American rock band Weezer took to the Pacific Amphitheatre stage in Costa Mesa, California Thursday August 4^th for a stand-alone show for their loyal fans at the Orange County Fair, performing some of their biggest hits and some memorable covers.

Following their successful six-city “Memories Tour”, commemorating their albums “Weezer (Blue Album)” and “Pinkerton”, last fall, Weezer brought their act for a one-night summer engagement to a packed crowd at the OC Fair. With nine studio albums and hundreds of songs to choose from, lead singer Rivers Cuomo and his band mates certainly had the daunting task of choosing which songs to include in the set list. Luckily for fans, the night consisted of fan favorites and covers of two major hit songs.

The 20^th Century Fox theme music introduced Weezer to the audience, who began the night with their 2008 hit “Troublemaker”, which had singer Rivers Cuomo walking into the pit to sing amongst his fans. For their song “Surf Wax America”, Rivers removed his jacket to reveal a large sleeved tattoo on his arm, a fake and humorous nod to his stance on tattoos being too permanent. Weezer followed with “Perfect Situation”, “No One Else”, and “Undone (The Sweater Song)” before breaking to engage with the audience.

Rivers Cuomo took to the microphone to announce that their next song would be a cover of a popular song currently on radio, and that it would in fact be the first time the band had ever tried performing it together. With lyrics sheet in hand and melody intact, the group performed a cover of Foster The People’s hit “Pumped Up Kicks”. They followed the cover with the favorite “My Name Is Jonas” and “Dope Nose”, for which bassist Scott Shriner sang the vocals while Rivers played guitar in the audience. “Island In The Sun” came next, starting off acoustic with the rest of the band coming in during the second chorus. They followed with “Pork and Beans”, where Rivers introduced the audience to each band member, having them sing certain parts of the song.

Fan favorites, including “Pink Triangle”, “Photograph”, and “Keep Fishin”, were performed before Weezer played their hit “Hash Pipe”. The group followed those performances with a cover of one of their all-time favorite bands, Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”. The hits “Beverly Hills” and “Say It Aint So” closed out the show’s main set before the band came out for their encore.

Weezer’s first encore performance was their 2009 hit single “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”, where Rivers Cuomo took to the audience yet again, this time going up several levels of seating to sing and mingle with his fans, one of whom gave Rivers a custom pair of oversized Weezer tighty-whities. The final song of the night was their 1994 hit “Buddy Holly”, a song that had the crowd singing in unison before the group took their final bow of the night.

After over a decade of releasing music and touring, Weezer still puts on an energetic, humorous, and exciting show, one that continues to draw in their dedicated fans. Singer Rivers Cuomo and his band’s devotion to their fans and to putting on an exciting show is evident in their stage presence, as they appear to be having just as much, if not more fun, than the audience. They are one of those bands that as long as they continue to release music and tour, their fans will follow them wherever and whenever, knowing they are in for an exciting concert.

Weezer’s performance at the OC Fair was just one of many big-named acts to appear at the Pacific Amphitheatre, which featured country singer Blake Shelton, Disney starlet Selena Gomez & The Scene, and iconic rock band Chicago last month. For the latest Weezer news, including information about their upcoming Weezer Cruise, visit their official website http://weezer.com/