weezer tour opening band

Weezer Announces ‘Voyage To The Blue Planet’ 30th Anniversary Of The Blue Album Tour In Celebration Of Their Legendary Self-Titled Debut

ALSO ANNOUNCE KICKOFF EVENT AT THE LODGE ROOM ON MARCH 15th– ON SALE NOW

After teasing upcoming live shows on social media, Weezer are thrilled to officially announce an extensive North American tour in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their career-defining, self-titled debut Weezer , also known as the ‘ Blue Album .’ They will play Weezer (the Blue Album) in full along with other fan favorites, rarities and more. On this anniversary tour produced by Live Nation, Weezer will be joined by The Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr . as support.

Fans can sign up for Weezer’s mailing list to get access to presale tickets on Wednesday, March 13 at 12:00PM local time. More presales including a Citi presale (details below) will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning on Friday, March 15 at 10:00AM local time. All tickets can be purchased on the band’s website HERE .

Citi is the official card of Weezer’s Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets for U.S. dates beginning Wednesday, March 13 at 9:00AM local time until Thursday, March 14 at 10:00PM local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com .

Separate from their tour, the band also announces a special anniversary event on March 15th at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles with Dogstar as support. This exciting full-circle moment mirrors the band’s March 1992 show at Raji’s where they ended up opening for Dogstar in an unlikely turn of events. The name “Weezer” was coined in a conversation with the show’s booker (read more via Weezerpedia HERE ). They will be playing Weezer (the Blue Album) front to back alongside some very special guests.

An instantly recognizable cultural touchstone of the 1990s, Weezer (the Blue Album) has garnered such a firm place in the musical pantheon of the last three decades that it serves as an entry point into music for nascent listeners. A testament to the band’s staying power, tracks like “Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So” have earned hundreds of millions of streams and endless placements in TV shows and movies.

The run of dates kicks off in Saint Paul, Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center on September 4th before traveling to major cities including Toronto, Boston, New York, Nashville, and Washington, D.C. to name a few. It wraps with an epic finale in Los Angeles, where the group first got their start, with a show on October 11th in Inglewood, CA at the Intuit Dome. See below for full tour routing:

VOYAGE TO THE BLUE PLANET TOUR DATES:

Wed, Sept. 4, 2024 – Saint Paul, MN  – Xcel Energy Center

Fri, Sept. 6, 2024 – Rosemont, IL – Allstate Arena

Sat, Sept. 7, 2024 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena

Sun, Sept.  8, 2024 – Toronto, ON, Canada – Scotiabank Arena

Tues, Sept. 10, 2024 – Boston, MA – TD Garden

Wed, Sept. 11, 2024 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden

Fri, Sept. 13, 2024 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center

Sat, Sept. 14, 2024 – Washington, DC – The Anthem*

Tues, Sept. 17, 2024 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena

Wed, Sept. 18, 2024 – Greenville, SC – Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Fri, Sept. 20, 2024 – Orlando, FL – Kia Center

Sat, Sept. 21, 2024 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood*

Fri, Sept. 27, 2024 – Austin, TX – Moody Center

Sat, Sept. 28, 2024 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center

Sun, Sept. 29, 2024 – Dallas, TX –  American Airlines Center

Tues, Oct. 1, 2024 – Loveland, CO – Blue FCU Arena

Fri, Oct. 4, 2024 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena

Sat, Oct 5, 2024 – Vancouver, BC, Canada – Rogers Arena

Sun, Oct. 6, 2024 – Portland, OR – Moda Center

Tues, Oct. 8, 2024 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center

Wed, Oct. 9, 2024 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center

Fri, Oct. 11, 2024 – Inglewood, CA- Intuit Dome

* Not a Live Nation Date

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About Weezer:

Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, CA in 1992, currently consisting of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, lead guitar), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (rhythm guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), and Scott Shriner (bass, backing vocals).  Weezer has sold 10 million albums in the U.S., and over 35 million records worldwide.  Their catalogue has included such megahits as “Buddy Holly,” “Undone (The Sweater Song),” “Say It Ain’t So,” “El Scorcho,” “Hash Pipe,” “Island In The Sun,” “Beverly Hills,” “Pork and Beans,” and more.   Weezer has won Grammys, MTV Video Music Awards, and more throughout their career.  Following massively acclaimed album releases in 2016 and 2017 (Weezer [The White Album] and Pacific Daydream, respectively), and two sold out amphitheater tours with Panic! At the Disco (in 2016) and Pixies (in 2018), Weezer released a fan-inspired cover of Toto’s “Africa.”  The cover propelled the band back into the charts across the board, giving Weezer their FIFTH #1, TENTH Top 5, and SIXTEENTH Top 10 at Alternative Radio, in addition to landing Top 5 on the Hot AC chart.   It has since gone Platinum.  They then surprise dropped a covers album at the start of 2019 — Weezer (The Teal Album) — which has been streamed over a hundred million times since its release.  In 2021, Weezer released two very different but equally Weezer albums – OK Human, an orchestral pop album meditating on technology and disconnectedness, and Van Weezer, an homage to the band’s shared metal roots growing up.  OK Human’s first single, “All My Favorite Songs,” was one of the biggest rock hits of 2021, and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy for “Best Rock Song.” In 2022, the band released SZNZ, a four EP project inspired by Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and completed the European leg of the Hella Mega tour, which sold out stadiums in America throughout the year prior. In 2023, the band embarked on an incredible sold-out run across North America called the Indie Rock Road Trip, which was hailed as one of the best tours of the summer.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com .

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Weezer Is Taking A ‘Voyage To The Blue Planet’ With A North American Tour To Celebrate Their Iconic Debut Album

Around this time last year, Weezer announced their joint Indie Rock Roadtrip alongside Future Islands, Joyce Manor , Modest Mouse , Momma, Spoon, and White Reaper. On Monday, March 11, Weezer had an even more exciting tour announcement.

The iconic Californian rockers will commemorate the 30th anniversary of their self-titled debut album (also known as the “Blue Album”) with Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour . The North American trek will feature Weezer performing Weezer “in full along with other fan favorites, rarities, and more,” as per the press release.” The Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. will serve as supporting acts. All ticketing information is available here .

The press release additionally relayed, “Separate from their tour, the band also announces a special anniversary event on March 15 at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles with Dogstar as support. “This exciting full-circle moment mirrors the band’s March 1992 show at Raji’s, where they ended up opening for Dogstar in an unlikely turn of events.”

Weezer 2024 Tour Dates: Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour

09/04 — Saint Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center 09/06 — Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena 09/07 — Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena 09/08 — Toronto, ON, CA @ Scotiabank Arena 09/10 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden 09/11 — New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden 09/13 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center 09/14 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem 09/17 — Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena 09/18 — Greenville, SC @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena 09/20 — Orlando, FL @ Kia Center 09/21 — Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood 09/27 — Austin, TX @ Moody Center 09/28 — Houston, TX @ Toyota Center 09/29 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center 10/01 — Loveland, CO @ Blue FCU Arena 10/04 — Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena 10/05 — Vancouver, BC, CA @ Rogers Arena 10/06 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center 10/08 — Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center 10/09 — San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center 10/11 — Inglewood, CA @ Intuit Dome

Weezer’s Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour Poster

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The run of dates kicks off in Saint Paul, Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center on September 4.

Published on

Weezer has officially announced an extensive North American tour in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the band’s career-defining, self-titled debut Weezer , also known as the ‘Blue Album.’

They will play Weezer (the Blue Album) in full along with other fan favorites, rarities and more. On this anniversary tour produced by Live Nation, Weezer will be joined by The Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. as support.

Fans can sign up for Weezer’s mailing list to get access to presale tickets on Wednesday, March 13 at 12:00PM local time. More presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning on Friday, March 15 at 10:00AM local time. All tickets can be purchased on the band’s website.

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Separate from their tour, the band also announces a special anniversary event on March 15 at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles with Dogstar as support. This exciting full-circle moment mirrors the band’s March 1992 show at Raji’s where they ended up opening for Dogstar in an unlikely turn of events. The name “Weezer” was coined in a conversation with the show’s booker. They will be playing Weezer (the Blue Album) front to back alongside some very special guests.

An instantly recognizable cultural touchstone of the 1990s, Weezer (the Blue Album) has garnered such a firm place in the musical pantheon of the last three decades that it serves as an entry point into music for nascent listeners. A testament to the band’s staying power, tracks like “Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So” have earned hundreds of millions of streams and endless placements in TV shows and movies.

