{"id":428601,"date":"2026-10-15T15:16:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T15:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/428601\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T15:16:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T15:16:39","slug":"review-in-tampa-weezer-goes-for-the-gold-during-stacked-alt-rock-gathering-w-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/428601\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: In Tampa, Weezer goes for the gold during stacked alt-rock gathering [w\/photos]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AWeezer plays Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida on Oct. 14, 2026. Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

In case you\u2019re just waking up, Weezer<\/a> has been on a roll. And it\u2019s not just the \u201cBuddy Holly\u201d memes.<\/a><\/p>\n

Last August, Rivers Cuomo and friends dropped their seventh self-titled record (a.k.a. The Gold Album), perhaps their most nostalgic to date. If not for the references to QR codes and trees being knocked down for condos, almost every song could pass for a vault track Matt Sharp worked on while still in the band almost 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

And this may have to do with how Cuomo has been more flexible about sharing songwriting duties of late. He didn\u2019t receive a writing credit on three Gold songs, two of which were played Wednesday night at Tampa\u2019s Benchmark International Arena<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following a quick video about a kid who telepathically hypnotizes Weezer to perform in his backyard in an effort to impress other kids, the dorkiest posse in rock entered through a white picket fence attached to a prop house, in between two utility poles.<\/p>\n

\u201cDearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate a thing called Weezer,\u201d Cuomo began, thinking he was Prince<\/a> while kicking into Gold\u2019s \u201cShine Again,\u201d written by drummer Patrick Wilson. Later, guitarist Brian Bell showed off his own songwriting chops on \u201cThe L.A. Sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

And non-Cuomo-penned Weezer tunes weren\u2019t even the rarest parts of the night.<\/p>\n

On \u201cKeep Fishin\u2019,\u201d a silhouette of Kermit The Frog was seen wandering around in the windows of the prop house, which was better than having no Muppets at the show at all.<\/a> And to make matters even better for afficianados of 2002\u2019s Maladroit, Cuomo shouted out fans of that record (the first to feature Scott Shriner on bass) before jumping into super deep-cut \u201cSlob,\u201d which hadn\u2019t been played live since 2005 before this tour. \u201cAloo Gobi,\u201d from the criminally-underrated OK Human, was also a nice, orchestra-free surprise.<\/p>\n

And speaking of lack of celebration (well, other than a recent merch drop)<\/a>, Pinkerton, which had its own 30th birthday last month, did get its flowers with a handful of tracks sprinkled in. As a rainstorm showed on the screen behind the guys, the fear-of-being-alone anthem \u201cNo Other One\u201d was dusted off, which also hasn\u2019t been a regular on tour since the early aughts. And perhaps the Weezerverse agreed that \u201cAcross The Sea\u201d should have been retired years ago, because a fake power outage cut the song short. From there, a campfire was built and Cuomo pitched doing an acoustic set while waiting for the \u201cTampa Bay Power Company\u201d to pop by and fix things.<\/p>\n

And for those who spent their COVID-19 isolation going down the \u201890s Weezer rabbit hole, that power outage was the greatest thing that ever happened.<\/p>\n

Cuomo slid right into his devastatingly relatable wishing song \u201cLongtime Sunshine,\u201d which would have been the tear-jerker of the year, had it been played in D major, like its original demo<\/a>. Quick to follow was \u201cIn The Garage,\u201d with Cuomo rocking the mouth harp and leading a three-part harmony chorus between himself, Bell and Shriner.<\/p>\n

He soon found and pulled a hidden power switch to restore the lights, and immediately headed to his own drum kit to bang the cans on \u201cPork and Beans\u201d while Wilson, who was strumming an acoustic during the campfire section, got to stay in his guitar groove for another song.<\/p>\n

Few career retrospectives dig as deep as The Gathering tour did. Wilson would come up from behind the kit and play guitar on and off in the early 2010s. Despite his early success, Cuomo was an emo wreck in the mid-90s.<\/a> And of course, the guys are no strangers to bringing eye-popping openers with them on the road.<\/p>\n

\"AThe Shins play Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida on Oct. 14, 2026. Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

In the last decade, they\u2019ve shared local bills with Panic! At The Disco<\/a> and the Pixies,<\/a> respectively. This year, we got a pretty gnarly double-feature.<\/p>\n

If you grew up in a Zach Braff-loving household, nothing went quite as hard as falling asleep to the \u201cGarden State\u201d soundtrack\u2014featuring a few songs by The Shins<\/a>\u2014in the back of your parents\u2019 minivan. The band hasn\u2019t been on the road since 2022, but main creative force James Mercer admitted that he\u2019s really warming up to playing arenas. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool. I\u2019d recommend it,\u201d he quipped after a fresh-as-ever \u201cCaring Is Creepy,\u201d played half a step down. In the arena spirit, keyboardist Patti King (who was providing some staggering backing vocals behind Mercer) then asked the crowd to do the wave over the band\u2019s cover of Hot Chocolate\u2019s \u201cEvery 1\u2019s a Winner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Weezy\u2019s fellow Angelenos Silversun Pickups kicked the evening off with an all-too short opening set that ended with a quick reminder from frontman Brian Aubert: Decency is punk as fuck. And as if co-founder Nikki Monninger\u2019s bass and vocal work wasn\u2019t incredible enough, during Weezer\u2019s set, she exited the prop house in a golden cloak to duet with Cuomo on two tracks from Gold (\u201cWe Might as Well Be Strangers,\u201d \u201cGo Away\u201d) as well as another shocking, pre-Pinkerton banger, \u201cI Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deep down, Cuomo probably wants to pull a Brian Wilson<\/a> and finish Songs From the Black Hole, his long-shelved rock opera that ultimately evolved into Pinkerton.<\/a> And if Wednesday night\u2019s mind-blowing setlist was any indication for how deep into his catalog he\u2019ll go, who\u2019s to say that\u2019s a crazy idea?<\/p>\n

See Ryan Metcalf\u2019s photos below.<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"AWeezer plays Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida on Oct. 14, 2026. Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Credit: Ryan Metcalf\/Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n

\"\"Weezer plays Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida on Oct. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n

Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n

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This article appears in Oct. 15 \u2013 21, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

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