“On the record I actually think I’m quite the opposite – I’m coming in with very defined parts,” Brian notes. Then when it comes time for the guitar solo, I take over and go full-on alpha-male guitar guy!” It makes for a fun listen for me as we’re performing. “His second verse is different to the first and so on. “His part generally don’t repeat much,” Rivers clarifies. “Alright I’ll take that.”īrian handles guitar and keys duties in Weezer “A loose cannon? Interesting…” Brian chuckles. Then Brian is like a total loose cannon – much more jagged and sloppy, playing from the hip-style.” “I’m kinda like the backbone of the guitar sound – lots of downstroke powerchords, and I play very consistently through the song. “We’re very complimentary,” Rivers explains. Watching the pair perform their fan-pleasing set, it’s clear that Brian and Weezer have clearly defined roles when it comes to the guitar side, but that doesn’t mean they necessarily agree on what that is all the time… So everything changes to adapt to your audience – you just want them to have the best possible time.”Ī Rivers runs through it: Cuomo has been using Kempers live for the last year or so Fall together “Before the tour you think, ‘Oh yeah, this’ll be great! We’ve got all these new songs and we’ll do five new ones every night…’ but once you get out on the road it’s just like nothing matters except the joy of the audience – that’s all that matters to you. There are some kids that know the words already, and that’s fun – but for the most part I think people are still trying to catch up!” “Our last album is pretty new, too, so we’re doing California Kids, King Of The World and Thank God For Girls. “We don’t do too many new songs – right now we’re just doing Happy Hour and Feels Like Summer,” Rivers explains. Rivers uses DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan pickups in his guitars But having done a proper run this time, the pair are clearly energised by the experience.ĭespite having a new album under their belts, we’re surprised to hear that they’ve resisted the temptation to play too many new tracks in the ever-evolving setlist. Wind in our sailĭespite Weezer having been active and touring for most of the last 20-odd years, they haven’t spent a lot of time in Europe in the last decade or so – aside from a quick two-date jaunt in 2016, before this tour they hadn’t done a significant string of dates in the British Isles since 2005’s Make Believe. When we caught up with the pair before their gig at Manchester’s O2 Apollo at the end of 2017, we were keen to pick the pair’s brains about the way they work together as guitar players, and also about the unique and iconic guitars they were strapping on for that evening’s show. It’s quite a departure from a sound that fans would associate with the band, but it speaks to the way the pair’s guitar relationship has developed over time. The record, which was released at the tail end of last year, has some of the most unusual guitar work seen during the band’s 24-year existence, with layered acoustic guitars, lo-fi blues-rock licks and retro slapback all in evidence in hitherto unseen quantities. The complimentary differences between the pair’s guitar styles are clearly in evidence on Weezer’s latest album, Pacific Daydream. Rivers’ three stage guitars – his trusty Warmoth S-types ‘Mei’ and ‘Satsuki’, and his Gibson SG, ‘Courtney’ The flipside of the Weezer guitar coin is Brian Bell – Weezer’s second guitarist is a perfect foil to his band leader, holding the whole thing together with sensitive guitar parts and perfectly judged vocal harmonies. The embodiment of an awkward musical genius, Weezer’s bespectacled frontman isn’t just a wonderful songwriter with a knack for a catchy pop hook – he’s also a guitarist who grew up worshipping at the altar of 80s heavy metal, and he rarely wastes an opportunity to demonstrate that he can shred a neoclassical solo with the best of them. But none of those wannabes had Rivers Cuomo. But while the basic Weezer recipe is a beautifully simple blend of classic chord progressions and singalong choruses, the band have endured when dozens of imitators have fallen by the wayside, chalking off 11 studio albums in the process. For over two decades now, Weezer have been troubling airwaves and arenas all over the world with their unique brand of guitar-driven pop.
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