The run of dates kicks off in Saint Paul, Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center on September 4 before traveling to major cities including Toronto, Boston, New York, Nashville, and Washington, D.C. to name a few. It wraps with an epic finale in Los Angeles, where the group first got their start, with a show on October 11 in Inglewood, CA at the Intuit Dome. See below for full tour routing.

Visit Weezer’s official website for more information.

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• Dinosaur Jr.
• Flaming Lips

Weezer Announces Blue Album 30th Anniversary Tour: How To Buy Tickets

by Branson Knowles March 13, 2024, 7:39 pm

Legendary rock band Weezer has just announced a brand new tour in honor of the 30th anniversary of their self-titled masterpiece Weezer, a.k.a. The Blue Album. The band will be joined by The Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. for their tour, giving fans a run of concerts that aren’t to be missed.

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Weezer will be starting their latest tour at The Lodge Room in Los Angeles on March 15th before wrapping up their celebratory tour in Inglewood at the Intuit Dome in October. Weezer’s announced that they’ll be playing their hit Blue Album in full and tickets are already moving quickly. 

If you want to see Weezer live on their latest tour, tickets are available now through StubHub where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand. 

If you want to see The Blue Album outside of the U.S., you can get official tickets through Viagogo .

Weezer’s Blue Album is filled with hits from top to bottom. Some of the most popular songs fans can look forward to hearing include chart-topper “Say It Ain’t So,” MTV Music Video Awards Winner “Buddy Holly,” and everyone’s favorite “Undone — The Sweater Song”.

The Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. are great acts in their own right. While we don’t know exactly which songs the supporting acts will be playing for the tour, The Flaming Lips have crazy psychedelic songs fans love like “She Don’t Use Jelly” and “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”.

Weezer’s The Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour looks to be an exciting one. They’ve already announced their playlist and fans can’t wait to hear one of their best albums live in action once again. If you want to head to the Blue Planet any time this year, you can get official tickets directly through StubHub or by clicking here .

If you want to see Weezer perform with The Smashing Pumpkins and Teen Mortgage on their United Kingdom dates, head to Viagogo or click here .

Weezer’s The Voyage To The Blue Planet 2024 Tour Dates

03/15 – Los Angeles, California – Lodge Room 

05/04 – Atlanta, Georgia – Shaky Knees Festival

05/11 – San Diego, California – Wonderfront Festival

06/07 – Birmingham, United Kingdom – Utilita Arena 

06/08 – London, United Kingdom – The O2 

06/10 – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena 

06/12 – Glasgow, United Kingdom – OVO Hydro 

06/13 – Manchester, United Kingdom – Co-op Live 

06/14 – Cardiff, United Kingdom – Castle 

09/04 – Saint Paul, Minnesota – Xcel Energy Center 

09/06 – Rosemont, Illinois – Allstate Arena 

09/07 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena 

09/08 – Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Scotiabank Arena 

09/10 – Boston, Massachusetts – TD Garden 

09/11 – New York, New York – Madison Square Garden 

09/13 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Wells Fargo Center 

09/14 – Washington, DC – The Anthem 

09/17 – Nashville, Tennessee – Bridgestone Arena 

09/18 – Greenville, South Carolina – Bon Secours Wellness Arena 

09/20 – Orlando, Florida – Kia Center 

09/21 – Hollywood, Florida – Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood 

09/27 – Austin, Texas – Moody Center 

09/28 – Houston, Texas – Toyota Center 

09/29 – Dallas, Texas – American Airlines Center 

10/01 – Loveland, Colorado – Blue FCU Arena 

10/04 – Seattle, Washington – Climate Pledge Arena 

10/05 – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada – Rogers Arena 

10/06 – Portland, Oregon – Moda Center 

10/08 – Sacramento, California – Golden 1 Center 

10/09 – San Francisco, California – Chase Center 

10/11 – Inglewood, California – Intuit Dome 

When do tickets for the Weezer The Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour go on sale?

Tickets for all of Weezer’s shows for their The Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour will go on sale Friday, March 15th at 10 a.m. local time.

Where can I purchase official tickets to the Weezer The Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour?

You can buy official tickets to see Weezer’s tour directly through StubHub for any of their dates in America. If you want to see the band perform at any of their international concert dates, head to Viagogo .

Are there any presale codes or early access opportunities for the Weezer The Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour?

You can get access to presale codes and early access opportunities through Weezer’s fan club. If you’re not part of their fan club or missed out on the opportunity to get pre-sale tickets, the general on sale begins Friday, March 15th at 10 a.m. 

How much do Weezer tickets cost? Are there different pricing tiers?

Tickets come in different pricing tiers depending on how close you sit to the stage, what concert venue you choose to attend, and what comes with the price of a ticket. Check StubHub for specifics on pricing no matter where you choose to attend.

For international shows, check Viagogo . 

Is there a limit to how many tickets I can buy?

Yes, StubHub currently has a limit of 14 tickets per transaction. If you want to buy more tickets than that, you may be able to do so in a separate transaction. 

Viagogo has a similar ticket limit of 12 tickets per transaction. 

What’s the difference between VIP tickets and regular tickets?

VIP tickets usually come with a wide range of added benefits, sometimes including an exclusive entrance into the stadium/arena, a line-free merchandise shopping experience, free food or drinks, and front-row seating. 

Regular tickets usually just cover the cost of admission and guarantee your seat.

Are there any meet-and-greet or backstage pass opportunities for the Weezer 2024 Blue Album tour?

It doesn’t look like Weezer is offering backstage passes or meet-and-greet opportunities for their latest tour. Check back later for more information.

What are the Weezer The Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour dates and locations?

While we’ve listed all of Weezer’s latest shows for their 2024 tour run, they may add another leg to their tour later in the year. Check back later if you don’t currently see a tour date near you.

Is there an age restriction for The Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour?

Age restrictions or requirements may vary depending on the venue for the latest Weezer tour but check with your local concert venue through StubHub for confirmation. 

For shows outside of the U.S., check Viagogo .

Can I get a refund or exchange my ticket if I can’t attend?

Ticket refunds and exchanges are subject to the venue’s policy. Please contact the venue directly for more information.his

Can I bring a camera or recording device to Weezer’s concert dates?

You can bring personal recording equipment like the camera on your phone but you won’t be allowed to bring professional camera equipment or a camera bag.

Will merchandise be available for purchase at the concert?

Yes, Weezer merchandise should be available for purchase at the concert venue. 

Are there opening acts or special guests for Weezer’s The Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour?

Weezer will be primarily supported by The Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. for their The Voyage To The Blue Planet Tour. They will also be joined by The Smashing Pumpkins and Teen Mortgage for a couple of dates and Dogstar for their opening concert.

What happens if the concert is postponed or canceled?

If the concert is postponed, your tickets will be valid for the new date. If the concert is canceled, you will be eligible for a refund. Please note that this information is subject to change.

How can I avoid scams or counterfeit tickets?

You can avoid scams and counterfeit tickets by purchasing official tickets through StubHub, or by clicking here . To get official tickets for international shows, head to Viagogo or click here .

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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Weezer Will Celebrate 30th Anniversary of the ‘Blue Album' With an Arena Tour

Weezer's back on the road - and they're bringing 1994 with them.

On Monday, the rock band announced that it will be heading on the Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour this fall to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut, self-titled album Weezer , or the Blue Album.

The group announced the run of shows with an astronaut-themed video that sees all four members -Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, and Scott Shriner - walking in slow-motion onto a spaceship.

"The time has finally come for you to join us as we embark on The Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour ," the group wrote on Instagram. "We're celebrating 30 years of the Blue Album, and we're bringing along @flaminglips and @dinosaurjr for the ride."

Weezer will kick off their tour on Sept. 4 in Saint Paul, before stopping in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and Seattle. They'll close at the yet-to-be-opened Intuit Dome on Oct. 11. The band is expected to play the iconic LP, which includes singles "Undone," "Buddy Holly," and "Say It Ain't So," in full, along with fan-favorites and rarities.

Joining Weezer on the road will be Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. Tickets for the shows go on sale to the public on March 15 at 10 a.m. local time. Fans can sign up for presale tickets, which go on sale at noon local time on March 13.

The group will also perform a special anniversary event at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles on March 15.

"Get ready, because you're about to be feeling Blue all year round," the group wrote.

Rolling Stone ranked the Blue Album as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time. "Released in 1994, it's the geeky, equally angsty little brother of Pearl Jam's  Ten  and Nirvana's  Nevermind , somehow both more sincere and more ironic than its predecessors, and in some ways bolder in its disregard for the old rules of rock," read a review of the LP.

Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour

Sept. 4 – Saint Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center

Sept. 6 – Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena

Sept. 7 – Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena

Sept. 8 – Toronto, ON, Canada @ Scotiabank Arena

Sept. 10 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden

Sept. 11 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden

Sept. 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center

Sept. 14 – Washington, D.C. @ The Anthem

Sept. 17 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena

Sept. 18 – Greenville, SC @ Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Sept. 20 – Orlando, FL @ Kia Center

Sept. 21 – Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel

Sept. 27 – Austin, TX @ Moody Center

Sept. 28 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center

Sept. 29 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center

Oct. 1 – Loveland, CO @ Blue FCU Arena

Oct. 4 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena

Oct 5 – Vancouver, BC, Canada @ Rogers Arena

Oct. 6 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center

Oct. 8 – Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center

Oct. 9 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center

Oct. 11 – Inglewood, CA@ Intuit Dome

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Weezer to celebrate 30th anniversary of 'Blue Album' on concert tour with The Flaming Lips

California-based rock band Weezer is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the band's self-titled debut album, also known as the "Blue Album," with a North American tour set to kick off in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sept. 4.

The band will play "Weezer " in full along with other fan favorites and deep cuts. Weezer will be joined by opening acts The Flaming Lips  and  Dinosaur Jr.

A 1990s classic, "Weezer" produced hits such as "Buddy Holly” and "Say It Ain’t So" which, aside from becoming anthems of that decade, have earned hundreds of millions of streams and endless placements in TV shows and movies.

The band, formed in Los Angeles in 1992, currently consists of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, lead guitar), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (rhythm guitar, backing vocals, keyboards) and Scott Shriner (bass, backing vocals). Weezer has sold 10 million albums in the U.S. and over 35 million records worldwide.

Weezer Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour: How to get tickets

Presale tickets for anyone on Weezer's mailing list go on sale Wednesday at noon local time. Citi cardmembers will also have access to presale tickets beginning at 9 a.m. local time on the same day. General tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time and can be purchased at weezer.com .

The Rolling Stones are going back on tour in 2024: How to get tickets to the 16 stadium dates

Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour dates:

• Wed, Sept. 4, 2024 - Saint Paul, MN  - Xcel Energy Center
• Fri, Sept. 6, 2024 - Rosemont, IL - Allstate Arena
• Sat, Sept. 7, 2024 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena
• Sun, Sept.  8, 2024 - Toronto, ON, Canada - Scotiabank Arena
• Tues, Sept. 10, 2024 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
• Wed, Sept. 11, 2024 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
• Fri, Sept. 13, 2024 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
• Sat, Sept. 14, 2024 - Washington, DC - The Anthem*
• Tues, Sept. 17, 2024 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
• Wed, Sept. 18, 2024 - Greenville, SC - Bon Secours Wellness Arena
• Fri, Sept. 20, 2024 - Orlando, FL - Kia Center
• Sat, Sept. 21, 2024 - Hollywood, FL - Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood*
• Fri, Sept. 27, 2024 - Austin, TX - Moody Center
• Sat, Sept. 28, 2024 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
• Sun, Sept. 29, 2024 - Dallas, TX -  American Airlines Center
• Tues, Oct. 1, 2024 - Loveland, CO - Blue FCU Arena
• Fri, Oct. 4, 2024 - Seattle, WA - Climate Pledge Arena
• Sat, Oct 5, 2024 - Vancouver, BC, Canada - Rogers Arena
• Sun, Oct. 6, 2024 - Portland, OR - Moda Center
• Tues, Oct. 8, 2024 - Sacramento, CA - Golden 1 Center
• Wed, Oct. 9, 2024 - San Francisco, CA - Chase Center
• Fri, Oct. 11, 2024 - Inglewood, CA- Intuit Dome

*Not a Live Nation date

Avril Lavigne announces The Greatest Hits Tour with Simple Plan, All Time Low

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Weezer Announces 30th Anniversary ‘Voyage to the Blue Planet’ Tour

A North American tour in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their career-defining, self-titled debut

After teasing upcoming live shows on social media, Weezer are thrilled to officially announce an extensive North American tour in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their career-defining, self-titled debut  Weezer , also known as the ‘ Blue Album .’ They will play  Weezer  (the Blue Album) in full along with other fan favorites, rarities and more. On this anniversary tour produced by Live Nation, Weezer will be joined by  The   Flaming Lips  and  Dinosaur Jr . as support.

Fans can sign up for Weezer’s mailing list to get access to presale tickets on Wednesday, March 13 at 12:00PM local time. More presales including a Citi presale (details below) will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning on Friday, March 15 at 10:00AM local time. All tickets can be purchased on the band’s website  HERE .

Citi is the official card of Weezer’s Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets for U.S. dates beginning Wednesday, March 13 at 9:00AM local time until Thursday, March 14 at 10:00PM local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit  www.citientertainment.com .

Separate from their tour, the band also announces a special anniversary event on March 15th at the  Lodge Room  in  Los Angeles  with  Dogstar  as support. This exciting full-circle moment mirrors the band’s March 1992 show at Raji’s where they ended up opening for Dogstar in an unlikely turn of events. The name “Weezer” was coined in a conversation with the show’s booker (read more via Weezerpedia  HERE ). They will be playing  Weezer  (the Blue Album) front to back alongside some very special guests.

An instantly recognizable cultural touchstone of the 1990s,  Weezer  (the Blue Album) has garnered such a firm place in the musical pantheon of the last three decades that it serves as an entry point into music for nascent listeners. A testament to the band’s staying power, tracks like “Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So” have earned hundreds of millions of streams and endless placements in TV shows and movies.

The run of dates kicks off in Saint Paul, Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center on September 4th before traveling to major cities including Toronto, Boston, New York, Nashville, and Washington, D.C. to name a few. It wraps with an epic finale in Los Angeles, where the group first got their start, with a show on October 11th in Inglewood, CA at the Intuit Dome. See below for full tour routing:

VOYAGE TO THE BLUE PLANET TOUR DATES:

Wed, Sept. 4, 2024 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center

Fri, Sept. 6, 2024 – Rosemont, IL – Allstate Arena

Sat, Sept. 7, 2024 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena

Sun, Sept. 8, 2024 – Toronto, ON, Canada – Scotiabank Arena

Tues, Sept. 10, 2024 – Boston, MA – TD Garden

Wed, Sept. 11, 2024 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden

Fri, Sept. 13, 2024 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center

Sat, Sept. 14, 2024 – Washington, DC – The Anthem*

Tues, Sept. 17, 2024 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena

Wed, Sept. 18, 2024 – Greenville, SC – Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Fri, Sept. 20, 2024 – Orlando, FL – Kia Center

Sat, Sept. 21, 2024 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood*

Fri, Sept. 27, 2024 – Austin, TX – Moody Center

Sat, Sept. 28, 2024 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center

Sun, Sept. 29, 2024 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center

Tues, Oct. 1, 2024 – Loveland, CO – Blue FCU Arena

Fri, Oct. 4, 2024 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena

Sat, Oct 5, 2024 – Vancouver, BC, Canada – Rogers Arena

Sun, Oct. 6, 2024 – Portland, OR – Moda Center

Tues, Oct. 8, 2024 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center

Wed, Oct. 9, 2024 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center

Fri, Oct. 11, 2024 – Inglewood, CA- Intuit Dome

* Not a Live Nation Date

About Weezer:

Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, CA in 1992, currently consisting of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, lead guitar), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (rhythm guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), and Scott Shriner (bass, backing vocals). Weezer has sold 10 million albums in the U.S., and over 35 million records worldwide. Their catalogue has included such megahits as “Buddy Holly,” “Undone (The Sweater Song),” “Say It Ain’t So,” “El Scorcho,” “Hash Pipe,” “Island In The Sun,” “Beverly Hills,” “Pork and Beans,” and more.  Weezer has won Grammys, MTV Video Music Awards, and more throughout their career. Following massively acclaimed album releases in 2016 and 2017 (Weezer [The White Album] and Pacific Daydream, respectively), and two sold out amphitheater tours with Panic! At the Disco (in 2016) and Pixies (in 2018), Weezer released a fan-inspired cover of Toto’s “Africa.” The cover propelled the band back into the charts across the board, giving Weezer their FIFTH #1, TENTH Top 5, and SIXTEENTH Top 10 at Alternative Radio, in addition to landing Top 5 on the Hot AC chart.  It has since gone Platinum. They then surprise dropped a covers album at the start of 2019 — Weezer (The Teal Album) — which has been streamed over a hundred million times since its release. In 2021, Weezer released two very different but equally Weezer albums – OK Human, an orchestral pop album meditating on technology and disconnectedness, and Van Weezer, an homage to the band’s shared metal roots growing up. OK Human’s first single, “All My Favorite Songs,” was one of the biggest rock hits of 2021, and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy for “Best Rock Song.” In 2022, the band released SZNZ, a four EP project inspired by Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and completed the European leg of the Hella Mega tour, which sold out stadiums in America throughout the year prior. In 2023, the band embarked on an incredible sold-out run across North America called the Indie Rock Road Trip, which was hailed as one of the best tours of the summer.

