Sorcha Rose McGroarty
To say I was ecstatic when I heard Weezer, Fall Out Boy and Greenday were all going on tour together would be an understatement. Three iconic bands whose music matured like fine wine all at one concert. What more could a recovering emo kid ask for?
The Dublin segment of the tour took place in Marlay park on Monday the 27th of June. While a workday was an odd choice for a concert, who would question the judgement of these music legends?
While there was a rocky start to things the show as a whole was fantastic. Myself and the group I attend with unfortunately missed both the opening band, The Sniffers, full set and the first half of weezer’s set due to the traffic. Many people attending the concert encountered the same problems we did, where shuttle buses were cancelled, public transport was either full, late or also cancelled and there didn’t seem to be a single free taxi around..
When we did eventually arrive we had luckily missed the crowds and long lines others had turned up to earlier. We were let into security quickly where a worker quickly had us checked and passed us through to the main arena of the concert.
When we arrived about half way through Weezer’s set, we were immediately greeted by a remarkably relaxed and laid back atmosphere. People were sitting down in the grass, eating, drinking and chatting while enjoying the music. Weezer’s set performance matched this atmosphere perfectly. They had wonderful stage energy, and played a fantastic role in introducing the crowd to the show. Weezer had also adopted a sort of ‘dad look’ for this tour, which followed through in their Dublin show. They played many of their most loved songs including Island In The Sun, Buddy Holly and Say It Ain’t So. They also played covers of Enter Sandman by Metallica and Africa by Toto.
To say there was a contrast in atmosphere would be to downplay the difference between Weezer’s and Fall out Boy. They opened by shooting flames from various parts of the stage and having the crowd screaming lyrics at the top of their lungs. The flames and fantastic light displayed matched the electric and fiery energy shared by performers and the audience alike. Towards the end of their set Pete Wenz even took off his black shirt to reveal the Ireland jersey he had on underneath.
Once their set had also finished there was another break before Greenday came on stage. When they finally did the crowd had reached its peak excitement and so the controlled chaos ensued. Like all three bands before them, Greenday also played their most well loved and well known songs. The highlight of their set however, was Lynx.
Lynx was the audience member who was invited on stage to play the guitar with the band. She appeared on stage, in awe and in some fantastic black eyeliner and was promptly handed a guitar and taught exactly how to play the song. She picked it up quickly and soon was rocking out with the band. When she was finished she was told she could keep the guitar. She looked so excited she might cry. Following this the crowd started chanting lynx with all the buzz in the crowd being about how excited everyone was that she got to go on stage and also keep the guitar.
By the time the concert was over, the crowd was still happy and cheery. We didn’t face many issues with leaving the venue, despite the fact that approximately 40,000 people were released into the night seemingly at once. At this point there were no buses left running anywhere useful, and it seemed every taxi driver in the country was on holiday, so many people ended up having to call friends and family to come pick them up. On the brightside the crowd was incredibly friendly and civil. Despite the heavy drinking, I have never felt so safe at a concert, and can say without a doubt it was an overall positive experience despite the transport issues.
Meath South East News 