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ALSO! Check out John's recap of Summerfest and more reviews from the event:

Steve Winwood
John Mellencamp and John Fogerty
Tom Petty and The Black Crowes


In the first of three shows together, the Pixies and Weezer co-headlined Thursday night at the Marcus Ampitheater during Milwaukee's Summerfest. Support was provided by The Fray, a non-threatening emo band that combines guitar and piano. Their first album comes out in September on Sony.

The Pixies took the stage next and blasted through a 26-song set list in just over an hour. To accomplish this, there was little to no break in between songs and frontman Frank Black didn't address the crowd a single time. While this might leave one with the impression that Black doesn't have much personality, you have to admire the relentless way that the group attacks its set, trying to play as many songs as possible in their allotted time. Casual fans were probably satisfied with the selections as they did play their bigger hits - "Where Is My Mind," "Monkey Gone To Heaven," " Here Comes Your Man" and "Wave of Mutilation" - as well as some of their lesser known songs - "Caribou," "Bone Machine" and "U-Mass." The band also showed how they've influenced so many bands. On "Cactus," Black sounded like Jack White's father, dramatically enunciating every syllable of each word. The group showed good versatility as bassist Kim Deal sang a few tunes, including the beautiful "In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song)" while Black sung (or screamed) "Planet Of Sound," which actually tested the limits of my earplugs. On "Vamos," Black sat down while guitarist Joey Santiago used a drumstick to play a violent guitar solo before tossing it back to the drummer (much to the crowd's delight). Having reunited last year after a long breakup, it was hard to tell if the Pixies are still having a good time, but when they closed with "Debaser" and "Gigantic," it was clear by the ovation that their fans certainly were.

After a half-hour set change (way too long, in my opinion), Weezer took the stage. They opened strong with "Say It Ain't So," "Photograph" and "Undone (The Sweater Song)." The next seven selections were strange - the band played four of the less interesting songs off of the recently released Make Believe and two questionable tracks off of Maladroit, including an instrumental version of "Death and Destruction." The highlight in this stretch was definitely the crowd favorite "El Scorcho." After this detour, the group finished strong with "Island In The Sun" and their breakout hit "Buddy Holly" intermixed with two of the best tracks off of Make Believe, "Beverly Hills" and "We Are All On Drugs." After a break, the band returned and made an odd choice by playing another new track, "Haunt You Every Day" before closing the show with "Hash Pipe." I've seen Weezer at their best (Irvine, CA 8/9/02), so this show, while still enjoyable, was a bit of a disappointment. Out of a 16-song set list, they chose seven songs off of Make Believe and left out some of the more interesting tracks ("This Is Such A Pity" and "My Best Friend"). Also, choosing "Fall Together" and "Death and Destruction" over the likes of "Keep Fishin'," "Dope Nose," " The Good Life" or "My Name Is Jonas" makes me wonder if the band is more interested in entertaining the audience or entertaining themselves.

Weezer set list:

Say It Ain't So
Photograph
Undone (The Sweater Song)
Peace
Pardon Me
Fall Together
El Scorcho
Hold Me
Perfect Situation
Death and Destruction
Island In The Sun
We Are All On Drugs
Beverly Hills
Buddy Holly

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Haunt You Every Day
Hash Pipe


Send any questions, comments or wine stories to jpaulsen@bullz-eye.com.