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List of bands Weezer has toured with

This list is an attempt to document every band Weezer has toured with since its formation in 1992. The list does not include festival line-ups.

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• List of Weezer shows
• List of festivals Weezer has played
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Jeff Lynne’s ELO Announce 2024 Farewell Tour

By Nina Corcoran

Jeff Lynne’s ELO , the modern incarnation of Jeff Lynne and his band Electric Light Orchestra , have announced a farewell tour. Dubbed the Over and Out Tour, the shows will take place across North America this summer and autumn, beginning on August 24 in Palm Desert, California, and lasting on through to October 25 when Lynne and the band will conclude their goodbye run in Los Angeles. See the complete list of tour dates below.

Electric Light Orchestra spent their original run releasing beloved pop-rock and prog records in the 1970s and ’80s before disbanding in 1986. Jeff Lynne went on to record two solo albums of his own, 1990’s Armchair Theatre and 2012’s Long Wave , before reforming the group under the moniker Jeff Lynne’s ELO in 2014. The newly regrouped band wrote two albums together: 2015’s Alone in the Universe and 2019’s From Out of Nowhere .

Back in 2020, Jeff Lynne was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) , an honor that he said he was “extremely humbled and grateful” to receive. “To be recognised for my work is an extraordinary privilege,” he added.

Read about Electric Light Orchestra’s hit “Mr. Blue Sky” at No. 130 on “ The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s .”

All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Jeff Lynne’s ELO:

08-24 Palm Desert, CA - Acrisure Arena 08-27 Seattle, WA - Climate Pledge Arena 08-28 Vancouver, British Columbia - Rogers Arena 08-30 Portland, OR - Moda Center 09-01 San Francisco, CA - Chase Center 09-06 St. Louis, MO - Enterprise Center 09-07 Indianapolis, IN - Gainbridge Fieldhouse 09-09 Toronto, Ontario - Scotiabank Arena 09-10 Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Paints Arena 09-13 Cincinnati, OH - Heritage Bank Center 09-14 Cleveland, OH - Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse 09-16 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden 09-20 Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center 09-23 Boston, MA - TD Garden 09-25 Washington, D.C. - Capital One Arena 09-27 Chicago, IL - United Center 09-30 St, Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center 10-02 Denver, CO - Ball Arena 10-09 Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena 10-11 Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena 10-12 Atlanta, GA - State Farm Arena 10-15 Austin, TX - Moody Center 10-16 Houston, TX - Toyota Center 10-18 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center 10-21 Phoenix, AZ - Footprint Center 10-23 Sacramento, CA - Golden 1 Center 10-25 Inglewood, CA - Kia Forum

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Watch Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Kick Off Their 2024 World Tour

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

Six months after Bruce Springsteen suspended his world tour so he could recover from a painful peptic ulcer, he was back onstage with the E Street Band Tuesday night in Phoenix, for the first gig of the year. And while the setlist was largely the same as the one he delivered nightly in 2023, he did make some minor alterations, and create space for further additions as the year progresses.

The majority of last year’s concerts kicked off with “No Surrender,” but it loosened up during the stadium portion at the very end when he started breaking out “Lonesome Day” and “Night” prior to it. He stuck with that trio of songs at the top of the Phoenix show, and also performed “Darlington County” and “Darkness on the Edge of Town” early in the night. Both songs were only played on selection occasions last year.

The second half of the show, kicking off with the story of his late Castiles bandmate George Theiss and the emotionally-charged double shot of “Last Man Standing” and “Backstreets,” was largely identical to previous sets. But he did bust out “Twist and Shout” at the end of the first encore in response to a sign from an 18-year-old fan that was seeing him for the first time.

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If the past is any precedent, the setlist should continue to evolve in the coming months. It may never reach the point Springsteen hit in the 2010s where the show changed radically from night to night, and he took random sign requests throughout the evening, but it’s impossible to say for sure. We have a long way to go until closing night in Vancouver.

Here is the complete Phoenix setlist: “Lonesome Day” “Night” “No Surrender” “Two Hearts” “Darlington County” “Ghosts” “Prove It All Night” “Darkness on the Edge of Town” “Letter to You” “The Promised Land” “Spirit in the Night” “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)” “Nightshift” “Mary’s Place” “Last Man Standing” “Backstreets” “Because the Night” “She’s the One” “Wrecking Ball” “The Rising” “Badlands” “Thunder Road” Encore “Born To Run” “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” “Glory Days” “Dancing in the Dark” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” “Twist and Shout” Encore “I’ll See You in My Dreams”

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Jeff Lynne’s ELO Announce Final Tour: ‘Over and Out’

By Jem Aswad

Executive Editor, Music

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Jeff Lynne’s ELO have announced their final tour, dubbed “The Over and Out Tour.” The 27-date excursion, produced by Live Nation, will kick off in Palm Desert, CA on August 24 and travel across North America before concluding in Los Angeles on October 25.

Artist presale will begin on Wednesday, March 20 at 10 a.m. local time and the general onsale will start on Friday, March 22 at 10 a.m. local time. Exclusive VIP experiences will be available March 20 at 10am local.

“A brilliant catalog returns to U.S. stages and gives the strings-starved people what they want,” Variety wrote of the group’s previous tour in 2018. “The ELO catalog speaks for itself… and it was a glorious thing to behold… in a 19-song set that reprised the closest thing to truly Beatle-level pop the 1970s had to offer.”

ELO — originally named the Electric Light Orchestra — was formed in 1972 by singers/multi-instrumentalists Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan from the ashes of legendary rockers the Move, with the intention of fusing rock music with classical instruments. Wood left after one album and Lynne assumed leadership of the group — taking on lead singer, songwriter, producer and guitarist roles — which went on to score such massive hits through the ‘70s as “Evil Woman,” “Strange Magic,” “Living Thing,” “Can’t Get It Out of My Head,” “Mr. Blue Sky,” “Telephone Line,” “Don’t Bring Me Down” and more.

Lynne revived the ELO brand in 2001, with himself and longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy as the only remaining early members, for the album “Zoom” (featuring Harrison and Starr) and tour. He did so again in 2014 and has toured extensively and released two albums with the group, 2015’s “Alone in the Universe” and 2019’s “From Out of Nowhere.”

  Date                  City                                           Venue  

August 24       Palm Desert, CA                     Acrisure Arena

August 27       Seattle, WA                            Climate Pledge Arena

August 28       Vancouver, BC                       Rogers Arena

August 30       Portland, OR                           Moda Center

September 1    San Francisco, CA                  Chase Center

September 6    St. Louis, MO                         Enterprise Center

September 7    Indianapolis, IN                      Gainbridge Fieldhouse

September 9    Toronto, ON                           Scotiabank Arena

September 10  Pittsburgh, PA                        PPG Paints Arena

September 13  Cincinnati, OH                       Heritage Bank Center

September 14  Cleveland, OH                        Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

September 20  Philadelphia, PA                     Wells Fargo Center

September 23  Boston, MA                            TD Garden

September 25  Washington, DC                     Capital One Arena

September 27  Chicago, IL                             United Center

September 30  St, Paul, MN                           Xcel Energy Center

October 2        Denver, CO                             Ball Arena

October 9        Detroit, MI                              Little Caesars Arena

October 11      Nashville, TN                         Bridgestone Arena

October 12      Atlanta, GA                            State Farm Arena

October 15      Austin, TX                              Moody Center

October 16      Houston, TX                           Toyota Center

October 18      Dallas, TX                              American Airlines Center

October 23      Sacramento, CA                     Golden 1 Center

October 25      Los Angeles, CA                    Kia Forum

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Russian authorities say at least 115 killed in Moscow concert hall attack

ISIL says it was behind attack on Crocus City Hall after gunmen in combat fatigues opened fire during a rock concert.

Gunmen in combat fatigues opened fire and detonated explosives at Moscow’s Crocus City Hall killing at least 115 people and injuring 187 in a brazen attack claimed by the ISIL (ISIS) group .

