Watch Weezer cover Hole and play set of rare songs in California ahead of ‘Blue Album’ tour

Weezer played a set of rarities at a one-off show in Santa Ana, California last week, as well as a cover of Hole’s ‘Celebrity Skin’. Check out footage below.

• READ MORE: Rivers Cuomo on building an online community of fans who “like big guitars and weird lyrics”

The show came ahead of their upcoming ‘Voyage To The Blue Planet’ North American tour, which takes place in September and October, and celebrates the 30th anniversary of their self-titled 1994 debut album, commonly known as ‘The Blue Album’.

The band will play the record in full at the shows and have also promised rarities and “very special guests”. They will be supported by The Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. Find any remaining tickets here.

Some of those rarities appeared to get an early airing at the show at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana on April 29, where they played six songs from their back catalogue for the first time in front of an audience.

‘Sheila Can Do It’ from 2021’s ‘Van Weezer’, ‘Everything Happens For a Reason’, ‘Here Comes the Rain’, ‘Bird With a Broken Wing’ and ‘Mirror Image’ from 2021’s ‘OK Human’, and ‘Any Friend of Diane’s’ from 2017’s ‘Pacific Daydream’ all graced a Weezer setlist for the first time.

They also played Hole’s 1998 classic ‘Celebrity Skin’ as an encore. Check out footage below:

Much of the rest of the set comprised songs the band have not played for several years, including ‘Cleopatra’ for the first time since 2016, ‘The Angel and The One’ for the first time since 2013 and ‘Eulogy For a Rock Band’ for the first time since 2015.

The ‘Voyage to the Blue Planet’ tour dates are:

SEPTEMBER
4 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
6 – Rosemont, IL – Allstate Arena
7 – Columbus, OH – Nationwide Arena
8 – Toronto, ON, Canada – Scotiabank Arena
10 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
11 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
13 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
14 – Washington, DC – The Anthem*
17 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
18 – Greenville, SC – Bon Secours Wellness Arena
20 – Orlando, FL – Kia Center
21 – Hollywood, FL – Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood*
27 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
28 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
29 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center

OCTOBER
1 – Loveland, CO – Blue FCU Arena
4 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
5 – Vancouver, BC, Canada – Rogers Arena
6 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
8 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
9 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center
11 – Inglewood, CA- Intuit Dome

Weezer are also set to join The Smashing Pumpkins on tour this year in June – check out dates below and get your tickets here.

The Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer’s 2024 UK and Ireland tour:
JUNE
Friday 7 – Birmingham Utilita Arena
Saturday 8 – London The O2
Monday 10 – Dublin 3Arena
Wednesday 12 – Glasgow OVO Hydro
Thursday 13 – Manchester Co-op Live
Friday 14 – Cardiff Castle

In another warm-up show in March at Los Angeles’ Lodge Room, Weezer were joined by Dominic Fike for a performance of the classic hit ‘Say It Ain’t So’. Keanu Reeves’ band Dogstar were the opening act.

NME spoke to Rivers Cuomo last year about building his new Discord community for his fans, saying that while his fans may predate the platform, they seem to have shared the same musical values over time: “Our musical tastes are very consistent even from the ’90s, really,” Cuomo said.

“We all still like super emotional songs with great melodies that are catchy and yet somewhat progressive and challenging and complex musically. We like big guitars and weird lyrics. It’s still true.”

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