This year, Weezer is not only releasing a new album, but they're touring! Again! If you'd missed them during the tour that celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut album, "Weezer", widely refered to as "the blue album" due to its bright blue background, you can catch them this year, performing both some new songs from the unreleased album AND plenty of old hits that are being put back into the rotation, like Everything Will Be Alright In The End's "Go Away" due to its recent resurfacing (and popularity) in the public eye, setting it up to be a great tour!
We here in the mitten can see them this September, right here in D-town! They'll be performing at the Little Caesars Arena on September 23rd, the show starting at 7 o'clock in the evening. They'll be joined at this show by fellow bands The Shins and Silversun Pickups, which will be the case for any of their other shows planned for the "The Gathering" tour, the concert locations staying within the North American region, with two shows being held outside of the United States in Canada, Vancouver and Laval respectively. Sorry, global audience.
The first single for the album "Shine Again", which was written by their dummer, Patrick Wilson, is already out, having released on April 1st. It has a sound to it similar to their earlier works, being more rock than pop, which is a very welcome return for many, adding yet another exciting layer to this tour and the album's actual release. Secretive meetings between the band and lucky fans have also come and go- "Initiation Week" back in March was a series of lead-up events that culminated in the release of the single mentioned earlier. These events allowed select fans to meet with and go head-to-head with the band in fun games like pickleball and pinball, along with other activites like a Weezer trivia night and scavenger hunt.
On a personal note, hi, I'm the blogger, my opinions on this tour and album are cautiously optimistic! I'm a bit of a superfan for this band, being a fan of both their old and new music/sound, the only problem I tend to have with Weezer, and many will agree in the creative space as a whole, is the utilization of generative AI (ugggghh) in Weezer and Rivers Cuomo's discogoraphy. Past incidents make me cautious with my optimism, my hopes being more about a lack of any generative AI in the music videos and lyrics than if the album is generally good. Tangent aside, I suppose I'm just a little bummed that (as of right now) the band isn't going to be doing anything to celebrate the Pinkerton album turning 30, nor anything for the white album turning 20, since I absolutely love both of those albums (and their deluxe editions even more) and would be over the moon if I could hear their entire track lists live. Either way, I'm so far pleased with the general "togetherness" and kind feelings the tour's advertising and album's only released song are sharing with our crazy world, and I hope that sentiment keeps throughout the tour and release.