At least five camouflage-clad gunmen with automatic weapons burst into the packed concert hall in the Russian capital’s western suburbs on Friday night as the audience was gathering to watch the veteran rock band Picnic, shooting into the crowd and setting off explosives that started a massive fire.

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More than 130 killed in moscow concert hall attack, russia-ukraine war: list of key events, day 758, moscow concert hall attack: what do we know so far, ‘heinous, cowardly’: world reacts to attack on moscow concert hall.

At least 115 people have been confirmed killed, Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Saturday, adding that the number of victims was expected to rise further.

At least 187 people including eight children were injured.

Health officials earlier said 60 of the injured were in critical condition.

ISIL, the hardline group that once sought control over Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack on its Telegram channel, saying the gunmen had escaped. It was not possible to independently verify the claim.

On Saturday, a spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee said it was too early to say anything about the fate of the attackers, state news agency RIA reported.

The concert hall, one of the most popular in Moscow, can hold some 6,200 people.

Alexei, a music producer, was about to settle into his seat ahead when he said he heard “several machineguns bursts” and “a lot of screams”.

“I realised right away that it was automatic gunfire and understood that most likely it’s the worst: a terrorist attack,” Alexei told the AFP news agency, declining to share his full name.

As people ran towards the emergency exits, “there was a terrible crush” with concertgoers climbing on one another’s heads to get out, he added.

Another witness, speaking to the Reuters news agency, also described the terror and panic inside the venue.

“A stampede began. Everyone ran to the escalator,” they said, declining to share their name. “Everyone was screaming; everyone was running.”

The attack, which left the concert hall in flames and its roof in a state of collapse, was one of the worst in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege in which more than 330 people, half of them children, were killed. The death toll appeared set to rise, according to unconfirmed reports.

Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari said that while the capital was not under lockdown or a curfew, “a number of events over the weekend here have been cancelled, including concerts”.

Russian officials said security has been tightened at Moscow’s airports, railway stations and on the metro system. The mayor cancelled all mass gatherings, while theatres and museums in the area, home to more than 21 million people, were ordered shut for the weekend. Other Russian regions also tightened security.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Friday’s raid was a “huge tragedy.” President Vladimir Putin was being given continuous updates about the situation, according to his spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Putin also wished a speedy recovery to those injured, state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, citing Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova.

An ‘act of terrorism’

The prosecutor’s office said several men in combat fatigues had entered the concert hall, about 20km (12 miles) from the Kremlin and next to the Moscow ring road, and fired on those inside.

Repeated volleys of gunfire could be heard in videos posted by Russian media and on Telegram channels. One showed two men with rifles moving through the venue. Another showed a man in the auditorium saying the assailants had set it on fire, as repeated gunshots rang out in the background.

Others showed up to four attackers, armed with assault rifles and wearing caps, shooting screaming people at point-blank range.

Security guards at the concert hall were not armed, and Russian media said some could have been killed at the start of the attack.

ISIL, in a statement posted by its Amaq news agency, claimed its fighters had attacked on the outskirts of Moscow, “killing and wounding hundreds and causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to their bases safely”.

Russia has reported several incidents involving ISIL this month, with authorities saying they killed six alleged members of the group in a shootout in Ingushetia in the restive Caucasus region, and the Federal Security Service (FSB) saying on March 7 it foiled an attack by Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) , an Afghan affiliate of ISIL, on a Moscow synagogue.

The United States had also warned of a heightened threat. Several hours after the FSB announcement, the US embassy in Moscow issued a warning that “extremists” had imminent plans for an attack in Moscow. On Friday night, a US official said Washington had intelligence confirming ISIL’s claim of responsibility for the attack on Crocus City Hall.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said what had happened was a “bloody terrorist attack”. Investigators from Russia’s Investigative Committee, which deals with major crimes, said they had “opened a criminal probe under article 205 of the criminal code [terrorist act]”.

There was condemnation of the attack from across the world .

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his shock at the attack, which his spokesman said he “condemns in the strongest possible terms”, while the UN Security Council condemned what it called a “heinous and cowardly terrorist attack.”

French President Emmanuel Macron “strongly condemns the terrorist attack claimed by the Islamic State”, the Elysee Palace said.

“France expresses its solidarity with the victims, their loved ones and all the Russian people.”

Spain said it was “shocked” at events in Moscow, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned what she said was an “odious act of terrorism” and expressed her “full solidarity with the affected people and the victims’ families”.

Engulfed in flames

The Kremlin did not immediately blame anyone for the attack, but some Russian lawmakers were quick to accuse Ukraine .

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on the Telegram app that if those responsible for the attack turn out to be Ukrainian, “all of them must be found and ruthlessly destroyed as terrorists”.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied Ukraine’s involvement.

“Ukraine has never resorted to the use of terrorist methods,” he posted on X. “Everything in this war will be decided only on the battlefield.”

Rosgvardia, Russia’s national guard, said it was searching for the perpetrators of the attack, and its units were helping evacuate concertgoers from the burning building.

Rescue services had evacuated about 100 people from the basement of the Crocus City Hall, but there are still people on the roof, Russian news agencies reported.

Media reports said firefighters were trying to contain the fire, as plumes of black smoke rose above the venue into the night sky.

Helicopters were also deployed in an attempt to douse the flames that had engulfed the building.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, authorities said most of the fire had been put out.

“There are still some pockets of fire, but the fire has been mostly eliminated. Rescuers were able to enter the auditorium,” Moscow Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram.

Weezer’s Blue Album at 30: The inside story of the debut that launched L.A.’s nerdiest band

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Thirty years ago, Weezer embarked on one of the more improbable careers in pop history with the release of the band’s self-titled debut album.

Self-consciously nerdy in an era of scuzzy post-grunge bluster, 1994’s crisp and witty “Weezer” — soon to be known as the Blue Album because of its cover (and the fact that the band kept naming additional albums “Weezer”) — wasn’t immediately hailed as charting a new direction for alternative rock. But over the decades to come, the 10-track LP would end up shaping successive generations of emo and pop-punk acts on its way to triple-platinum certification and a spot on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Now, Weezer is set to mark the Blue Album’s 30th anniversary with a tour starting in September on which the Los Angeles-based band will perform the record from beginning to end, including hit singles such as “Buddy Holly,” “Say It Ain’t So” and “Undone — The Sweater Song.” (Combined stream count for those three songs on Spotify: more than 1 billion.)

To hear the inside story of how Weezer’s debut came to be, The Times spoke with the four members of the band at that time — Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Matt Sharp and Brian Bell — as well as a half-dozen of the artists and record-industry types who played a part in the beginning of the group’s success.

This is the oral history of the Blue Album.

I. ‘I’m never gonna be in this band’

Rivers Cuomo (singer and guitarist): If you really want to understand the Blue Album — not just the illusion of the Blue Album that we sold — you have to take it in the context of what happened right before it, which is that I moved to L.A. from Connecticut after high school with the intention of making it with my heavy metal band.

Patrick Wilson (drummer): When I first met Rivers, he still had super-long hair.

Cuomo: You can see a Judas Priest poster and a Quiet Riot poster on the inside of the Blue Album booklet — these obvious clues to where we’d come from.

Wilson: My friend Pat Finn and I had a band called Bush. This was before the other Bush. Kind of a Primus-y vibe with a skate component to it. We used to rehearse in Vernon over by the Farmer John’s slaughterhouse.

Cuomo: I got a job working with Pat Finn at Tower Records on Sunset [Boulevard]. He had a shaved head and he was cool and punk, and I was trying to get him into my band, which was called Avant Garde. He listened to our tape and said, “This is terrible — I’m never gonna be in this band.”

Finn introduced Cuomo to Wilson — and pushed the burgeoning songwriter to move beyond hair metal to check out bands like Nirvana, the Pixies and Sonic Youth.

Wilson: This was a time of changing into something else. It was a period for all of us to be like, “That’s not cool — this is cool.”

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Cuomo: I wasn’t the singer in Avant Garde. I thought of myself as an inferior singer to the people who were singing in my bands before me — they had bigger ranges and more nimble voices. But Pat [Finn] was like, “Go write your own songs and sing them yourself.” This was during a big walk up to the top of the hill at Griffith Park. He said, “I don’t care if you think you’re not a singer. That’s gonna be a much better version of what you can do.”

Wilson: Rivers and I formed a band called Fuzz.

Matt Sharp (former bassist): I’d say it was kind of Soundgarden-ish.

Wilson: We actually had some pretty cool jams. I was so impressed with Rivers’ guitar playing. But it just kind of fell apart.

