The Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer: UK Tour 13/06/2024

Rating: ★★★★

Co-Op Live: ★★★

Where we stayed: Rooms 7 minutes from Etihad

WEEZER SETLIST:

My Name Is Jonas
Beverly Hills
Dope Nose (with some of ‘Troublemaker’)
Undone – The Sweater Song
Pork And Beans
All My Favorite Songs
Pink Triangle
Island In The Sun
Perfect Situation
The Good Life
Celebrity Skin (Hole cover)
Burndt Jamb (with some of ‘Everybody Get Dangerous’)
In The Garage
Anonymous
Say It Ain’t So
Run, Raven, Run (partial)
Hash Pipe
Only In Dreams
Surf Wax America
Buddy Holly

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS SETLIST:

An Everlasting Gaze
Doomsday Clock
Zoo Station (U2 cover)
Today
Thru The Eyes Of Ruby
Spellbinding
Tonight, Tonight
That Which Animates The Spirit
Ava Adore
Disarm
Springtimes
Mayonaise
Bullet With Butterfly Wings
Empires
Beguiled
1979
Birch Grove
Panopticon
Shame (partial)
Jellybelly
Rhinoceros
Gossamer
Cherub Rock
Zero

Co-Op Live has had a rough opening period, to put it lightly, being in and out of the news for several disasters. It is finally up and running and I can report that things went smoothly for the most part. I bought my ticket long before any of this chaos ensued, when the venue was still promising to open on time and highly-anticipated acts such as Olivia Rodrigo, Keane and Take That hadn’t been cancelled, postponed or transferred to their rival venue, The AO Arena. I felt more at ease when Elbow, the band who ended up opening the venue on May 14th, had positive feedback. Like everyone else who bought tickets via Gigs and Tours, I didn’t receive my QR code until two days before the event, which was cutting it very fine. The first member of staff I encountered on the day sent me to Fan Services to get my ticket printed out, as they had issues scanning them the day before. There, I was told the QR code was actually fine and I didn’t need to get it printed out after all. Thankfully, the entry process was effortless after that. I appreciated the announcement at 5:30pm, telling everyone over the speakers the doors were now open, as it added to the excitement. There was a self-scanning ticket system in place but plenty of staff were standing around, in case you needed help. I waited to get my bag searched but was ushered straight through, which felt a bit too lax. The venue looks great inside and out. I personally like the simplistic design, with the blue lights accenting the black walls of the exterior. Inside, it is incredibly spacious and there are small Co-Op stores where you can pick up food and drinks. I got a hot sausage roll for a reasonable price. However, the small cans of wine cost a staggering £8.95 and the prosecco was even dearer. Some of the seats looked miles away from the stage, so I was surprised there were no screens at the sides to help us see the acts. Teen Mortgage came on at 6:20pm and sounded fantastic. They are a two piece band composed of guitarist/vocalist James Guile and drummer Edward Barakauskas. JG jokingly introduced themselves as Simon and Garfunkel, which got a bit of a laugh. I didn’t know there would be an opening act until a few days prior, so I wasn’t left with a lot of time to look up their music. I will check them out on Spotify as soon as I get a chance though, as they sounded like my type of band. Their songs worked well in an arena of this size as the music had no trouble filling every corner of the room and the distinctive melodies got the crowd bobbing their legs and nodding their heads in time.

I was most excited for Weezer, as I have been a fan of theirs for a long time and had never seen them before. It also happened to be lead singer Rivers Cuomo’s birthday, which made the occasion extra special. Paul was convinced I had been to one of their gigs before but we soon realised he was thinking of Wheatus! It was funny when the bands became aware of people mixing them up and started covering each other’s songs to add to the confusion, but I digress… They opened with ‘My Name Is Jonas’, which I thought was the best choice for them to get the crowd to go wild as early as possible, as it is instantly recognisable and upbeat. RC didn’t chat to the crowd much and let the setlist full of crowd-pleasers do most of the talking. He kept the fact that it was his birthday a secret but said it was “a dream come true” to be touring with The Smashing Pumpkins and he was very happy to be back in Manchester. Honestly, it took me a while to wrap my head around these two acts co-headlining a show, since they seemed nothing alike to me. It is difficult to pinpoint their exact genres but I have always thought of TSP as a lot heavier, with Weezer falling under “geek rock”. Both of their debut albums came out in the early 1990s and they are often categorised as “alternative rock” bands, so maybe they have more in common than I first thought. I don’t think the setlist could have been much better, as it included my top favourites – ‘All My Favorite Songs’, ‘Perfect Situation’ and ‘Only In Dreams’. The biggest hits were amazing to hear too, of course. I do feel like it was over too quickly and I had trouble becoming as fully invested as I had hoped, because of how far away my seat was. If I go to see them again, I will make sure I am standing so I can fully soak in the atmosphere and be able to see the band playing their instruments. They seemed to be rattling through their songs at speed, which made me think about how their set would soon be over. I really enjoyed their cover of ‘Celebrity Skin’, which Billy Corgan (lead singer of TSP) co-wrote with Courtney Love and Eric Erlandson. This was a lovely idea, and proved RC is a genuine fan of BC, but it made it feel even more like Weezer were acting as the warm-up act, instead of TSP’s equals. He encouraged the crowd to sing loudly along with ‘Perfect Situation’ (which is a great song for a singalong, with all of the “oooh’s”) so they would be able to hear us at the Foo Fighters concert, taking place in Manchester at the same time. That added a bit of friendly competition and was a fun reference to local events. That rival concert received more press coverage, with a whopping 50,000 attendees, so it was interesting to hear RC bring it up. Although it all seemed to be over almost as soon as it began, I thoroughly enjoyed their set and hope their next tour is not just in the US.

