By William Flockton
Weezer’s lead vocalist and guitarist Rivers Cuomo, drummer Patrick Wilson, guitarist Brian Bell and bassist Scott Shriner perform an acoustic rendition of their songs “Long Time Sunshine” and “In the Garage” at Ball Arena during the Weezer: The Gathering tour. Denver, Co., Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (Radio 1190/William Flockton).
How much does it cost to book a gathering for famous, classic rock band Weezer? Ninety-eight cents isn’t enough, but if you draw the right symbols, the band might just show up in your backyard. At least, that’s the premise for the opening video shown at the Weezer: The Gathering Tour, which came to play at Denver’s Ball Arena on September 16.
The world tour promotes Weezer’s new album, the Gold Album, which was released on August 21. It is the seventh color-themed album produced by the band with its’ predecessors named after the colors of blue, green, red, white, teal and black.
Opening for Weezer was alternative rock band Silversun Pickups and indie rock band The Shins.
Silversun Pickup’s sound could only be described as electric with songs like “Panic Room.” The band’s vocalist perfectly matched his bandmates’ guitar work with a nasal whine as he sang. Their heavy headbangs and jumps on the stage gave them the look of a teenage garage band.
Time then slowed down in Ball Arena as The Shins took the stage with their heart-felt, folk sound that was akin to remembering an old memory. The song “So What Now” was played with a slower, simplified background melody, making the song more introspective and somber than its original studio recording. In addition, the band performed their own cover of R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”
It soon came time for the headline performance in which the stage was dressed in an elaborate set design. Two fake utility poles rose from either end of the stage, and pairs of shoes with their laces tied together hung from the powerlines connecting them together. A small, blue house with a white trim and brick chimney squatted in the stage’s left corner with a white fence jutting out of it.
The concert began with a short video of a young boy being bullied for drawing Weezer’s winged-w and other signs that are associated with the four band members.
“They just come to me naturally,” the boy tells his bullies.
He then proclaims that Weezer is coming to his house that night and attempts to invite the band over to play. After learning his savings of ninety-eight cents isn’t enough to book the band, he draws an invitation which is magically teleported into the office of Weezer’s lead vocalist and guitarist, Rivers Cuomo.
The band then enters the Ball Arena stage through a gate in the white fence.
“Dearly beloved, we are here today to celebrate a beautiful thing called Weezer,” proclaimed Cuomo.
Weezer immediately launched into their song “Shine Again,” the second song on the Gold Album.
“The dropoff, the pavement,” sang Cuomo. “I’m nailing each task on my list.”
The song’s opening riff is classic and familiar to Weezer’s sound, resembling riffs like those in the band’s “Blue Album.” Lyrics go onto describe scenes of mundane tasks from the everyday before asking the audience to “remember,” “know,” “see” and “be” great once again. The song’s encouragement to “shine again” is a reminder to remember one’s own greatness and feel pride even when trapped in the boring, mundane aspects of life.
Their next song paid further tribute to Weezer’s early career with the loud and furious “Surf Wax America.” Its lyrics are both liberating and isolationist, especially going into break at the song’s end. Cuomo’s softer tone and the lighter notes in the section emphasize how the liberty of living on your own terms can become lonely.
“This party is officially off the hook,” said Cuomo. “But let’s keep fishing.”
Stage lights turned red as the band transitioned into their 2002 song, “Keep Fishin’.”
The sound holds this idea of encouragement that is uplifting, and it creates this misleading idea that the song is a happy one. In reality, it is about a paralysis one experiences, and their inability to move on, from a one-sided love.
Smoke erupts from the stage as guitarist Brian Bell pumps his hand into the air. A projection on the stage’s backwall shows the stage ‘sinking’ beneath the ground as Weezer plays “Slob.”
“I don’t like how you are living my life,” sang Cuomo. “Get yourself a wife/Get yourself a job.”
Lyrics bury the audience in the sense of expectation as the stage sinks lower revealing dinosaur bones and a hidden underground grotto.
The stage comes to a final stop inside an underground tunnel, and Weezer introduces to the audience a song from the new album called “C.E.O.” It begins with a spoken introduction where Cuomo states he wishes he could make something new, but everyone just wants to hear “the classics.”
The introduction itself acts as a reference to Weezer’s own “classics” being played over a melody which resembles that at the beginning of the band’s popular song “Undone (The Sweater Song).”
“I gotta grow up/And be a real adult,” sang Cuomo. “Stop complaining/And give the people what they want.”
“Undone (The Sweater Song)” is referenced through “C.E.O.” in two similar melodies. However, the latter is a much more reflective piece reminiscing on the simple days of one’s own past and nostalgia for it. The result is an interesting contrast about the nostalgia for the old through a song that is new from the band.
The next song is another from the “Gold Album” called “Hoops.” After which, the band comes to realize that they are underground and must get back to the party. The stage rises as the band begins to play “Beverly Hills.”
The band plays “Across the Sea” upon reaching the surface again, and the utility poles suddenly spark in a flash of light, causing all lights in Ball Arena to go out.
“Someone should call the power company,” said Cuomo as he laughed.
The crowd protests as he suggests that the band wait until the power comes back before playing. It isn’t until too long that light begins to flicker in the darkness as a portion of the white fence is removed to reveal a fake campfire and raised picnic table.
With acoustic instruments in hand, Weezer began to play “Long Time Sunshine” and “In the Garage.”
The simplicity and quiet in the acoustic instruments reflected the solitude and peace represented in the latter song. Its lyrics create and describe the image of this solitary, safe space where a person can be themselves without embarrassment or concern without other people. However, there was a sense of community in that the entire audience sang along with Weezer in celebration of such a personal place.
Weezer’s time with pure acoustic instrumentals ended as Cuomo finds a big switch on one of the utility poles that bring the power back on before playing two classics, “Pork and Beans” and “My Name is Jonas.”
The audience screamed along with the band to the chorus of “My Name is Jonas.”
“The workers are going home/The workers are going home,” shouted Weezer and the audience.
Smoke and fire erupted from the stage’s lip as the song hit its final stretch before its soft and quiet last words.
Cuomo soon hears a noise from the house on the stage after the band finishes playing “Aloo Gobi” and “Pink Triangle.” Cuomo originally volunteers to check it out, but after a growl ripples from the house, he volunteers Wilson to go instead.
Before anyone can enter the house, Silversun Pickup’s bassist and back-up vocalist Nikki Monninger exited the house.
Cuomo invites her to perform vocals for the band’s songs “We Might As Well Be Strangers,” “Go Away” and “I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams.”
The concert ended with the band playing “Buddy Holly” in which an explosion of paper washed over the audience, and duck, flamingo and unicorn pool tubes were thrown around by the crowd in front of the stage.