Fuzz morphed into a short-lived group called 60 Wrong Sausages, which featured Finn on bass and another friend of Finn’s, Jason Cropper, on guitar. The band played a single gig in November 1991 before it too broke up.

Wilson: Rivers lived in Santa Monica in an apartment behind Pico [Boulevard] on Urban Avenue. He had an eight-track cassette recorder, and we’d go over there and try and get ideas down.

Cuomo: I wanted to create a body of work before I put my next band together. There was so much anxiety about authenticity at the time, and we’d all just made this radical transformation from being metalheads to being alternative. You didn’t want anyone to find out what you looked like 12 months ago.

Anna Waronker (singer and guitarist, That Dog ): It was clear that Rivers had some serious chops, which nobody cared about in our little world. I mean, I was doing the only thing I knew how to do. So I found it interesting that someone who knew how to do other things was choosing to … not dumb it down but, like, weird it up.

Cuomo: It seemed like you could kind of fabricate an image for yourself and it would feel real.

Wilson: Rivers said we wouldn’t rehearse until we had 50 songs. We got pretty close, but then we didn’t have anyone else to play with. I’m like, “I know a guy who plays bass.” Matt and I had worked at California Tan on the 12th floor of the Monty’s building in Westwood. They sold products to tanning salons, and Matt was singularly focused on getting clients to buy a poster that explained the California Tan system.

Sharp: I think I sold 101 when nobody else could sell five.

Wilson: By this point, Matt had moved up to the Bay Area, but I told him he should come back down and play with us. Rivers was like, “It’s not that simple,” and I was like, “Everything’s that simple.”

To entice his friend, Wilson sent Sharp a tape of Cuomo’s new songs that included future Blue Album cuts such as “ The World Has Turned and Left Me Here ” and “Undone — The Sweater Song.”

Cuomo: When Matt heard it, it was like a light bulb went on.

Sharp: It was the first time someone I knew created something where I thought, my God — this is something I’d listen to even if I didn’t know them.

Cuomo: He saw that this could actually work, so he moved down and was very, very aggressive about joining the band and getting the ball rolling. He found a house with a garage we could set up as a rehearsal space. At first they rejected us, but Matt talked the owners into it with his sales talent. We all got our dads to co-sign the lease.

Rounded out by Jason Cropper, the foursome practiced for the first time on Valentine’s Day of 1992 and debuted as Weezer a month later at the now-defunct Raji’s on Hollywood Boulevard. (The band’s name was drawn from a childhood nickname Cuomo’s dad had given him.) Also on the bill that night: actor Keanu Reeves’ band Dogstar.

Sharp: You could feel the energy around Keanu. The bar was packed to the hilt, line out the door. We’re thinking we’re just gonna ride this to the moon.

Cuomo: We were booked to play after Dogstar.

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Sharp: When they get offstage it’s probably 1 in the morning. We’re scrambling to get our equipment onstage, but by the time we start, everybody from their crowd has left. There’s like five people in the room.

Wilson: We covered “M.E.” by Gary Numan, and it was amazing. Probably nobody would think that now.

Weezer gigged regularly over the next few months — at Club Lingerie, at the Coconut Teaszer , at the Central (now known as the Viper Room) — to more or less the same five people. A deflated Cuomo, who’d begun to ponder the value of a college degree, gave Sharp an ultimatum.

Sharp: It was very cut anddried. He said, “You get us a record deal in nine months or I’m going to school.”

Wilson: That’s when I think we got a little more serious.

Cuomo: I remember sitting in the Weezer house one day playing an Avant Garde song called “ Renaissance .” I still loved the chords — they were so emotional. So I wrote some new lyrics over it, and that was “Say It Ain’t So.”

Brian Bell (guitarist): Ironically, Jason Cropper gave me a Weezer flier at Club Lingerie. So my girlfriend at the time and I went to see them at the Coconut Teaszer. I wasn’t super-impressed, but when they got to “Say It Ain’t So,” I was like, this is a cover, right? There’s no way a local band could write a song this good.

II. ‘We needed to swing for the fences’

In November 1992, Weezer recorded a four-song demo that included “Say It Ain’t So” and “Undone — The Sweater Song.” The tape made its way to Todd Sullivan, a junior A&R exec utive at Geffen Records’ alt-rock DGC subsidiary that was home to Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Intrigued, Sullivan checked out Weezer’s next show.

Todd Sullivan: They weren’t a tremendous live band by any means. But there was this feeling that they had their blinders on and they knew what they were going for. And the songs — I mean, “Say It Ain’t So” was incredible. I could kind of connect the dots.

Cuomo: By that December, we had a meeting with a very small indie label.

Wilson: They offered us 15 grand to make a record. Then Slash Records offered us 80 grand. I couldn’t fathom saying no to that. But Matt and Rivers said we needed to swing for the fences.

Sullivan: They were sort of playing me: “Hey, you know so-and-so’s also interested…”

Sharp: The skills I used at California Tan were the same ones that got us a record deal.

Wilson: Next thing I knew, I had $2,500 on an ATM card, which I’d never had in my life.

Cuomo: I met David Geffen years later. I’d read this book, “The Operator” by Tom King, which was a biography — kind of an exposé — that I guess Geffen found very unflattering. But I thought it was amazing. This was 2001, in a period when I was managing the band, so I was very interested in the music business and all the tricks he pulled. So I said, “Can I meet you?” and he invited me over for lunch. I told him how we’d just come back from this sophomore slump with “Pinkerton,” and I said something like, “But it’s turned into a real cult phenomenon.” He goes, “ ‘Cult phenomenon’ is a euphemism for failure.”

After signing to DGC in June 1993, Weezer started making plans to record the band’s debut album, for which Cuomo had no interest in working with a producer.

Cuomo: Any time anyone had been in a room with us — not just in Weezer but in my earlier bands — they’d just turned the dials in a way that made things sound worse.

Waronker: I understood not wanting to ease up on the reins. We were all very pure about our music.

Sullivan: They wanted to do it by themselves at their house, but that just left too much room for disaster.

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Cuomo: The record company was very insistent: “First record, you need a producer. Second record, we can talk.” So I had that in my mind, and then I was in the grocery store and I heard “ Just What I Needed ” come on over the PA. I was like, That sounds like Weezer — let’s get that guy. I didn’t know who that guy was.

It was Ric Ocasek of the Cars. In addition to scoring a string of indelible new wave hits in the late ’70s and early ’80s, the frontman had previously worked in the studio with Bad Brains and Suicide, among other acts.

Wilson: To this day, the Cars’ first record is unimpeachable in every way.

Sullivan: I thought Ric would be a great idea because he’d produced some edgier bands that were coming out of left field. I sent Ric the demo and he responded immediately, kind of freaking out about the songs.

III. ‘A dark room by myself’

Ocasek, who died in 2019, had only one condition for taking the job, which was that Weezer come to him in his home base of New York because his wife, model Paulina Porizkova, was pregnant with the couple’s first son. They set up at the historic Electric Lady Studios in August 1993.

Cuomo: I was beside myself because I knew KISS had recorded there. I remember going to the bathroom for the first time thinking, Ace Frehley sat on this toilet that I’m about to sit on.

Sullivan: Ric was a real gentle guiding hand.

Cuomo: He’d sit in the chair with his knees folded up to his chest, like a giant stork. And he was constantly doodling these amazing psychedelic doodles.

Sharp: Paulina was there too. This is one of the most spectacular women in the world, and she’s not cheerleading us or anything. But by going about her business, it made you feel like it wasn’t crazy for you to be there — like, yeah, let’s get to work.

Among the songs Cuomo wrote after Ocasek agreed to produce Weezer’s debut were “In the Garage” and “Buddy Holly,” the latter of which Cuomo intended to save for the band’s second LP but which he included on the Blue Album at Ocasek’s urging.

Cuomo: For “ In the Garage ,” I definitely had the Beach Boys and “In My Room” in mind. At one point while I was writing, I wanted some new inspiration, so I went to Record Surplus on Santa Monica and went through all these classic LPs. I narrowed it down to “Led Zeppelin II” and the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds,” but I only had enough money for one. It was basically a coin toss, and I walked out with “Pet Sounds.” Then I went on a deep dive and got all their other albums. It’s funny that Weezer could’ve gone in a totally different direction.

In New York, the band’s members stayed at the rock-star-friendly Gramercy Park Hotel. Yet they hardly availed themselves of the city’s busy night life.

