Rivers Cuomo and friends have been kicking it old school since 1992, when the band formed in Los Angeles and immediately set to work on some of its best-known songs (“The Sweater Song”, in fact, began life as a pre-Weezer composition of Cuomo).
Thirty-four years later, Weezer is still going surprisingly strong. Hot off the release of its August 2026 “Gold” album (preceded by Blue, Green, Red, White, Teal, Black), its The Gathering tour – the name presumably a nod to Magic: The Gathering, by self-proclaimed nerd Cuomo – offering a rich array of songs new and old.
You gotta love these dorks.
Positioning the tour as a “backyard gathering” – the stage resembles a backyard with a full bungalow in it, and opens with a pre-recorded bit where the band is summoned to some kid’s backyard – The Gathering is very much meant as a celebration amongst artists and fans.
Opening number “Shine Again” (Gold Album, 2026) kicked things off properly, impressing us with the vitality and timelessness of this brand-new number. (Seriously, if you’d told us it was a lost track from Pinkerton, we’d believe you.)
Aided by a huge video backdrop – all CGI, no AI – the concert takes audiences on a thrilling journey across the band’s discography, and also through an ever-shifting virtual landscape. There are storms, descents into the depths of the Earth, blackouts, and more – all affected by a combination of background video, lighting, and believable set decor. At one point, for example, the on-stage telephone poles “explode”, sending sparks flying.
Highlights of the dense set list – I can’t remember the last time I caught a set with 26 songs – included the raucous “Hash Pipe” and “Beverly Hills” (with a fan-service lyric swap for “Toronto, Ontario”) in the first half, which closed out with the exceedingly geeky “In the Garage”, which namedrops Dungeons & Dragons, Kitty Pryde, and Nightcrawler.
Nikki Monninger from opener Silversun Pickups joined the band for three songs, including “We Might As Well Be Strangers”, the excellent duet “Go Away”, and “I Just Through Out the Love of My Dreams”, before disappearing back into the ‘house’ – but not before telling the band she was off to a Sex Bob-omb concert. Which, y’know, is awesome.
Closing out the show was a string of megahits, Weezer wisely foregoing the whole encore charade to stuff in more songs. These included the singalong friendly “Undone – The Sweater Song”, “Say It Ain’t So”, “Buddy Holly”, and, finally, “Island in the Sun”.
Ever the goofballs, the band could not resist exiting on another skit, with Cuomo making a big show out of debating whether to dive into the (virtual) pool, before “plunging” offstage to comic effect.
The Gathering tour is definitely a great case of getting more than your money’s worth. The extensive setlist, the obvious care that’s gone into designing the set, the semi-scripted skits that break up the music: it’s really an example of a band that cares about their fans and wants to put on a big show. Even the other lyrical shoutouts – there was a nod to Rush during “El Scorcho” – demonstrate a degree of engagement often missing from these highly honed multimillion dollar tours.
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The Weezer The Gathering tour continues through 2027, worldwide.
