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Weezer, with Sparta & Dashboard Confessional Live at the Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA. July 21, 2002

Sparta, Dashboard Confessional and Weezer brought the 'Enlightenment Tour' to the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, MA on July 21, 2002. The crowd, which based on it's age looked more suited for a Backstreet Boys concert, was surprisingly small for a show featuring local faves Weezer. At least half of the newly added lawn seats remained empty late into the evening.

Sparta, an El Paso TX band featuring members of At the Drive- In, opened the festivities. Their music was loud but uninspiring. Next up was Dashboard Confessional, who had been featured in the Boston Globe the previous Friday. The Globe article noted that the band was gaining a following, as people loved their songs of insecurity and failed relationships. It also touched upon the band's penchant for getting the crowd involved. Based on the Globe’s endorsement I found this to be intriguing and looked forward to checking them out. The lead singer continually goaded the teen crowd to sing along to his guitar driven pop rock, and some obliged. The stunt would seem better suited to a smaller club, and it was completely lost on the many in the crowd, who did not seem to be familiar with the DC's material. At one point the singer said, "this song is on the radio, don't hold it against me." He did not have to worry. The song has never been on my radio. As they played on, I realized that I had unwittingly wandered into Goo Goo Dolls country. Dashboard Confessional was perfectly suited to be playing at the Peach Pit on Beverly Hills 90210. I envisioned Steve Sanders scanning the crowd for ladies as the band played inoffensively in the background. Two bands had now played and the highlight of the evening was when I tried to convince my girlfriend that Dashboard Confessional, who's drums had a large 'DC' logo on them, was made up of former members of ACDC. I told her ACDC had broken up, and these members were continuing on. They might play some of ACDC songs, but only the songs these members had written. As soon as Dashboard Confessional started playing, my joke blew up due to their wimpy sound.

Finally, at 9:15 Weezer took the stage. Lead singer Rivers Cuomo, wearing a dark suit and sunglasses, stared out at the crowd for a few minutes spewing rock star blabber such as "it's gonna be a great night" and "are you ready to rock." When they finally started playing, it was fast- paced. The songs gained an edge that is lacked on their recorded offerings. The set was skewed towards their first two albums, with a sprinkling of their newer material. The standouts were "Burnt Jam' from the new Maladroit disc and "Tired of Sex" from Pinkerton. At one point during "Burnt Jam" flames sprang out from both sides of the drummer as the band played on. This was the first show I had ever seen with fire, and I loved it. Cuomo spoke to the crowd after almost every song, in a robotic monotone that undermined the energy of the music. Unfortunately it all ended rather abruptly. After only an hour and a half Cuomo crowed 'thank you good night' before retreating briefly off stage. Not having played some of their biggest hits, and considering the early time, the move was annoying. They were definitely returning for an encore. After four or five minutes the band came back out and played a stinging version of "Say It Aint So' before ending with one final song. Considering the $30 ticket price, the fact that they did not play Hash Pipe (and to a lesser extent Buddy Holly), and played for less than two hours, the show's ending was quite disappointing. The headliner played a set that was far too short for the ticket price. If the opening bands were supposed to offset the shorter set, it was not so, as they were less than stellar. Save for the excellent, albeit short set by Weezer, the pyrotechnics were the best part of the evening. Overall it was an OK performance, but not the great night Cuomo promised in opening. OVERALL RATING: C