Wilson: I didn’t party between the ages of 20 and 30. So Matt and I stayed in. We were roommates, and I distinctly remember watching the first episode of Conan O’Brien’s show together. At the end, we were like, he just has to work on his s— a little bit and he’ll be great.

Cuomo: I was in the studio at least 12 hours a day — mostly in a dark room by myself.

Meanwhile, a fault line was deepening between Cropper and the rest of Weezer. (Cropper didn’t respond to The Times’ interview request.)

Wilson: Jason had a girlfriend and knocked her up, and she came to the sessions and the vibe was weird. It just wasn’t gonna work out. I remember sitting down and having the conversation with him. He was bummed, but I don’t think he was fully surprised.

Sharp: What it really boiled down to was that whatever it is we were setting out to do, it felt like it was gonna be much more difficult if he stayed. There’s a bunch of reasons for that, but they’re so boring that they’re not important.

Cuomo: We were pretty much done with the record.

Sharp: His departure happened the day we completed the first mix.

Cuomo: In our minds — these were mainly conversations between me and Matt — we felt like if this was gonna happen eventually, we wanted it to happen before the band was presented to the public. That way the fans would never have to deal with any kind of breakup. We all came from broken homes, and we wanted things to be very stable for the audience.

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Wilson: It was strangely anticlimactic. Really, we could have just been a trio at that point.

Sullivan: I think it was Rivers who called me, which was maybe a little odd, because normally it would’ve been Matt. He said, “We want to make a change on guitar.” For me, it was a panic, because I’m still a young A&R guy. How do I let the label know about this? Are we gonna have to re-record the whole record?

In fact, Cuomo rerecorded Cropper’s guitar parts in a single day.

Cuomo: Maybe I had to stop and fix an error or something. But I knew how the songs went. There are spots on the album where even now I really miss having him play those parts. The beginning of “ My Name Is Jonas ,” that’s pure Jason — he’s just like a hippie good ol’ boy. Or the finger-picking in “The World Has Turned.” I still sweat if I have to do those at an acoustic show.

Beyond the recording of the album, of course, Weezer would need to find a new second guitar player.

Sharp: We had one choice to replace Jason, and that was Brian Bell — which was ironic because we’d never seen or heard him play guitar. We’d only seen him play bass in a band called Carnival Art, and I thought, that is one debonair son of a bitch.

Wilson: I think Matt and Rivers just thought Brian looked great.

Bell: When they called, I had an instinct this is what was gonna happen. Matt was like, “Hey, what are you up to?” — just small talk. Then Rivers grabbed the phone: “Do you want to be in our band?”

Weezer overnighted a tape to Bell, who overdubbed himself playing on the band’s songs as a kind of audition, then sent the tape back to New York.

Bell: The very next day, someone from the record label brought me a plane ticket — this is back when they were a tangible thing on a thick-stock piece of paper — that said L.A. to New York. It was a red-eye, and when I landed there was a little man with a chauffeur hat and a long limousine with a phone in it. It felt so Led Zeppelin. We went straight to the hotel, and they told me I was gonna sleep in Pat’s room.

Wilson: Brian claims that when I met him, I dropped my pants. I don’t have a strong recollection of that, but I’m not ruling it out. It sounds like something I’d do.

At Electric Lady, Weezer played the almost-completed Blue Album for Bell, who’d arrived in time to contribute background vocals.

Bell: The first song they put on was “In the Garage.” It was incredible — like a lot of the indie stuff I was listening to, like Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement, but polished. I looked at them and said, “Guys, we’re gonna be f—ing huge.”

IV. ‘The right shade of blue’

With the group’s debut in the can, Weezer returned to L.A. in October 1993 determined to break in Bell as a full-fledged member of the band. Sharp leveraged his relationships with promoters around town to book what Weezer called the Self-Punishment Tour: a dozen shows in two weeks at venues including the Roxy, the Blue Saloon, Raji’s and the Alligator Lounge.

Sullivan: I sent a memo to the record company titled “Weezer Tours the Bowels of L.A.”

Sharp: Trial by fire, jump in the deep end — it was whatever cliché you want to use. But the thing is, I didn’t actually want anybody to see us yet, so I told the promoters, “Give me your worst slot — the 1 a.m. or the 6 p.m. or whatever. We’re just there to make mistakes.”

Sullivan: The gigs were very rough.

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Bell: My first show was at Club Lingerie, and I thought we were great. My parents came — it was a big moment. Afterwards, Rivers and I hugged for the first and last time. It was the most awkward thing in the world. I think I told him, “Don’t worry, that’ll never happen again.”

The band continued to hone its live attack in early 1994, though Cuomo also used the last of his money from Geffen’s advance to enroll in several music classes at L os Angeles Valley College, not far from the epicenter of January’s disastrous Northridge earthquake .

Cuomo: I remember feeling aftershocks in wind ensemble.

Bell: I had three jobs while we were waiting for the record to come out. I worked at Jet Rag, the clothing store on La Brea [Avenue]. I worked at Caioti, an Italian restaurant in Laurel Canyon — their claim to fame was they had this salad dressing that made pregnant women go into labor. And I delivered flowers.

While making a delivery one day to an office building, Bell was scouted by a casting agent working on a Nike commercial. She put him in the spot alongside a young Norman Reedus (later of “The Walking Dead”).

Bell: I told him about Weezer, and he goes, “Oh, sounds like kind of a Beck thing — like ‘ Getting crazy with the Cheez Whiz ’!”

Sharp: The album was pushed back so many times. I’d imagine we had the least amount of priority in Geffen Records history.

Yet the label hired the esteemed pin-up photographer Peter Gowland , who died in 2010, to shoot the Blue Album’s cover: Cuomo, Sharp, Bell and Wilson standing against a blue background.

Bell: We went to his house in the Palisades. I’d never even heard of the Palisades.

Cuomo: The night before, I went to some random salon and said, “Give me a haircut,” and that’s what they gave me. It totally sucks. But now that’s me for eternity in every meme.

Bell: I wore my favorite vintage bowling shirt. Pat came with his head shaved for some reason.

Cuomo: The original conception for the cover was that we’d be in these matching striped shirts like the Beach Boys.

Wilson: We played a show at Al’s Bar with Walt Mink and we wore the striped shirts. It bummed all the hipster bands out so hard.

Cuomo: I don’t know who suggested we do some shots in our regular clothes, but when we looked back at them, we all liked those the best.

Wilson: Coming out of hair bands into grunge, it just hit perfectly — like, oh, we’re normcore.

Spike Jonze (film and music video director): They looked like people I would’ve hung out with in high school.

Bell: We spent maybe two days searching for the right shade of blue.

Album cover in place, Weezer’s debut was almost ready for release.

Sharp: Right before it came out, Rivers and I sat on a couch with a yellow legal pad and calculated how many of our relatives would buy the record. I was like, “Put my dad down for one — actually, he’ll probably buy a few to give to people at his office.” I think we got up to 340 copies.

V. ‘We were trying to break this band’

The Blue Album finally dropped on May 10, 1994 — a month after the death of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and just weeks after DGC released “ Live Through This ” by Cobain widow Courtney Love’s band Hole.

Bell: We all wondered whether Kurt would’ve liked Weezer. That felt important.

Sullivan: There wasn’t a lot of love from the press. Because things didn’t happen in the normal quote-unquote alternative way — two indie records, tours all over — the reaction was that this was a manufactured band.

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Cuomo: You could easily be fooled: “Oh, these kids just picked up their instruments.” Somebody called us Stone Temple Pixies, which touched a nerve. To us, the music sounded amazing, so to have it dismissed like that was painful.

Sharp: I remember being in a record store not long after the album came out and seeing all the promo copies in the 99-cent bin.

Soon, though, “Undone — The Sweater Song” began to take off, first on college radio, then on trendsetting modern-rock stations like L.A.’s KROQ-FM and Seattle’s 107.7 The End.

Kevin Weatherly (program director, KROQ): It cut through because it was so different from everything else at the time. This was the height of grunge, and then along comes Weezer with this nerdy little pop-punk ditty.

Jonze: Matt called me and said the label really wanted to do a music video. But Rivers didn’t like the idea — he felt it was contrived. So we talked, and I told him, “Look, a music video can be anything. It doesn’t have to be what you think it is. It could be as perfect and simple as your album cover — just you guys playing against a blue wall, singing or half-singing or not singing at all.” He goes, “But then what happens?” And I’m like, “I don’t know — a bunch of dogs run through at the end?” I wasn’t pitching an idea as much as I was just saying that he could make anything out of it.

Sharp: We’d received video treatments from other directors and it’d be, like, the band enveloped in a giant sweater.

