Saturday, Thomas and I headed to Atlanta to see Weezer at State Farm Arena, with The Shins and Silversun Pickups opening. This was our first concert with just the two of us, and I was looking forward to it. Three bands I had listened to for years, an evening in Atlanta, and a chance to spend some time with Thomas doing something we both enjoy.

We were staying with my sister in Marietta, so we decided to take MARTA into downtown Atlanta rather than deal with traffic and parking around the arena. We drove to the North Springs station, boarded the Red Line, and rode down to Peachtree Center.

From there, we walked to Park Bar for dinner before making our way to State Farm Arena.

The weather was an interesting part of the experience. Tropical Cyclone Isaias had been affecting the region, and downtown Atlanta looked rather unusual. Low clouds hung over the city, obscuring the tops of the taller buildings. It was an interesting atmosphere for walking around downtown, and certainly not what I normally associate with an October evening in Atlanta.

After dinner, we walked over to State Farm Arena and settled in for the show.

Silversun Pickups

Remember when CDs were still a thing?

I owned an album by Silversun Pickups and two by The Shins, so I was already pretty familiar with both opening bands. In fact, one of the things that made this particular concert so appealing was that I was interested in seeing all three acts, not just Weezer.

Silversun Pickups opened the evening, and they sounded fantastic.

What struck me most was how fresh their music sounded, almost as though they’d just recorded those songs. They sounded every bit as good as I remembered, and there was something really enjoyable about hearing music I had listened to years ago performed live with that same energy.

They finished their set with arguably their two biggest hits, “Panic Switch” and “Lazy Eye.” Both sounded great, and it was a lot of fun hearing them live after all these years.

Their stage production was relatively simple. There was a small projected image above the band displaying their name and logo, but otherwise, the focus was almost entirely on the music. It was a straightforward rock performance, and they did it very well.

The Shins

I owned two of their albums back in the CD days, so I was familiar with a good bit of their music, although there were several songs from their later catalog that I didn’t recognize.

The band was incredibly energetic and engaging. One of the things that impressed me most was just how talented the musicians were. Their keyboard player seemed to do a little bit of everything, moving between keyboards, violin, tambourine, and backing vocals, along with a few other instruments. A true multi-instrumentalist.

The electric guitar work was excellent, and James Mercer sounded fantastic. He was able to hit the full vocal range of the songs I remembered, and hearing those familiar melodies performed so well live was a treat.

Their stage production was also noticeably more elaborate than Silversun Pickups. They made much more use of the lighting, and the projected images grew larger and more interesting. They incorporated animated album artwork and changed the visuals for each song to complement the music. It was a fun addition to the performance and made the whole experience feel more immersive.

One of my favorite Shins songs is “Sleeping Lessons,” and they saved it for last.

The song begins quietly and gradually builds into something much bigger. Hearing that progression live, from the restrained opening all the way to its explosive conclusion, was incredible. It was a fantastic way to finish their set.

Even the songs I didn’t recognize were enjoyable, but hearing the older material performed with that much energy made the set especially satisfying.

Weezer

Weezer is a bit of a polarizing band for me.

I absolutely loved their first two albums, Weezer (the Blue Album) and Pinkerton. Those albums were a big part of my musical life, but I haven’t really followed the band much over the past 15-20 years.

Thomas, on the other hand, has been listening to Weezer quite a bit. He’s familiar with much more of their catalog than I am, including all those other color-coded albums they’ve released over the years. I’ve gotten to know some of those songs simply because he’s been playing them around the house.

But Thomas isn’t necessarily your average 14-year-old Weezer fan. He really likes a lot of their older, more garage-rock-influenced material. In fact, one of the songs he was most hoping to hear was “Holiday” from the Blue Album, which unfortunately didn’t make the setlist.

For me, one of the highlights was hearing “My Name Is Jonas.” There’s something emotional… or magical, about hearing a song you’ve loved for more than 30 years performed live, especially when it still sounds so good.

I found the range of people in the audience an interesting element of the concert. There were people in their 50s who had probably been listening to Weezer since the Blue Album came out, alongside teenagers and young adults who had grown up with an entirely different era of the band’s music.

