THE TRUTH behind the AZ weezer promo show!
(all info come directly from karls corner & various message boards)
(From Karl's Corner)
So far there have been some conflicting reports from the first two "Hooptie Tour" shows. While most people from San Diego reported a good show and fun (if somewhat rushed) autograph signing session, the reports from Phoenix are mixed with some tales of woe. I don't have the report back from the band on what happened in Phoenix yet.
here's what some fans had to say...
"I am so glad that I had the chance to see the brosephs while they passed through. I skipped school to go to the autographing thing at hoodlums. well worth it. the guys were rad, and they were nice to all the raging fans taking their pictures and hounding them with posters and what not for signatures. the show was cool, they played various new songs such as island in the sun, crab, hash pipe, don't let go, knock down drag out, and a couple more. it was cool, but the crowd was quite disappointed that they didn't play a bit more considering the hoopla that the radio station created. the songs rocked (though I think there were only 8), the show was rad and I'm sop glad that I got to see them!" --David Pearson
"my friends and I were subjected to a 20 minute set of Weezer with no opening bands. Despite the fact that the Edge promoted it as a "FREE" show at Rawhide in Scottsdale, Arizona, most people that I know and everyone else chanting "Bullsh*t", paid $8.50. I hope that Weezer knows that they have a very truthfully loyal fan basis and that this hurts them very much. I myself play and in a band and would never put my fans under money. If you weren't aware of the situation, I'm sorry you're music has been stolen by corporations, otherwise I hope you see the point of holding onto your fans before they ditch you for the newest craze. Please don't take this as angry, only slightly confused."
"this may be some sort of explanation for what went on tonight. You see phoenix got screwed out of the yahoo outloud tour and we were on the list and when we were scrapped off many people got angry, but when you announced this show everyone was excited and expected a show (doesn't matter if we paid). Many people didn't feel like we got a show. We got 5 or 6 songs and one song off the old album. I also believe that is why no one was really in to it. They didn't know the words, that's why they needed to play more songs off there old album. Well I know you guys are probably pissed but I hope we wont get scrapped from your next tour."
...a word to people going to these special promo shows. These shows (aside from the big radio festivals) are not ordinary shows. I've heard reports of people hearing on their radio station one thing, then getting something entirely different at the show. These are short shows, 7-10 songs for the most part. The meet-n-greet/autograph signing events are bound to be somewhat rushed, due to the radio stations stuffing too many people into the gigs. In San Diego, for example, there were 700 kids in the bowling alley, and there were supposed to be no more than 400. Also consider that the band is touring with a minimal crew, and the radio stations seem to be hiring out the bare minimum of security, which puts added stress on the band and crew. Please consider these things, and compare what weezer has agreed to do with whatever the radio station is promising. A little extra patience and understanding will make these things more fun and less stressful for everyone involved.
[posted 5/9/01]
(From Karl's Corner)
NOTE,
see 5/14 post for MAJOR revisions to this story. I had several important facts
confused. where you see red text, I have updated the facts as are known.
...I'd like to thank the many folks who have written in over the last day,
sharing their experiences and views on what went down at the Phoenix promo show
yesterday. I've compared all these reports, and spoken with the band and
management, from whom I learned some very important facts. So here's the deal...
First of all, what weezer proposed for these shows was basically a totally free
short set showcasing the new songs plus an autograph signing that would last
long enough for everyone who wanted an autograph to get one. Agreed upon crowd
size for these shows is supposed to be "intimate", though
the crowd size varies from event to event. At both the San
Diego and Phoenix shows, some fans have accused the
local radio stations of misrepresenting the shows by claiming they would be 1
hour or longer full performances. The radio stations apparently did not make
these claims, however. This Also, fans
claim that both shows were pushed beyond capacity by the radio stations by
distributing tons of extra tickets via numerous contests which only served to
hype the radio station, doing nothing to improve the show. However, the number
of tickets given away was agreed upon by all parties beforehand in both cases.
