Weezer really liked ‘SNL’s’ sketch about Weezer
OCCASIONALLY, the best skits on “Saturday Night Live” are the throwaway sketches - the ones that feel like they were probably an inside joke in the writer’s room. That happened this weekend with a delightfully absurd sketch about the band Weezer. In the sketch, which aired nearly an hour into Saturday’s broadcast, Leslie Jones and Matt Damon play two passionate Weezer fans who meet at a dinner party and discover they staunchly disagree over when the band was in its prime.
Jones’ character only likes the band’s early work - its 1994 debut, “Weezer”, known as the Blue Album, and sophomore effort, “Pinkerton”. Damon’s character, Todd, meanwhile, declares himself to be a “ride or die” fan, celebrating the band’s work across decades. “They just set a release date for the freaking Black Album,” he tells the host. “I mean, they’re playing New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.”
The debate at the centre of the sketch felt especially familiar to rock enthusiasts. But you know who really liked it? Weezer. So much so that it appears to have inspired the band’s merchandise arm. On Sunday, the band’s verified Twitter account shared a preorder form for a T-shirt emblazoned with “Weezer Ride Or Die”. And the description borrows from some of the sketch’s best lines:
“So you’re a Weezer fan? This shirt is for you. This is a preorder for the freakin Black Album out March 1st.”
In the sketch, the Weezer debate escalates quickly, with Jones and Damon both standing up and pacing around the table as the other guests exchange clueless and, eventually, exasperated glances. The duo name-check current and former members of the band as Jones argues that Damon doesn’t “understand what Rivers is going through,” referring to Rivers Cuomo, Weezer’s lead singer.
“Weezer died when Matt Sharp left,” Jones insists, bringing up the band’s original bassist, who left Weezer in 1998.
“Weezer didn’t start until Scott Shriner got there,” Damon shoots back, praising Sharp’s replacement.
“Oh, you tryin’ to die,” Jones says, lurching towards Damon’s character, who is later thrown out of the gathering, crooning lyrics from the 2005 Weezer song “Beverly Hills”.
Cuomo, Sharp and Patrick Wilson, the band’s drummer, were among the people tweeting about the sketch after it aired.
“IM ACTUALLY CRYING AAAGGGGHHHHHHH,” Cuomo tweeted.
“Priceless, love it. Life is just beautifully ridiculous.” tweeted Sharp, who has fronted the Rentals since 1995,
“Go Matt Damon!,” Wilson tweeted.
As an organisation, “Saturday Night Live” seems to somewhat support Damon’s stance. Weezer performed on the show in 2001 - well after “Pinkerton”, which, it should be noted, was not wellreceived by critics at the time. But perhaps that moment is also why Jones’ character is very specific about when she thinks the band started to fall off. “They’ve been trash since 2001, son,” she tells Damon’s character.