I found that juxtaposition fascinating.

How does a band with a career spanning more than three decades put together a show that satisfies all those different audiences? They have to balance the old stuff, the middle years, and the newer material, knowing that different people have entirely different relationships with their music.

And they pulled it off remarkably well.

They played plenty of songs I knew, along with many I recognized only because Thomas had introduced me to them. It was fun hearing those songs live and seeing just how enthusiastic the audience was about them.

What surprised me most, though, was just how good Weezer sounded. I wasn’t necessarily expecting a band that’s been performing for more than three decades to bring that much energy and enthusiasm to the stage. But they did. The music sounded great, the performance was fun, and they seemed every bit as capable of putting on a great rock show as I could have hoped.

They absolutely surpassed my expectations.

The Gathering

One of the things that impressed me most about the evening was how the stage production evolved as each band performed.

Silversun Pickups had a fairly simple setup. The Shins added more elaborate lighting and animated visuals. But when Weezer took the stage, we discovered just how much production had been hiding in plain sight.

What I had assumed was simply a projection screen turned out to be an enormous video wall that stretched across the entire back of the stage and practically to the rafters. Suddenly, the relatively modest stage we’d been looking at all evening was transformed into something spectacular.

The tour is called The Gathering, and Weezer had built an entire theme around it.

The show opened with a video introducing a boy who wanted Weezer to play at his house, partly to make the neighborhood bullies jealous. The stage itself was designed to look like the front yard of that house, complete with the house on the left and a white picket fence on the right.

When the band finally appeared, they entered through the fence as though they were walking into the yard to play a concert.

It was clever, fun, and incredibly well executed.

From there, the production just kept getting better. The enormous video wall displayed custom animations and graphics throughout the performance, with visuals designed around individual songs. There were lasers, fog, fire, sparks, and some really impressive lighting effects.

They also incorporated audience participation, including something called the “Gold Cam,” which searched the crowd for people wearing gold, a reference to the band’s latest color-coded album.

What impressed me was how well everything fit together. The stage design, videos, lighting, and special effects weren’t just there to make the concert look bigger. They contributed to the experience and made it feel like a complete show rather than simply a band playing through a setlist.

It was an incredibly entertaining production, and far more elaborate than I had expected.

Heading Home

I’m a little old-school when it comes to concerts. I expect a band to finish its set, leave the stage, and maybe come back for an encore. There’s something fun about that moment when the audience is still cheering and you’re waiting to see whether they’ll return for a few more songs.

But modern concerts, especially ones with productions this elaborate, seem to be much more tightly choreographed. Everything is timed and coordinated, and when the show is over, it’s over.

Weezer walked offstage, and within a couple of minutes the house lights came on. No encore, no wondering whether they’d come back. Just the end of the show.

It was a little jarring after such an incredible performance.

Fortunately, getting out of State Farm Arena was remarkably easy. Thomas and I found an exit that led directly to a MARTA station, so we didn’t have to navigate our way back through downtown Atlanta.

We boarded a train heading north, and everything was going smoothly until we realized we were on the Gold Line rather than the Red Line. Both lines share the same tracks for several stops, but the Gold Line doesn’t continue to North Springs. We simply got off at one of the shared stations, waited for the next Red Line train, and continued on our way.

A minor hiccup, but hardly an inconvenience.

All things considered, getting into and out of downtown Atlanta for the concert was incredibly easy. MARTA made the whole experience much more enjoyable, and I would absolutely use it again for another event at State Farm Arena.

Looking back, it was a really great evening. I got to hear three bands whose music I’ve enjoyed for years, including a Weezer performance that far exceeded my expectations. The music was excellent, the production was impressive, and I genuinely had a fantastic time.

Of course, getting to experience all of that with Thomas made it even better. We got to spend the evening together, enjoying something we both love. I’m sure there are all sorts of sentimental things I could say about making memories and sharing experiences with my son, and those things are certainly true.

But I also just really enjoyed the concert. I would have had a great time even if I’d gone alone.

It was simply better because Thomas was there.