Weezer to kick off 30th anniversary ‘Blue Album’ tour in St. Paul

Ross Raihala, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

Alt-rock mainstays Weezer will kick off their next tour Sept. 4 at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster. Citi cardholders have access to a presale that runs from 9 a.m. Wednesday through 10 p.m. Thursday. Neither the promoter nor the venue announced prices. Fellow Gen-X nostalgia acts the Flaming Lips and Dinosaur Jr. open.

The Los Angeles foursome has been busy as of late. Over the past decade, they’ve released seven albums dabbling in any number of styles, including ’80s pop (the 2019 “Teal Album” covers collection) and hairspray metal (2021’s “Van Weezer”). In 2022, the group issued four seven-song, seasonally themed mini albums (each with a bonus track on vinyl) on the first astronomical day of each relevant season.

Despite all of that activity, the upcoming tour celebrates the 30th anniversary of their self-titled debut (known as the “Blue Album”). Produced by Ric Ocasek of the Cars, it launched a trio of power-pop hits in “Undone — The Sweater Song,” “Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So.” They’ll be playing the album in full along with a selection of other songs drawn from throughout their career.

In a radio interview Monday with Audacy, band leader Rivers Cuomo talked about Weezer’s early days of playing Los Angeles clubs with grunge bands while trying to break into the business. “We didn’t get much of a buzz or a following,” he said. “It wasn’t until they started playing our first single, ‘The Sweater Song,’ on the radio — that’s when kids heard our music. Until then, we were playing for 21 and up people in the clubs and they were still doing the grunge thing. It wasn’t until we hit, got on the radio, that we really found our audience.”

“I feel like it’s still happening, because there’s still like 10-year-olds who are discovering the ‘Blue Album,’ like really relating to it. There’s something about 23-year-old me that is very similar to a 10-year-old mentality.”

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