Earliest "Memories" of Weezer

Being one of the Geezer Weezer fans (34yrs old) my memories go back a ways. My older brother whom I looked up to for alot of my musical direction listened to bands like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Kiss and ACDC. Aside from being very frightened of his Ozzy posters it laid ground work for what I saw as my music of choice. I had been brought up on all kinds of music, from my parents listening to 50's artists such as Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Fats Domino and Motown to the 60's of The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Janis Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix to the 70's of The Bee Gees, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Now obviously being from Nashville I got my fill of all things Country music had to offer as well. My sister listened to all the New Wave of the 80's so I loved stuff from Cyndi Lauper, The Cars, Men at work and all things Mtv but my brothers music seemed to interest me the most. My brother and I would stay up late and watch Mtv shows like Alternative Nation, The Buzz and The Headbangers Ball and listen to the bands that where shaping the music sceen at the time. I remember falling for college rock or grunge music and really gravitating towards bands like REM, Pear Jam, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Pixies, Green Day and of course Nirvana. Nirvana's raw power and lyrics where mind blowing to a fifteen year old at that time. I had just started playing guitar and learning chords and hearing Kurt play and scream his emotions on each song was simply put - WOW! On day my brother mentioned to me that he had heard a band on Mtv that he thought I would love. All he said was that they were dorky looking guys who played a song about a sweater to some heavy guitar riffs. A few night later he woke me up in the middle of the night so I could see the band that changed my life. Weezer was me, different. I went out the next day and bought the Blue Album and listened to every song. It was loud and powerful, catchy and driven and I couldn't get enough of it. I started listening and reading everything I could about the band. I quickly turned all my friends on to Weezer and it soon became the tape/CD we would listen to when we hung out in our hometown. When Weezer came to Nashville and performed at 328 Performance Hall to promot the Blue Album my friends and I were center stage. That Dog played before Weezer and needless to say it was a great show. During their set they had some problems with the guitarists amp so there was a little down time. To fill this time the lead singer did a little strip tease to the crowds delight and the bands bassist who was very short as I remember started playing the bass line to Only In Dreams and the crowd went bananas. So it was time for Weezer to take the stage. The room of less that five hundred stood in the dark as the anticipation grew. Matt, Pat, and Brian took the stage and of to the side I saw Rivers with what looked like a crutch. Now I knew of his leg problems but the crowd saw it as an ala Willy Wonka style move and it kind of felt that way. Rivers left his crutch and grabbed his stickered up guitar and it was time to rock. Being so close to the stage when that iconic =w= lite up was blinding as they opened with My Name Is Jonas. Hearing the Blue Album live was awesome as they played Say It Ain't So, Buddy Holly, and Undone. At one point the room went dark again with what was either a disco ball or a stargazer that twinkled the entire room as the played Only In Dreams. It quickly became my favorite track and remains my favorite song of all time. I associate it with my brother who turned me on to my favorite band. Weezer closed with Surf Wax America and it was a night I wish I could relive just once. Pinkerton was pure heart for me. After reading interviews with Rivers in Alternative Press it was easy for me to see the connection between the experiences he was having and the songs on the album. I took my soon to be wife to see Weezer during this time as they were touring with No Doubt. The show was on Rivers birthday and Gwen brought out a cake as the crowd sang happy birthday to him. Then the off years hit where Weezer took a break and we didn't know if they were done or not. It was not a good time for Weezer fans. Most music forums had writen them off as finished but sites like Rebel Weezer Alliance and weerez.com kept us going until early 2000 when word started to leak that the band was back and working on a new album. Fans rejoice as our band was back and in full force. they released The Green Album with hits Hash Pipe and Island In The Sun was everywhere. Even Mary Kate and Ashley got in on the act using it in their movie Holiday in the sun. Every year my parents threw a block party for friends and family with live music. In 2000 my brother and I played some of our favorite songs including Hang from Matchbox Twenty and an acoustic version of Only In Dreams. My brother had been drinking and while no one was looking he snuck away and got a spare set of keys that we didn't know he had. My mother has been with our towns police dept. for almost twenty years so when the chief of police called my parents house at two in the morning it didn't take my mom long to realize what was wrong. My brother had driven off the road and flipped his truck several times before landing upside down in a storage facility. He died instantly. Just a few hours before I was singing with him and he was holding my daughter who was only a few months old and now he was gone. I didn't know how to feel or act. It was like a bad dream I couldn't wake up from. My daughter would never know him and how much he loved her. They only comfort I could find was in music. Weezer returned to Nashville during the touring for the Green Album in 2001 I think and it was somewhat of a healing show for me. The only part of that show I remember is that they played Only In Dreams. I hadn't heard them play it live since that first show back '94. The crowd was bursting with energy but at that moment I thought of my brother who turned me on to Weezer. Without him I don't think I would have found them and became such a huge fan. With them I don't think I could have dealt with my feeling for the lose of my brother. Pinkerton was there when I had girl problems and there always seemed to be a song I could point to during some event in my life. Now with two daughters ages 10 and 7 and a son who's about to be 4 I make sure to let them listen to Weezer and hope they find someone who can have that kind of impact in their lives as Weezer has had on mine. I hope to take them to a Weezer concert and if the B*********/Memories tour comes to Nashville then they might very well be attending with us. I think my life with Weezer will have came full circle if I can take my kids to see a band that I loved when I was only a few years older than my oldest daughter now. I hope to meet Rivers some day to thank him for what he's meant to me. I'm sure there are others out there that have great memories of Weezer and i'd like to hear them and maybe the guys will get on here and read some of our stories. Thank You and sorry for any spelling mistakes lol!

