Co-headline combo of Weezer, Pixies a shed-sized alternative sanctuary

Photos by Andy Argyrakis

Just as the Pixies were winding down its initial season of inventing alternative and indie rock as it’s now known, Weezer began carrying a more accessible yet still aggressive edition of the same torch. Despite the half generation between the band who turned the tides towards the grunge movement and the others who dabbled with the surfin’ side of the dial, the co-headliners gelled seamlessly (with relative newcomers by comparison The Wombats as an added bonus).

But Weezer transcended its most visible era, returning to the glam-transformed main stage for the flame-decorated “Feels Like Summer,” then broke the random meter with the current single cover of Toto’s “Africa,” only to return with the completely unexpected rarity “You Gave Your Love To Me Softly” and “Say It Ain’t So” (seasoned with Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”) for the thrashing coda to a winning combo.

Pixies kicked off the main portion of the pairing, economically cramming over 20 tunes into 75-minutes that stretched between 1988’s “Surfer Rosa” through its latest long player “Head Carrier” (which shared the lion’s share of the set list with the landmark “Doolittle”). That meant fuzzy, delightfully distorted mainstays such as “Gouge Away,” “Bone Machine,” “Wave Of Mutilation” and “Monkey Gone To Heaven” with the newer but just as ferocious “Bel Esprit,” “All The Saints” and “Classic Masher,” which all but erased the years between originals Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), David Lovering (drums) and somewhat recent recruit Paz Lenchantin on bass.

Besides everyone’s commitment to mounting a completely different show every single night of its existence, the most remarkable aspect of this Pixies performance was how ageless the selections sounded. That’s probably what got the all ages audience in the pavilion to those back on the lawn up and roaring by the time “Mr. Grieves” rolled around and really gave their pals in Weezer a tough act to follow.

Then again, Rivers Cuomo and company certainly know their way around the sheds, plus it didn’t hurt that they recreated the “Happy Days” set (from Arnold’s Drive-In specifically) and opened with the massive “Buddy Holly.” With basically the same time allotted, Weezer whirled through almost nothing but hits dating back through its “Blue Album” opus through today’s “Pacific Daydream.”

Like the Pixies, it was impossible to tell what year any given selection came from given the group’s hook-saturated harmonies and textbook melodies that included “Beverly Hills,” “Undone – The Sweater Song” and “Hash Pipe.” But just as the crowd was getting used to Cuomo dressed like Richie Cunningham, he got casual as the entire environment morphed into a makeshift garage (complete with a dilapidated “W” logo) for the flashbacks “My Name Is Jones,” “El Scorcho” and (wait for it) “In The Garage.”

The spectacle-wearing singer even rode a scooter to an “Island In The Sun” b-stage, where he and an acoustic guitar also dusted off a different side of the ‘90s with Oasis’ “Wonderwall.” But Weezer transcended its most visible era, returning to the glam-transformed main stage for the flame-throwing “Feels Like Summer,” then broke the random meter with the current single cover of Toto’s “Africa,” only to return with the completely unexpected rarity “You Gave Your Love To Me Softly” and “Say It Ain’t So” (seasoned with Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”) for the thrashing coda to a winning combo.

For additional information on Weezer and Pixies, visit Weezer.com and PixiesMusic.com.

Upcoming concert highlights at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre include “I Love The ‘90s” (Jul. 12); Imagine Dragons (Jul. 13); Kesha and Macklemore (Jul. 14); Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson (Jul. 15); Vans Warped Tour (Jul. 21); Niall Horan (Jul. 26); Godsmack and Shinedown (Jul. 27); Chris Brown (Jul. 28); Wiz Khalifa & Rae Sremmurd (Jul. 29); Lynyrd Skynyrd (Aug. 3); Rascal Flatts (Aug. 10); Avenged Sevenfold with Prophets Of Rage (Aug. 11); Keith Urban (Aug. 18); Deep Purple and Judas Priest (Aug. 22); Gov’t Mule’s “Darkside Of The Mule” and The Avett Brothers (Aug. 24); Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town (Aug. 25); Breaking Benjamin and Five Finger Death Punch (Aug. 29); Counting Crows with +Live+ (Sept. 8); Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker (Sept. 15); Pentatonix (Sept. 16); Ozzy Osbourne (Sept. 21) and Kid Rock with Brantley Gilbert (Sept. 22). For additional details, visit LiveNation.com.

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Co-headline combo of Weezer, Pixies a shed-sized alternative sanctuary

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