Although I had seen them before, during their Spirits On Fire tour in 2022, I didn’t know exactly what to expect from TSP. Since then, they have released a three-act rock opera album which is nearly two and a half hours long, so I wasn’t sure how much of the setlist would be taken up by that. I haven’t given it my full attention yet, even though I knew it would be a sensible idea before seeing them again, as songs from it were bound to show up. They came on just before 9pm, and did well to pack so much into their two hour slot. As well as their most well-known songs from a range of their albums, there were stunning tracks I didn’t hear the last time I saw them. ‘Spellbinding’ and ‘Springtimes’, both from the aforementioned ‘Atum: A Rock Opera In Three Acts’, convinced me to give the album a listen once and for all. Another favourite from the night that got a lot of praise online was ‘Mayonaise’, from their beloved album, ‘Siamese Dream’, released in 1993. BC talked to the crowd between songs, claiming Manchester has the best audiences in the UK and reminiscing about performing in front of their dedicated fans from this part of the country over the years. He seemed to genuinely appreciate all of the love and support the band has been given and excitedly explained how one of the band members, Jack Bates, is from the Manchester area. He introduced each current member of the band – Kiki Wong (guitar), Katie Cole (guitar/vocals), Jack Bates (bass guitar), Jimmy Chamberlin (drums) and of course, himself, Billy Corgan (vocals/guitar). He mentioned that the exceptionally talented Kiki Wong is their newest member, after holding auditions earlier this year to replace Jeff Schroeder, who felt it was time to leave the band after more than fifteen years. Auditions were open to everybody and KW must have felt like she had won the lottery, being one of the 10,000 applicants. JC is widely considered one of the best drummers around, and comments online were gushing. I could understand why and I’d say he received the loudest applause, after their names had all been called out. He definitely had his fair share of fans in the crowd. Although the band members change from time to time, I thought the songs sounded very close to their studio recordings and I love how unique and haunting BC’s voice is. I was a little concerned my mind would wander by the second half of the set, as they were onstage for a long time and I didn’t know all of the songs, but they were so brilliant that it was impossible not to pay attention.

I came out of the venue a bigger TSP fan and am going to dedicate more time to listening to their albums, as there are some real gems to be discovered. As always, there seems to be mixed reviews online, though the general consensus is that they gave a mind-blowing performance and I wholeheartedly agree. I don’t think it’s fair to call this a co-headlining tour when Weezer always perform first and are onstage for considerably less time than TSP. I did end up finding the two bands back to back a bit jarring, though I have come across weirder line-ups – especially at festivals. I have eclectic taste in music but I noticed that, because the bands are so different from each other, some people skipped Weezer entirely, whereas others left early during TSP. I am seeing a lot more of these supposed co-headlining tours popping up and I have another one in the near future – Manic Street Preachers and Suede, at Edinburgh Castle, which makes a lot more sense. I often wonder how these pairings are dreamed up, and for what purpose. It’s certainly a good way of filling up larger venues but I think that more effort could be made to match up the co-headlining bands more successfully. I’d happily see both Weezer and TSP individually but putting them together is destined to create a muddled and strange atmosphere, as getting into the right mood for the next band takes some effort. I also found even the closest seats to the stage seemed to distance fans from most of the action, which impacted my overall experience, but I know that comes down to personal preference. It baffles me why they built the UK’s newest biggest arena in the same city as the perfectly adequate AO Arena, which still has the best acoustics I have experienced. Surely another city, which doesn’t have a giant music venue of its own yet, could have benefited from it more. The staff were all very friendly and made efforts to be helpful and reassuring. I will put the negatives down to teething problems and I have faith most aspects of the venue will improve as time goes on. I’m going back in October and don’t feel nearly as apprehensive as I did on my first visit. I look forward to having a different experience, closer to the stage.

GALLERY