The REAL shocker is the conduct of the Phoenix radio station in particular.
Everyone was wondering why the remote "Rawhide" venue was chosen.
Everyone was REALLY wondering why an additional 400 tickets
were sold, at $8.50 a piece at the door to the park to get in on the night of
the show. This was a free show to contest winners, right? Keep in mind Weezer
found out about these ticket sales AFTER they played, and NEVER would have
agreed to them. They were playing for FREE, or so they thought. Here's the scoop.
The Rawhide park owes the Radio station
a lot of money, from some earlier event that didn't do well. The Rawhide
Park insisted on promoting the
show themselves, keeping the local promoter away, and they insisted on holding
the gig at Rawhide. Why? Because Rawhide knew
they were going to let 400 extra tickets go on sale (for a FREE gig!) and use
the proceeds from the sales to pay the radio station back!! Without the fans or
weezer being the wiser! Needless to say, weezer went ballistic when they found
out about all this (thanks to the fans who explained to weezers crew what had
happened to them at the door), and are in the process of re-directing the
unscrupulously made $ away from Rawhide, and toward a charity. At least
something good can come of the whole mess.
On top of all that, according to fans
the Phoenix radio station repeatedly announced the show as a full show,
over 1 hour long. However, it seems that no such announcements
were made. This would
explain the conduct of the unruly fans who were outraged when the show ended
after a short set, were the fans' claim true. Something incited them and led
them to believe they were in for a longer set, however, but who or what remains
to be seen. It does not excuse these particular violent
show-goers' awful behavior however. I'll let Dan the Lighting Man take it from
here:
"After they were done, it took the house a few minutes to get the lights
on, the radio DJ's didn't come out for a while, so understandably the fans
thought an encore was coming. When it was apparent that the guys weren't coming
back out and the crew was striking the gear, sh*t started flying. Beebe (Bass
Tech) took a few beers, water bottles, Atom got hit with some trash, and Bobby
(Guitar Tech) has a nice bump on his forehead from the genius that figured
hurling a battery at the stage would encourage the band to do an encore. Atom
tried to reason with the offending jocks but it did little good. I got so
incensed that I ran into the crowd and berated the first kid I saw throwing
something, only to find out that he had paid to get in, then I exchanged words
with some other kids who were complaining about the same thing. I went to the
promoter and asked if people had actually played to get in, he explained that
"the park had started charging people" ...maybe they thought the
gunfight show was just suddenly really popular. Rivers met separately with every
record company and radio station representative that was on site to get to the
bottom of it all, and to make sure that situations like this won't arise again.
We were all very upset that the fans had been misled as well as disappointed at
the conduct of the minority who found it fit to pelt the crew."
Now, those crew guys are just doing their jobs, and they do a great job every
night. It kills me to hear about this! To top it all off, fans are reporting
DJ's today at the same station playing the first 30 seconds of weezer songs then
cutting it off, claiming that "since weezer ended their show early, we wont
play the whole song". THE NERVE OF THEM!
This practice, however, (reported by several
independent fan witnesses) was short lived and the station has gone back to
playing full weezer songs.
...Anyway, we hope that this kind of gross misrepresentation doesn't happen
again, and we urge you the fans at these things to bring any sort of shady
bizness you see or are victimized by to the attention of Gus the tour manager,
Atom (drum god/maraca man), or me. (I'll be with the boys as of the 15th Tower
show) Thanks, everyone.
(From the Edge Message board)
"Wtf
happened last night!!!!!!!!!!! they could have told us it was going to be 20
minutes because I sat in the middle of the crowd for like 2 hours...I say
boycott the edge and listen to 98 kupd"-Angry Fan
[posted 5/10/01 U.S.A.]
