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The Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour
Live at Intuit Dome
October 17, 2024 Review by Jimmy Alvarez
They say that sometimes reality is stranger than fiction, and my first venture to the newly crowned jewel of Southern California was going to be very unforgettable. Weezer’s Voyage to the Blue Planet tour finally arrived to the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
As the crowd strolled in, the fans were experiencing the A.I. facial recognition app that everyone heard about. Despite having a few hiccups on opening night, the system appeared to be flawless for this event. Opening for Weezer was Dinosaur, Jr. and The Flaming Lips, and fans were prime and ready to check out the show.
The arena had that new car smell so-to-speak, everything was shiny and new, and Intuit looked spectacular.
It didn’t take long for the crowd to fill the space; by the time the lights dimmed, you could hear that familiar roar of the crowd that signifies a kick-ass event was about to happen.
As Dinosaur Jr. took the stage, the sound system took over and wow, the acoustics were perfect. The treble and bass were as if you were at home with your Bose headphones on. The system sounded crisp with unreal high fidelity.
The band features J. Mascis on guitar and lead vocals, Lou Barlow on bass with backing vocals, and Murph on drums. Not sure if the new sound system gave the band a more electric sound, but they were loud and you could hear Mascis’ very distinct voice. They opened with “Little Fury Things,” and then shockingly immediately dove into their super-hit, “Feel the Pain.”
Mascis thanked everyone for coming out early and said he always knew one day he would play a big arena in L.A., and then said, “This place is amazing!”
Despite being the opener, the band was energetic, and you could tell they were happy to be on stage playing for the raucous L.A. crowd. Their abbreviated set sounded great as they finished with “Start Choppin” and “Freak Scene.”
What was funny is Mascis counted off each song and said things like “OK this is song number five, only two more and you get closer to seeing Weezer!” That made everyone laugh. They closed with their Cure inspired cover of “Just Like Heaven,” before calling their set with “Gargoyle.”
Between sets everyone enjoyed the atmosphere music, and that PA system was no joke, it was amazingly clear. Then, the lights went down just a tad, and out came The Flaming Lips. The band features Oklahoma City’s number one son, Wayne Coyne.
They opened with “The Spark That Bled” and “Suddenly, Everything Changed.” The crowd sang along and was encouraged by Coyne throughout the show to cheer as loud as they could. He too was grateful to be at Intuit, and said he’s played L.A. before, but never at a place like this, and everyone cheered when he said that.
By now the onstage antics and props started to take effect, songs like “Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung,” and “Yoshi Battles the Pink Robots (1 and 2) opened up the show with giant robots dancing, streamers and Coyne’s lasso light transformed the stage to a surreal moment.
The crowd was especially animated to Coyne’s emotional delivery of “She Don’t Use Jelly.” Another thoroughly enjoyable moment for the entire arena was singing along to “The Yeah Yeah Yeah” song. Not sure if the crowd was prepared for this, but everyone got into the Madonna cover of “Borderline.”
Before you knew it, the set was over and Coyne took us into a nice moment as he belted out “Do You Realize?”
Again, a very short wait between bands, but this time a large countdown clock appeared on the side stage wall, counting down to show time.
As the countdown got less than two minutes, the black curtain went up and there it was – the surreal moment we were all expecting; a Blue Planet space capsule was primed and ready to take off.
As the clock hit zero, the lights went dark, and the capsule blasted off. The video element behind the drumkit had scenes that were literally out of this world, and the fog on stage added to this incredible journey.
Then, as the capsule hit its mark, out came Weezer, and the crowd lost its mind! Out came Rivers Cuomo on guitar, Brian Bell on lead and rhythm guitar, Scott Shriner on bass, and Patrick Wilson on drums, their collective energy was palpable and their sonic vision was front and center.
They opened with “Anonymous,” and “Return to Ithaka,” before blowing the roof of Intuit with “Dope Nose.”
For this song they intertwined with “Troublemaker, which the crowd absolutely loved.
Cuomo thanked everyone for coming out, then jumped right it to other fan favorites, “Pork and Beans,” “Beverly Hills,” then “Island in the Sun.”
The night was just getting started as they rolled thru hit after hit, “Perfect Situation, and “Pinkerton Asteroid Belt.” And again, I cannot stress how cool and out of this world the video element was, and that PA just raised the sonic experience to another level.
Loud-loud-loud is the best way to describe how the crowd reacted to ”My Name is Jonas.” Then the high point would have been hearing over that PA “Buddy Holly” and “Undone (The Sweater Song.”
This show was just so well put together, it seemed like the time just flew. When we got to “Say It Ain’t So,” the crowd was almost out of breath.
As the night ended, all the members of Weezer reached out to the crowd, waving saying hello between songs and bowing. It was such a great interaction. Then “Holiday,” and “Only in Dreams” closed the show.
The tour is almost over, but if you have a chance to see Weezer at any time, get tickets. You can thank me later!
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