Jonze: That same day after our meeting, Matt called me again and said, “OK, Rivers wants to do the video you pitched.” I was like, “Wait, what video?”

With Jonze directing, Weezer shot the “Undone” clip in a studio in Silver Lake — dogs, blue wall, half-singing and all.

Jonze: We did a couple takes where they lip-synched all the way through. But I think we were more interested in just f—ing around. I was surprised by how compelling Rivers was. Even though I’d seen them live, I didn’t know he’d be so aware of the camera and how to play with it.

Bell: I’m not sure I was told the dogs were gonna come out.

“Undone” quickly found a home on MTV, which gave the video its coveted Buzz Clip status.

Patti Galluzzi (former vice president of programming, MTV): That was our way of saying that we were trying to break this band. And this was a textbook way to break a band: You start with a really catchy song, but it’s not necessarily what you think will be your massive hit. You do a video that shows a band in the way they want to portray themselves — that shows who they really are. That’s what comes across in the “Undone” video, so then you understand them before they come out in costume.

The costumes came in Jonze’s video for “Buddy Holly,” which depicted Weezer performing in a meticulous re-creation of Arnold’s Drive-In from the ’70s sitcom “Happy Days.”

Jonze: The way I come up with ideas for videos is I listen to a song over and over again and write down every idea I have — bad, good, stupid, whatever. With “Buddy Holly,” I just wrote “Happy Days” at some point. I was the right age where it was in reruns all the time, and I could just see the band playing in the diner. It also felt appropriate because they were referencing a lot of childhood things in their lyrics, and for the people that made “Happy Days,” the show was nostalgic for them.

Cuomo: Spike pitched it, and we were like, “Oh my God, the Fonz is gonna be dancing in our video.” It just blew our minds.

Bell: I walked onto the set and just thought, Are you f—ing kidding me?

In the video, Weezer’s performance is carefully intercut with clips from the original series, including Henry Winkler’s Fonzie doing his “Aaayyy” catchphrase. There’s also a newly shot cameo by actor Al Molinaro , who played the drive-in’s owner on “Happy Days” and who introduces “Kenosha, Wisconsin’s own Weezer.”

Jonze: It was 20 years later and he was very gray, so we put dye in his hair. A very simple trick, but it kind of blurred the lines even more. You’re like, Wait a second…

Wilson: I remember CNN doing a bit on it in the context of “Forrest Gump” and CGI. But even they missed it — there was no CGI in that video. It was all clever blocking and clever editing.

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Jonze: Eric Zumbrunnen , the editor I worked with for almost 25 years — he passed away a few years ago — he and I sat and went through hours and hours and hours of “Happy Days” and assembled a skeleton that we were gonna drop all the shots of Weezer into.

Unlike “Undone,” “Buddy Holly” — which went on to win the prize for breakthrough video at the MTV Video Music Awards — featured Cuomo without the thick-framed glasses that had quickly become part of the frontman’s signature look.

Cuomo: That was very intentional, because I didn’t want to look too much like Kurt Cobain in Nirvana’s “ In Bloom ” video. I loved him so much, and I was so mad that I didn’t do that before he did it.

Wilson: I don’t know why Rivers’ glasses became a thing. I’m the guy who wears glasses — I’ve worn them since second grade! Later on, we’d go on some late-night show and Jordan Schur, the president of Geffen at the time, would be like, “Nah, man, you gotta wear the glasses.” Why did he have to wear the glasses?

“Buddy Holly” peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s alternative rock radio chart in mid-December.

Galluzzi: We played the hell out of that video.

Weatherly: It all culminated with Weezer playing KROQ Acoustic Christmas at the end of ’94. We had Henry Winkler bring them onstage. That was great: Weezer and the Fonz hanging out at the Universal Amphitheatre.

Cuomo: I was so stressed out and scared.

VI. ‘I feel like I’m gonna pass out’

For all they did to boost Weezer’s profile, the band’s first two videos caused some to view the band as a bunch of ironic jokesters — a perception that Cuomo felt undercut the real emotional turmoil in his music.

Cuomo: That was quite a shock for me to discover that. It didn’t verify the great vision I wanted to have of us.

Bell: We were being called wisenheimers. I had to look that word up.

Toward the end of 1994, Weezer toured as an opening act for Live, the Pennsylvania alt-rock band then riding high with its album “Throwing Copper.”

Ed Kowalczyk (singer and guitarist, Live): After the shows we’d be running around drinking Jack Daniel’s and smoking cigarettes, and one night I walked onto Weezer’s bus and went to the back lounge. I’ll never forget it: There’s Rivers studying French and doing scales on his keyboard. I was like, this is a totally different band.

Weatherly: I don’t know if I’d say they were apologetic rock stars. But part of the charm was that they didn’t seem super-comfortable in the limelight.

At the same time, Weezer was happily toying with the kind of rock iconography Cuomo had grown up admiring in the likes of his beloved KISS.

Kowalczyk: No matter what size the venue was, they’d put this massive light-up W on stage behind them. This thing was probably 6½ feet tall, must have weighed 500 pounds. Three or four guys had to roll it in. Rivers and I are getting along great, and he’s like, “Come up and sing ‘Buddy Holly’ with me.” So I get up there one night — really small stage in a rock club somewhere — and those lights are so freakin’ hot I feel like I’m gonna pass out. This was the early ’90s — these weren’t LEDs, they were 200-watt fry bulbs like at McDonald’s. It turned the entire stage into an oven.

Weezer toured Europe for the first time in February 1995 as the Blue Album reached No. 16 on the Billboard 200. The LP’s third and final single, “Say It Ain’t So,” was accompanied by a video shot by director Sophie Muller in the garage at Weezer’s house on Amherst Avenue — the place Sharp had convinced the landlords to rent to the band three years before.

Cuomo: Looking back at it, it was this tiny little trashed guesthouse. But it was so huge for us. It’s gone now — they demolished it .

“Say It Ain’t So” draws on an incident from Cuomo’s adolescence when the sight of a beer in his family’s refrigerator led him to believe that his stepfather had become an alcoholic just as he thought his father had been. After the song came out, Cuomo heard from his dad.

Cuomo: I hadn’t spoken to him in years. I mean, I hardly spoke to him at all growing up. He only had a fax machine at the time, and out of the blue I got this fax from him: “Weezer, give me a call — we need to talk.” So I got in touch and explained where I was coming from in the song. But I’m kind of mortified that a lot of “Say It Ain’t So” — as powerful as it is and as true as it is — it’s based on a misunderstanding. The root of it is this photograph I have of my dad and my mom where he’s wearing a [sleeveless undershirt] and smoking a cigar and holding a Heineken. He looks so intimidating. My brother and I grew up looking at this photo, and somehow we got the idea in our head that he was an alcoholic and a violent guy and that’s why he left us. Years later, I was talking to my mom about it and she said, “He wasn’t an alcoholic. He didn’t even drink or smoke — he was like a Zen Buddhist guy. We were just goofing around in that picture. Those were just props.”

VII. ‘The guy loves to rock’

By the end of the summer of 1995, after a year and a half on the road, Cuomo had seriously burned out on touring and decided to leave music and enroll at Harvard. He also underwent a complicated medical procedure to lengthen one of his legs, which for much of his life had been shorter than the other.

Waronker: Going back to college and having an invasive leg surgery — that’s a weird reaction to success. But things were different, you know? Weezer was huge, and all of a sudden there were stakes and there was money and there were responsibilities. It wasn’t about going to the show and then hanging out after at a coffee shop anymore.

Sharp: Honestly, I was relieved. I had stuff I wanted to do outside the group — the Rentals and some other small collaborations with other people — and it had always been a scramble to wedge that stuff in whenever there was a break. There just weren’t that many breaks.

Weatherly: You didn’t know, when he went off to Harvard, was he gonna come back? Was Weezer still gonna be a band?

Bell: I never worried that it was done. Rivers was too motivated. It’s been proven that the guy loves to rock.

Indeed, Weezer returned just a year later with 1996’s “Pinkerton.” And a few years after that?

Cuomo: I think it was 1999 when my past as a metalhead was exposed. MTV News found my high school yearbook photo and all these fliers from my old bands. I was like, OK, the jig is up. I called Matt, who wasn’t even in Weezer at the time, but I knew he could relate to my pain. He made me feel a lot better. He just said, “Look, man, at this point it kind of comes off as cool — just go with it.” I guess enough years had passed. But if that had been ’94, it could have been a problem.

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Mikael Wood is pop music critic for the Los Angeles Times.

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