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Permalink Reply by Nick on April 23, 2011 at 12:14am

My first =w= memory dates back to 1995; seeing the Buddy Holly video when I was five years old. I always got weird looks for wearing my Weezer shirt in grade school while every other kid my age was listening to pop b*******. 15 years later they are still my favorite band around. Pinkerton has been and always will be the greatest album ever made. Looking forward to seeing them for the seventh time in Atlantic City next month to celebrate my 21st birthday!

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Permalink Reply by Gary Prior on April 23, 2011 at 1:54am

Thats whats so good about music,it brings on memories both good and bad in life

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Permalink Reply by onemanrace on April 23, 2011 at 2:51am

Saw the band do 'Undone' on The Word, on Channel 4 in the UK (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlSqIfeCwsU), and on my way home from work the next day, I stopped at the record shop. Bought the single. Week after that, went in and bought the shirt and the album.

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Permalink Reply by Julia (Geckojules) on April 25, 2011 at 11:27am

As I was born in 1994 a few weeks before Blue even came out I cannot claim to that I wore my Weezer shirt to school (I was homeschooled anyways) or I heard about them from a friend or video game, but rather I was raised on Weezer.

Me and my siblings were exposed at very early ages to the likeness of Weezer, Green Day, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, The Ramones, Cheap Trick, the list could go on but I'll just say it was a lot of music. The two CD's that were my constant playlist were The Ramones Mania and Blue. As a small child I remember telling my brothers to put on the song "about sweaters" over and over again, I was addicted to it and continued to be. The only song I knew from Pinkerton was The Good Life (my dads favorite song) but we never had a copy of Pinkerton around the house.

I remember first listening to Green in 2001 and as you can imagine how excited a 7 year old could be I was pretty sure that CD was one of the greatest things I had ever heard. Every album after that I pretty much reacted the same to, the only difference was I was another year or two older.

My parents both went to almost every =w= concert that came near and by the time they had told me about the Foozer show I was convinced I wanted to go. It took 5 more years after that (it would have been 4 but the 09' Boston date was canceled, I was heartbroken) but it was worth the wait because not only did I get to see Blue & Pinkerton back to back but I also got to meet the band who's lyrics I shouted as a 5 year old running around the house. I was way too excited/nervous and it was about 14 degree weather but it was the probably the best night ever.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Mietz on April 27, 2011 at 10:42am

I heard "Undone" on WDRE (Philadelphia) when I was in 7th grade and Santa got me the Blue Album for Christmas (that album, R.E.M. "Monster" and "Vitology" by Pearl Jam were my first CDs) I listened to Weezer and this band Weston at least once everyday throughout high school. My first Weezer show was the WDRE Christmas show in 1996 with Ash and Fiona Apple.

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Permalink Reply by Cladeedah on April 28, 2011 at 11:23am

Thanks for posting this. ((Big hugs)) Will share my Weezer story sometime soon.

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Permalink Reply by Brandon [lazrpo] on May 3, 2011 at 1:17am

Don't have much of a first memory of Weezer. I'd heard El Scorcho and Undone on our local pop/rock radio station growing up and the local CD shop had a poster for Pinkerton on the wall behind the counter. I was also in middle school at the time that Beverly Hills and We Are All On Drugs were released, but I couldn't stand those songs.

My first real interest in Weezer stemmed from when I was watching a VH1 countdown of sorts in 2008 (I think it was 100 best rock groups or something like that...) and Weezer was in the low 80s. The song that they chose to focus on was Buddy Holly and I remember thinking "Wow, that song's pretty great!" I went on Youtube and looked up all of the songs I could. I eventually found out that The Red Album was coming out, snatched that up, yadda yadda yadda here I am.

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Permalink Reply by Scorcho on May 3, 2011 at 6:02pm

I remember hearing The Good Life on the radio when I was about two.I know, I'm a baby.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Honanie on May 19, 2011 at 11:50pm

I was roughly 10 years old when I had my first exposure to Weezer. I grew up in the suburbs of Las Vegas, and since we were driving around town constantly, I would listen to the radio from the back seat of our suburban. My older brother would always tune into the rock station (x107.5) and I would listen to alternative from the 90's and recent hits. In a way I was raised listening to bands like Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Third Eye Blind, Pearl Jam, etc...

Well one morning I remember running into the living room and that was the first time I saw the video for Dope Nose. The guitar had the heavy distortion that I loved, and was very catchy. The guitar solo blew my mind. The Flying =W= behind the band fit perfectly and Brian Bell was (and still is) the coolest guy I had ever seen.

While my friends were listening to Blink-182, I found Maladroit to be my favorite album.

To this day, I owe my discovery of the band to my older brother and I think he was the biggest influence on my music tastes today.

I'm turning 19 this year and hope to see them on August 5th in Vegas!

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Permalink Reply by Henri Armanda on May 20, 2011 at 5:37pm

I love Green Day before, but when I start listening to Weezer, I love them instantly.

Great band, great music, great personnel.. what more I can say?

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Permalink Reply by Samantha Ramirez on May 20, 2011 at 5:55pm

I was 5 years old when I saw my first Weezer video, it was Buddy Holly. Ever since then I've been a huge fan, that was the day I decided I wanted to learn how to play guitar and learn every Weezer song I could.