{"database": "pelican", "table": "content", "rows": [["ryan", "musings", "I started college in 1996. In 1997 one of the most influential albums of my\nearly adulthood was introduced to me ... [Weezer's\nPinkerton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_\\(album\\)).\n\nI hated it.\n\nI wanted the [Blue Album](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weezer_\\(Blue_Album\\))\nagain but different somehow, and Pinkerton was NOT it.\n\nHowever, a weird thing happened. Once I moved into my Sophomore apartment with\na roommate that I can only describe as 'hard to live with' I retreeated into\ntwo things:\n\n  1. [Final Fantasy VII](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VII)\n  2. Music\n\nFinal Fantasy VII is a whole blog post on it's own, so I won't try to cover it\nhere, but music ... and specifically Weezer were instrumental to me surviving\nmy 'hard to live with' roommate.\n\n## Listening to too much Weezer\n\nI probably listened to Pinkerton 1000 times (no exaggeration) over my time in\ncollege (this was not so hard because it's only a 35 minute album!)\n\nI loved that album, and listening to it STILL brings me back to living in a\nsmall, shitty apartment in San Luis Obispo with a 'hard to live with'\nroommate.\n\nI saw Weezer live in March of 2001 at [RIMAC in La Jolla at\nUCSD](https://ucsdtritons.com/facilities/liontree-arena/2)1. I still remember\nthe show. Lots of hipster Weezer fans in their skinny jeans, nerd glasses, and\na lot of earnestly trying really hard trying to not try to be 'cool'. I was\n(still am) a bigger guy that can't fit into Skinny jeans to save my life, so\nthis wasn't really my scene, but I really wanted to see Weezer and I didn't\nwant to care about the hipsters.\n\nI also remember needing to be back in San Luis Obispo the next day for work or\nschool or something. So after the show was done at midnight I got in my car\nand drove the roughly 4 hours back to San Luis Obsipo so I can do whatever I\nneeded to do the 'next' day. It was a long day, but it was awesome. I got to\nsee Weezer.\n\nAnd for me, that's kind of where Weezer stopped making music. A few months\nlater Weezer released the Green Album and I tried **really** hard to like it.\nI did that with Maladroit as well, but meh. Once Matt Sharp left it wasn't\nWeezer to me anymore2.\n\n## Life has a way of happening while you're making other plans\n\nAfter that life got in the way and my musical tastes changed ... but I still\n**really** liked the \"real\" Weezer.\n\nOne of the things I really liked doing with my daughter was driving her to her\nDance class. We'd each pick an album we thought (hoped) the other would like\nand listen to it on the drive out.\n\nOf course, I picked Pinkerton at one point and the Blue Album and she thought\nthey were fine. Ugh, I guess fine is better than I don't like it, but still.\n\nFast forward to October 10th 2024 and Weezer is playing live, in an arena, not\neven 15 minutes from my house. I bought tickets for me and my daughter and it\nwas pretty surreal. If you would have told me in 2001 at the Weezer concert\nthat I'd see them again in 2024 with my adult daughter I wouldn't have\nbelieved you, but I would have thought it was a pretty cool dream to have \ud83d\ude04\n\nThe openers were [Dinosaur Jr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur_Jr.)\nand [The Flaming Lips](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flaming_Lips). I\ndon't have much to say about Dinosaur Jr, but the Flaming Lips put on a great\nshow. Lots of visual interest and excitement.\n\nThen Weezer came on. And the show was amazing. Again, lots of great visuals\nand set design. One of my favorite was 'Island in the Sun' which had a Giant\nstar in the background of a tropical looking island with a palm tree on it.\n\nAgain, the set design and visual aspects of the show were on point.\n\nThe only thing that wasn't great was the sound. If I listed to Pinkerton 1000\ntimes, I listened to the Blue album at least 500 times. And the concert was\nmeant to be a 30th anniversary of the Blue Album where they played it in\norder. And I have to say, for the first 5 - 10 seconds of each song I wasn't\nsure what song was being played ... it was a bit disappointing.\n\nThat being said, getting to see Weezer, with my daughter, was a pretty epic\nparenting level unlocked style achievement. I'm glad I got to go with her,\neven if the sounds was a bit muffled for my tastes.\n\nLooking forward to the next concert!\n\n  1. now called Liontree Arena \u21a9\ufe0e\n  2. Yes, I've seen [the SNL skit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab5WvwfLuLM). Yes, I totally identify with Matt Damon's character! \u21a9\ufe0e\n\n", "2024-11-26", "weezer-live", "I started college in 1996. In 1997 one of the most influential albums of my\nearly adulthood was introduced to me ... [Weezer's\nPinkerton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_\\(album\\)).\n\nI hated it.\n\nI wanted the [Blue Album](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weezer_\\(Blue_Album\\))\nagain but different somehow, and Pinkerton was NOT it.\n\nHowever, a weird thing happened. Once I moved into my \u2026\n\n", "Weezer Live", "https://www.ryancheley.com/2024/11/26/weezer-live/"]], "columns": ["author", "category", "content", "published_date", "slug", "summary", "title", "url"], "primary_keys": ["slug"], "primary_key_values": ["weezer-live"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6324471905827522}