Weezer in August 1996 had just set off on a year-long tour in support of Pinkerton, an album that many today consider either their best or second-best offering, but critics and cash registers back then weren’t so sure.
The critical and financial drop off from the band’s smash triple-platinum 1994 self-titled debut was so dramatic, singer/guitarist Rivers Cuomo grew a fuzzy beard and checked out for a few years. He questioned everything because he thought the band had avoided the sophomore slump with an even-better LP, and yet Pinkerton was met with an initial meh.
“[Pinkerton] was supposed to be our magnum opus and it just got destroyed,” he told NME, “and it’s almost like Game Over for our band”.
But in August ’96 the tour had just begun. Hopes were high. After a few big summer festivals, the band settled in at the Garage in London, a cozy 600-capacity rock club.
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