(From Karl's Corner)
The Edge, 106.3, out here in Phoenix has a top ten. (my friend told me this, seeing that I don't listen to radio, so sorry is this is a little sketchy) They did their Top Ten, and #10 was Say It Ain't So. Cool. However, even cooler was Hash Pipe was #1 on this countdown. Rocking! Also, they had some new guy on right after, and about the fourth song he played my Say It Ain't So. So the weez were 3 time in about an hour. (Report was prior to the 'Rawhide' thing...)
[posted 5/12/01 U.S.A.]
(From the Edge Message board)
"...I'm just not ready to give up on Weezer. I guess the biggest point I am trying to get across is that things went as they were planned. In talking about the show you said " no explanation. no apology. just play 20 minutes, and walk off. the end. that's not cool, no matter how big of a star you are." - the thing is, they didn't think they needed to say anything or apologize because they did what they were scheduled to do. Weezer & their management had no idea that the Edge was promoting this to be more than it was. Weezer played what they were scheduled to play - they played the same as they have in every other city - why would they apologize? why would they give us an explanation? for doing what they were supposed to. Now after all the confusion, I do think the fans were owed some type of explanation & I think we have been given one (www.weezer.com). I am disappointed, but I am still a fan who is not going to turn my back on them. I want to keep AZ full of Weezer fans so that they will come back. I don't want Weezer to remember Phoenix as the place where "their fans" chanted bullshit and threw things at their crew"
[posted 5/13/01]
(From Karl's Corner)
...I've
been informed of some more info regarding that touchy Phoenix Rawhide show. (my
post on 5/11). I had tried to sort out what happened based on numerous sources,
but apparently I mixed up some facts in the process. I'd like to apologize to
anyone at Geffen or KEDJ who may have been "slandered" by what I
wrote. I was just reporting the facts as I knew them, but admittedly, I wasn't
there. So here are some clarifications:
1. the size of the show. The special in-store and promo show events on this
"Hooptie Tour" do not have a set size limit of attendees. (I had
written that the audience size was intended to be approx 500)
2. While this flies in the face of what dozens of fans have emailed and told me
they had heard, neither the San Diego nor Phoenix radio stations actually
specified the amount of time band would play. (I reported that fans had heard
the shows (particularly the Phoenix one) being hyped as full hour+ sets.)
3.While this also contradicts what some fans told me, the radio stations only
gave away the amount of tickets that the record label, radio station and band
agreed to. There were no extras given away. (I had basically paraphrased what
several fans had written in about seemingly overcrowded venues and what
apparently seemed like an unusually high amount of contests to win tickets)
4. As the facts were reviewed, it is now understood that 400 extra tickets, not
1000, were sold at the Rawhide show, bringing total attendance in the neighborhood
of 1500(?). The big thing I had mixed up was that Rawhide owes the
STATION money, not the other way around. The station insists that Rawhide sold
tickets without anyone's knowledge and/or permission. The station is calling
Rawhide to find out why they sold tickets. I do apologize for this blunder in
fact-gathering.
What the edge did was completely wrong (assuming the post at weezer.com is true) and they should be held completely to blame. Weezer was trying to have a little show to promote their cd, for the fans and the edge just screwed it up. I wish another station would play some punk instead of trendy alternative BS. If they did I would be all over that
(From the Edge Message board)
"I
heard from someone or another, that rivers had a headache or something, and he couldn't
go through the whole show. however, there is a thing called tact, whereby the
rules, one would say, "hi! my name's rivers! I have a headache! sorry I
drug all 1500 of you out here to see such a short show, but I really don't feel
good, and I don't think I can continue. but we still love all of our fans! so
we'll sign autographs for the next hour or so. please come to our next show when
I feel better!" but no. no explanation. no apology. just play 20 minutes,
and walk off. the end. that's not cool, no matter how big of a star you are. and
as far as a free show goes... well, yes. they did not receive profits. however,
were you unaware that in order to get anything signed, you had to buy the cd? oh
yeah. out of the goodness of their hearts. now im not saying that its a horrible
idea to make people buy the cd in order to get a signature, but its certainly
not some god-like act of benevolence. ...were you NOT upset after that concert?
