last summer, I saw Green Day.

This summer, I am going to see Weezer (AND The Pixies). It doesn't matter when it is. (It's in the summer. Thank you, God!) This is one of those take-a-sick-day, sleep-in-my-car-if-I-have-to, stay-out-all-night-on-a-weeknight kind of concerts.

The beginning of my sophomore year in college, I rushed out to buy Pinkerton on cassette because that is all that would play in my '95 Hyundai Excel back then. (I also copied the Blue Album onto cassette, so I could listen to it in my car. The struggle was real, kids.)

Pinkerton remains my favorite Weezer album to this day, probably due to the opera references. (Yes, I own the CD now.)

When my husband, Dan, and I were dating, he would burn entire CDs of music he deemed necessary relationship barometers. I'm not talking about a puny High Fidelty-esque playlist. I mean, I would receive hours and hours of MP3s compiled from his favorite indie bands.

One of these MP3-filled discs consisted of a bunch of obscure, unreleased Weezer songs downloaded from some website. He was a Weezer fan too. I decided to keep him.

During our dating years, Dan and I saw Weezer in concert. It was our first road trip and our first concert together. By the end of the show, even reserved and quiet Dan (who was even more reserved and quiet that early in our relationship) was cheering and making a "W" with his hands.

"They are such a good live band!" he exclaimed as we left the arena.

Weezer basically cemented our relationship.

Nowadays, I have a Green Album poster, given to me by my brother when I moved into one of my apartments, hanging in our music room right above a bag that is filled with Handel, Mozart, and Puccini arias.


We also own the Blue and Green Album guitar books, although I doubt we have any hope of ever playing like them. Well, maybe Dan has some hope. I gave up a long time ago.

I have stuck it out with Weezer through every album, EP, B-side, a Rivers Cuomo rarities CD Dan gave me for Christmas one year, even while they have been panned by critics and fans for expanding their sound, going "pop," and trying new things. People just need to chill and not take everything so seriously.

When the Weezer AND The Pixies tour was announced, Dan immediately texted me, "What are you doing August 1st?"

Five minutes later, my brother mentioned me on the tour's Facebook post, "Becky Turner Duggan, I know where you will be August 1st!"

My response to both: "WEEZER AND THE PIXIES? WHAT IS HAPPENING?"

The next morning, a friend of mine had commented on one of my Facebook posts, "Weezer is coming to SLC!"

"I have been freaking out for, like, the last 24 hours," I replied.

Then I proceeded to listen to every Weezer album ever recorded, something Dan and I call a Weezer Fest. We do this whenever we are preparing to attend a concert (or, less happily, when a band member dies).

A former choir student of mine, now in his twenties, posted this video on my Facebook wall one day.


My elementary choir does an aerobic warm-up to Weezer's "Buddy Holly" at least once a month.

"This brings back memories, doesn't it, Mrs. Duggan?" he said.

Oh . . . you have NO idea!

Ready to rock, friends!
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