Reading 2010: Weezer, Main Stage

Weezer, all is forgiven.

The last few albums being a bit rubbish? Forget it, we understand. The fact you’ve ignored our fair isle for half a decade when it comes to touring? We’re sure it wasn’t your fault. Hell, we’ll even promise not to mention that bald patch.

Ooops.

Today is the day, in a sunny Reading field, that Weezer find redemption. From the second Rivers Cuomo places a silly animal hat on his head and climbs his own advertising hoarding to bump fists with ‘the people’, we all remember exactly what his band is all about; fun.

On a bill packed with sunny emo pop, Weezer make their peers look nothing short of boring. A solid mix of their earlier stuff matched with some of the more memorable takes from their patchy recent years (‘Beverly Hills’ inevitably included - nobody’s perfect), there’s outings for ‘Say It Aint So’, ‘My Name Is Jonas’ and ‘The Sweater Song’ - enough to keep those hopes of a Blue album tour alive.

And yes, those covers work. Claiming Wheatus’ ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ as their own - something no doubt stemming from a decade of confusion from those slightly less informed - manages to not be embarrassing. The now famous ‘Kids’/’Poker Face’ mashup becomes even more fantastic when, either accidentally or on purpose, Cuomo goes face first into a huge puddle of mud. Finally becoming the frontman we all knew he was, he rides it out, jumping into the crowd to share his misfortune. Nobody minds - by now, Reading 2010 belongs to Weezer.

And so expectations for ‘Hurley’ are raised again. Anticipations for that return to form we’ve all been waiting for. This has to be the one, doesn’t it?