Living "The Good Life" With Weezer
Written by Colin LaVaute - Photography by Colin LaVaute
It was July 31st, 2019 when we took our daughters, Ava and Daisy, to their first real rock show. What a truly epic lineup it was too. Beck, Cage the Elephant, and Spoon performing at (insert random corporate entity name, but we’ll always call it Riverport) Amphitheater in St. Louis. At this time, the girls were quite young. Ava was about to turn three and Daisy was two. Of course, they would never remember this evening of pure, unadulterated rock n’ roll bliss. What’s more, as they began to pass out at the end of the night, we carried them off to the car and began an overnight journey to Michigan for our annual summer vacation as visions of epic rock concerts bounced around their craniums.
In the years since, we’ve taken them to many shows. They’ve been to Columbia’s pinnacle festival Roots n’ Blues (now rebranded as Treeline) nearly every year of their lives. They’ve been to The Blue Note, Rose Park, and more. In many instances, they had awareness of who they were watching prior to the performance. But, this past week, my wife and I were able to share a concert experience with them that was unlike any other prior. They were going to see their favorite band. Not only that, but they were going to see their favorite band as a guest of their favorite band.
Last year, I introduced the girls to the Mike White-directed classic School of Rock starring Jack Black. They loved it for all of the reasons we all appreciate the film. It’s humor, it’s reverence for the history of rock n’ roll and for the ways in which kids take the stage and become rock stars in their own right. They watched the movie countless times after. From that spurred an idea for my own School of Rock. I drive both of them to school every morning. Each week we focus on a different artist. I’ll play one or two songs from the artist while adding each track to an ever-growing playlist they can listen to. We started with The Beatles, but eventually hit Queen, Foo Fighters, Boygenius, Grace Potter, No Doubt, Radiohead, Jack White, and more. As a result, the girls have become little shazam-bots, calling out each song only in the first few seconds of it starting. No band has had a more indelible impact on the girls’ School of Rock repertoire than Weezer.
It’s hard to blame them. Weezer has a penchant for not only being infectiously catchy, but they’re just fun. Not overly serious. In fact, serious isn’t a word one could use to describe them in the first place. I had the pleasure of interviewing drummer Patrick Wilson back in 2021 on the heels of the release of their seminal album Ok Human. To the girls, it’s no big deal that I get to interview rock stars from time to time. It’s just what Dad does. However, thanks to that relationship I made with the band I was able to instigate a night that (I hope) Ava and Daisy will never forget.
Since the launch of this blog, I’ve been fortunate to be able to gain press access to many shows. Most of the time, it is a single ticket or two coupled with my photo pass with which I have the opportunity to take photos during the first three songs of any given set. I shared the story of my School of Rock with Weezer’s team. I told them how much these young girls who have dreams of being rock stars themselves would relish the opportunity to see their rock heroes in the flesh.
Do you know what Weezer did? They gave tickets to the whole family.
To say the girls were stoked is an understatement. They asked us to help them make signs so that if we were close enough, the band could see their adoration for them. My wife drew the designs adorned with Weezer logos. The girls colored them in. I had no idea how close we would be to the stage, but we were granted some pretty sweet seats. When it came time for me to hop up with my cameras and get to the front barricade to capture the show, I looked back to see both of my girls, soaring above the crowd with their signs, clear as day. Ava was on Alicia’s shoulders and Daisy was being held up by a neighbor who had fallen in love nearly instantly after we sat down. At that moment, I was able to focus my telephoto lens and capture an image that I will cherish forever.
Even though the band took the stage at 9:30, the girls were troopers. They had both taken naps that day, which is uncharacteristic for them, so they were ready to party. They stayed up strong through 14 songs before we called it a night around 10:40 and made our way home to Columbia. Surprisingly enough, I had never seen Weezer before, but their tour which was aptly named Indie Rock Road Trip encompassed all of the vivacious glee that you would expect from one of their sets. The stage was made of a massive model of a vintage car’s dashboard, with drummer Patrick Wilson slaying his kit like a glued-down bobblehead. Being so prolific and holding reign over such a massive catalog (15 studio albums since 1994), there were many songs the girls were familiar with and some they weren’t.
The set began where you would expect it. The crowd erupted as guitarist Brian Bell began picking the opening to “My Name is Jonas,” the first track on the band’s debut album. From there, they jettisoned on a journey across Weezer’s history, pulling ubiquitous songs from their far-reaching discography. A personal highlight for myself and the girls was their performance of the Pinkerton classic “The Good Life.” Seeing the girls light up as they heard these songs live that they have played over and over, is a moment in parenthood I won’t soon forget.
As with all good things, the night came to an end. Daisy had wanted to leave for a few songs, but finally, Ava reminded us that they had summer school in the morning, with a measured tone of responsibility in her voice. We made for the exit as the band banged out “Island in the Sun” and “All My Favorite Songs.” As the audio echoed over the hills, Ava still seemed to enjoy these tunes just as much.
“They did a really good job,” she said. “Each of their songs sounds just like on the album.”
Perhaps those two sentences were all that needed to be said.
