REVIEW: State Farm Arena Gets Weezered at The Gathering Tour
Touring alongside The Shins and Silversun Pickups, the group's latest tour is made for all generations of Weezer fans
ATL just got Weezered! Last Saturday, the alternative rock crew packed out State Farm Arena as part of The Gathering Tour, and as a first-time attendee of one of their shows, I felt the love in this career retrospective dedicated to the fans.
Before Rivers Cuomo and co. came out, the crowd was treated to opening sets by Silversun Pickups and The Shins. I heard plenty of chats and rumblings ahead of these performances about how infamously great Weezer’s openers are, and these two definitely continued this trend. Silversun Pickups, albeit short in their time on stage, still brought tons of energy taking advantage of any and every moment. Weezer even brought out the band’s Nikki Monninger to perform a few songs in their set later that night. The Shins slowed things down from the former, but their sound still connected with the arena in their lengthy 12-song opening setlist (even closing with an outro snippet of R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)”).
Weezer’s stage setup, themed to the backyard of a eager young fan who books the band for a “gathering,” was an excellent backdrop as they intro’d with a mix of songs off their “Gold Album” and some classics from the back catalog (“Surf Wax America,” “Hash Pipe,” and “Across The Sea” among others). Whether it’s the power outage leading to an acoustic campfire set or the various screens changing the settings, the design and in-between quips felt like an episode of The Muppet Show (a high compliment from me as a fan of the classic series). Seeing the mutual respect the band and Jim Henson’s creatures have shared over the years, this definitely felt like an intentional vibe crossover.
The ultimate highlight of my night was seeing how dedicated Weezer are to their listeners, diehards and newcomers alike. It’s been a minute since I’ve been by a barricade where each and every fan is decked out in some form of the artists’ merch, style, or general energy of what the tour is representing. W's flew up thousands of times across the sea of Atlanta concertgoers, and the camera and screen setup brought them onstage with the band almost throughout the whole night. The key point for why this mattered to me is the generational overlaps in this crowd. Weezer has become an institution—and not the kind we’re supposed to take down. It’s something that parents pass onto their children, something that people discover and fall madly in love with, something that sticks with you even after you’ve already heard “My Name is Jonas” for the millionth time. The large amount of families in the crowd warmed my heart, seeing them joyfully jump to bond over the band’s nerdy punk stylings, but it’s admittedly funny seeing very young children screaming “I’m dumb / She’s a lesbian,” during the “Pink Triangle” chorus.
In the end, Weezer carries what they’ve always carried: themselves. It’s rare to see a rock band 30 years on from their inception who has returned to being authentically what they are (even through many ups and downs in that time). What is Weezer, you might ask? Fun. They’re fun. They give a show that, no matter how old you are or how much you care for their music, it’s near impossible not to dance, clap, or sing along. At the very least, you can watch them throw a sea of inflatable pool floats into the pit and watch as they get launched back at the performers. As someone who hopes to be a parent one day, I hope my kids are cool enough that they’ll ask me to take them to see Weezer because this is one tradition I’d be honored to pass along.
