Tuesday night I got to participate in the most amazing night of my life. After taking the American Heritage Mid-Term, I said goodbye to my chillins at BYU and left Provo with SherRon with the destination of The E Center and my idol, Rivers Cuomo ahead of us.
We met up with her fiance, Matt at IKEA, and after stopping to get some interesting but delicious tapioca, we were finally there. We waited on the steps outside the E Center for an hour before they let us in to get our wristbands for the floor, only to wait another hour until the opening act.
I could hardly contain myself. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. I've listened to Weezer the better 14 years of my life, and to actually be in the same building as them, let alone finally be seeing them live was a dream coming true.
I had been dreaming about this moment from the time my older brothers got to see them on their Enlightenment Tour (and even got their picture on weezer.com), and was thoroughly disappointed when SLC wasn't on their Make Believe Tour. I was scared that Make Believe might be their last album, that they might break up, and Weezer would be done. Rivers had graduated college finally, and was married. There was a definite possibility of the end.
Then one day I was bored at school and decided to see what was happening on weezer.com because it was one of the few sites that isn't blocked. I was shocked to see that Karl had posted plans for a new album, a new single, a new everything from Weezer. Words cannot express how excited I was for this album! The cover, the 3rd self title, everything. Even though the single Pork and Beans was NOT prime Weezer material, I was excited to hear something new, and even more stoked for the eventual release of the album.
I had been misinformed of the release date, and was very disappointed to see the CD on sale at Wal-Mart when I was back east for the CHT. I was so tempted to buy it, but it wasn't the deluxe version, so I held off. It was so worth it; the deluxe version helped fill my need for more Weezer goodness. One thing that made me even more elated when I bought the deluxe version on iTunes was the promise of a pre-sale code for tickets for the upcoming tour! I hoped with all my heart that Weezer would make a stop in SLC, and that I would be able to go.
The tour schedule was finally posted on weezer.com, and sure enough, there was a date scheduled in Salt Lake. I was so excited. I immediately started emailing my brothers asking who was going, expecting that they would be excited as well and I'd definitely have a ride. To my demise, nobody was interested. Ryan said it wasn't worth paying for, and Justin said that anyone going to the concert was still "living in the 90's". I was crushed. My dream of finally seeing Weezer live and seeing my idol Rivers seemed like it was going to slip through my fingers.
Then my friend SherRon sent me a text as I was on my way to Carrie's wedding saying she had gotten tickets. I was so jealous. She said she was only going because her boyfriend (soon to be fiance) was a die-hard fan. Seriously. I started thinking, and a few weeks ago, I realized she lives in Orem, I live in Provo, if I get a ticket, she could be my ride. I asked her, and she complied. I started looking for tickets. But I was too late! Everyday I checked, and every day the best tickets were only for seats. I was disappointed, but I decided it would be worth it nonetheless. Then, I checked one last time before agreeing to get seats with Steve Hurd. To my amazement there was a ticket for General Admission- No Seat! Exactly what I was hoping for! I bought it without a question and could hardly wait for the weeks to pass by.
The day finally arrived, Tuesday, October 7, 2008. I went to devotional, had taken my American Heritage mid-term, and finally SherRon picked me up at about 4:30.
Once inside the E Center, the anticipation was killing me. It was my first concert, and Matt was trying to give me all the details of how things would happen. I don't remember much of what he said, but I thank him for the effort.
7:30 came around, and Tolchock Trio opened, which was pretty cool. I recognized some of their songs from the iPod Justin gave me, but not enough to satisfy my want of Weezer. Half an hour of a set change later, Angels and Airwaves came out. I honestly was not impressed. The lead singer sounded like a whiny depressed emo kid, and he kept dancing randomly and freakishly around the stage. After I think 5 songs which were continuously tied to each other, they were off stage and I was seriously about to have a heart attack.
The stage crew started bringing out everything: Pat's Drums, Rivers' Drums, a mini-trampoline, a Dora the Explorer ball, Rivers' harmonica, Rivers' freaking Guitar with the Lightening Bolt Strap! By this point, the crowd had already compacted, and I was 2 people away from the railing. It took all my strength not to start squeaking with excitement.
Finally the lights went out, and I screamed for a good minute until the band started coming out on stage. They were wearing White Jump Suits and Rivers' was wearing an additional white Ski Cap, so you could only see his eyes and his stache.
From here on out, words cannot describe how amazing and wonderful and perfect and incredible it was. So I will just grace you with pictures and the set list.
I've now told my story of the best night of my life with the Greatest Band That Ever Lived. Thanks for Reading!!!
Oh yeah! Rivers himself even said that Weezer would be back next year! To Salt Lake even! I'm holding him to his word! haha. Ahhh. . . even thinking about it still makes me excited. =w=