Weezer member Rivers Cuomo recently recalled that he was concerned that the band might have created a song that could seem like a rip-off of Nirvana.
The rock band had previously announced a special tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut, self-titled album Weezer, or the Blue Album. The group announced the run of shows with an astronaut-themed video that sees all four members —Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, and Scott Shriner.
Rivers Cuomo talks about Nirvana
Recently, they had a special performance for Spotify during which Cuomo spoke about his concern that Weezer’s ‘Buddy Holly’ almost sounded like a ripoff of Nirvana’s “In Bloom”. He said:
“I seem to remember hearing the video idea and thinking, ‘Oh my God, that’s the greatest thing ever,’ ‘I don’t care who else likes it or doesn’t like it, this video is going to be amazing.’ But what I remember is I didn’t want to wear my glasses in it because I didn’t want to feel like I was ripping off, was it ‘In Bloom’ by Nirvana? Where Kurt had these glasses on.”
Nirvana struck gold with their track “In Bloom.” This song, a standout from their groundbreaking album ‘Nevermind’ encapsulates the raw energy and angst that made Nirvana a household name.
Weezer are set to kick off their “Voyage to the Blue Planet Tour” on September 4 in Saint Paul, before stopping in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and Seattle. Their tour will end at the yet-to-be-opened Intuit Dome on October 11. The band is expected to play the iconic LP, which includes singles “Undone,” “Buddy Holly,” and “Say It Ain’t So,” in full, along with fan favorites and rarities.
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with NME, Cuomo also talked about Weezer’s early days that saw the band performing at small, semi-secret venues under the pseudonym Goat Punishment. Apart from covering Oasis songs, the band also once played a show consisting solely of Nirvana tunes.
When asked whether Courtney Love’s approval of their covers would have meant a lot to his Kurt Cobain-obsessed teenage self, Cuomo said: “Yeah. Courtney is a real icon to our generation, and feels like our big sister.”
“You really want somebody like that to approve of what you’re doing and Kurt didn’t live long enough to hear us – he died a month before our Blue album came out [in April 1994],” the singer explains.
“But I’m assuming he would not have approved of us. But that Courtney does is pretty great.”
Cuomo reckoned that Weezer’s music didn’t seem like the kind of thing that would appeal to the late grunge legend: “It seemed like the music he looked up to was rougher around the edges, more punk, and less commercial,” he says.