there was a lack of consideration of the fans, from both the edge and weezer. I don't
know about you, but I was SO excited for that concert! it was a total let down!"-Confused
and upset Weezer Fan
[posted 5/14/01]
(From Karl's Corner)
...well, yesterday, in good faith I posted the updated news about that Phoenix show, but it doesn't seem to go away. I get a lot of letters like the ones below, which seem to directly contradict what I was "officially" told the other day. Let me get this straight: I DON'T think the FANS are lying here! My revisions (5/11, in red) will stand for now, but I really wonder how much "truth" I've been told by people who might be trying to save their jobs on this.
"I have read all the new info on the Weezer show in Phoenix. The EDGE radio
station in phoenix did say that Weezer had promised a hour to a hour and a
half show. I tried winning tickets from them and was unable to get them. I
then called Rawhide who told me they were hoping to sell tickets at the door
but they had to get the o.k. from the EDGE. Needless to say they did sell
tickets and I did get to see the show. If I had known the band did not know
and they were totally against the ticket selling I would have been loyal and
not have gotten tickets. I am apologizing for the way the fans in Phoenix
acted at the show and I want to say the show was awesome and they totally
rocked the stage. Also I called the EDGE after the show, not knowing that it
was a promotion show and asked what the deal was with the band only playing 6
songs and they said "F*ck Weezer. They promised us a hour and a half show.
That's just Weezer being rock stars. We'll never have them back again. They
totally screwed us on the p.a. and the setup." ---Tyler DeBord
"My name is Richard and I was fortunate enough to win tickets through the
edge's call in contest. I was reading on weezer.com that the edge had no
clue to the selling of tickets at the front, I find that impossible
considering one important fact. To get into rawhide you initially had to
show the ticket you won through the edge, then you had to walk a half a mile
inside this complex to a fenced off area where the show was being held.
Once you came to this place, you had to show your ticket again to get into
the doors. Oddly enough the edge people where at this second entrance
checking the tickets so there is no way they couldn't have gotten word or
seen what was going on. I still feel cheated by the edge and hope Rivers
and the guys have learned from this experience never to deal with the edge
again. They put on a kickass show despite the edge being affiliated with it..."
--R. Daniels
...Is it me, or is something fishy going on? I tend to believe fans like these here, they don't have anything to lose by telling me what the heard and saw....
(From the Edge Message board)
"I read the quip on weezer.com, and I apologize. granted, it could be a cover-up, but im much more skeptical of the edge then I am weezer at the moment. mainly cause weezer seems like honest guys, and they have a story to back it up, whereas the edge has always been a bunch of self-centered lying capitalists. and because weezer is good, the edge is not. but yeah. im sorry. I still think I had a right to be mad... but I didn't know the whole story. I blame it on ignorance that I had no way of curing. but that's just me, trying to my darndest not to look like a jackass..."
[posted 5/15/01]
(From the Edge Message board)
"who fuckin cares if weezer played for twenty minutes it was free, Arizona needs to grow up! Weezer.net even says that the Edge and 91x in San Diego where the same thing happened to just like Phoenix, are not at fault and either is weezer, just be thankful the edge even brought them here, we were such assholes to the Edge staff why should they ever do anything cool for us, but what ever makes some of you happy, if you want to be assholes like KUPD then listen to them, like anyone really cares what radio station you listen to"
[posted 5/16/01]
(From Weezer Message Board)
"I must say everyone in Phoenix was disappointed to find out the only way to see weezer was to call the local top 40 station (106.3 KEDJ) to win tickets. 1st of all most of us who love this band don't necessarily listen to top 40 radio stations, then to have to call them and win to get tickets is extra lame. Other than that, I will say they visited Phoenix and played a small club about 6 months ago which was general admission that was awesome." - =W= Fan
[posted 5/23/01]