Weezer’s Worcester 'Road Trip' brings Palladium down memory lane

Over the last few summers, Saturday nights in downtown Worcester have come to mean something specific, at least in the case of the Palladium, that has now officially hosted their most legendary artist to grace their bustling outdoor space to date. Yes, that band was punk rock titans Weezer, and yes, you can fit that many people in that space. And also yes, the Air Quality Index wasn’t exactly reading in our favor, but hey, who needs a “healthy” reading on the AQI when the rock 'n' roll quality index in the city feels like it’s at an all-time high?

Amidst the unrelenting humidity and jarring smog that made its way down from the Canadian wildfires, Rivers Cuomo and crew brought a full-fledged punk rock experience to the Palladium’s outdoor space as part of their Indie Rock Road Trip summer tour Saturday night, and in the process, brought a jam-packed crowd on a ride down memory lane that, given the somewhat surprisingly early shoulder-to-shoulder crowding of the space, oftentimes felt like a more of a clown car than anything else.

While Cuomo and the gang were the official and obvious ring leaders of the evening’s festivities, the show set sail just before sundown with the help of fellow California punks Joyce Manor and Maryland-based synth-pop quartet Future Islands, who both delivered different overall vibes to the show’s makeup, but ultimately offered up two of the main ingredients that, even before their respective times, culminated somewhere in the ether to form the ever-present swagger of Weezer’s iconic sound.

Unleashing a fast-paced energy that allowed for a higher volume of tracks, Joyce Manor sustained a consistently moody and power-packed aura that got things moving early on, and Future Islands brought it to the next level as frontman Samuel T. Herring delivered a multi-tiered physical energy that allowed for both the emotion of his lyrics to be presented and felt in a different way, meshing what felt like the mystery and deep baritone of Vincent Price or Boris Karloff with the romance of Morrissey and the physical dance chops of a broadway performer. While both of the supporting bands represented aspects of the headliner’s distinct sound and approach, the best part about it was that none of the three acts felt the same, which seemed to allow for three different fanbases to coexist and mingle for a time that assuredly herded new fans into their respective camps by the night’s end.

Now, we must admit that the extended wait times between the three sets became almost annoying at a point, and the crowd did seem to ebb and flow with the crushing humidity, and some of the audience did leave well before the main event, but such is life, and we all got through it together. And once it was time for that main event to unfold, it felt worth it.

Following an almost congregational singalong to Toto’s “Africa,” which the band opted not to perform their smash-hit cover of this time around, frontman Rivers Cuomo and guitarist Brian Bell took the stage ahead of drummer Patrick Wilson and bassist Scott Shriner with some whimsical dance moves that further set the tone for a fun and loose, but oh-so-tight closing set that we’ve already come to expect and embrace from the Cali stoner punk legends. Burning very little time before cruising into the cold opening of “My Name is Jonas” and tumbling into the booming, sauntering riff of “Beverly Hills,” it was all gas no brakes on a highway of nostalgia and good vibes.

Meshing the band’s dense catalog of both radio and cult hits of yesteryear with a healthy smattering of their newer stuff that explores different pockets of creativity while still harnessing that classic punch they’re synonymous with, the 24-song setlist had the multi-generational crowd basking in a wide range of feels, or so it seemed, as the band cruised through fan favorites like “The Good Life,” “Pink Triangle,” “Pork and Beans,” and “Undone — The Sweater Song” — and that was just within the first ten songs. By the midway point, at which Cuomo dialed it back by taking to the stage with an acoustic guitar to croon stripped-down versions of “Aloo Gobi,” “Susanne” and “Only In Dreams”, the outright enjoyment exuding from the stage was palpable, to say the least.

But even as things took a bit of a breather, getting back into the loud and invigorating swing of things with a very Patriotic-feeling “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn),” which was almost perfectly, but what we assume was unwittingly synched up with a fireworks display taking place somewhere beyond MLK Jr. Boulevard, seemed like no tough task to achieve. After transporting the crowd to a tropical paradise with the swinging and care-free groove of “Island In The Sun,” this full-fledged road trip through the history of one of the world’s most beloved rock acts of the last 30-some odd years barreled towards its destination with pit stops involving “All My Favorite Songs,” “Say It Ain’t So,” and “Hash Pipe” among others, before closing out the first part of the set, and riding off into that good, smoggy night with a three-track encore capped off by the ever-glorious “Buddy Holly.” (Cue vocalizing that legendary cool riff toward the end of the song.)

Not unlike any other out-of-town artist who have made their way through Wormtown over the last six or seven decades, Cuomo took a moment at a point in the show to harp on the pronunciation of “Worcester” - pulling from the bag of “Warchester,” “Wersister,” “Warsistershire sauce” and the like - before eventually qualifying the ribbing with his childhood growing up in Connecticut and frequenting shows around the city in his youth. But while his efforts to flaunt his New England heart cannot go unnoticed, he was still pronouncing it incorrectly - at least for one day - because for a few hours this past Saturday night, it feels like it should have been rightly pronounced “Weezter.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Weezer brings fireworks to the Palladium's outdoor stage