In the early years of Weezer, frontman Rivers Cuomo said he was introverted — even while playing sold-out concerts across the country.
“I used to just close my eyes and get into the music,” Cuomo said by phone from a recording studio in Los Angeles. “You can only do that so many times before it gets old.”
These days Cuomo says he’s having a lot more fun on stage.
“Now it’s just about partying with the crowd, connecting with them, dancing with them,” he said, “and that can be fun every night.”
Weezer is making a tour stop at Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center (CMAC) in Hopewell, near Canandaigua, on Sunday for the first time in the band’s history. While Cuomo admits he knows nothing about the Canandaigua area, he said his family lived in Rochester until he was 5 years old.
Cuomo will be joined on stage by drummer Patrick Wilson, bassist Scott Shriner and guitarist Brian Bell.
The band released its seventh studio album, “Raditude,” last fall. Weezer’s recorded works give the band plenty of songs to choose from at concerts.
“We’re just trying to cause as much mayhem and excitement in the room as we can,” Cuomo said. “That means playing a lot of hits, playing a few surprise songs and cover songs.”
Though Weezer is considered an alternative rock act, Cuomo and his bandmates dabbled in other genres on “Raditude.” Rapper Lil Wayne made a cameo on the song “Can’t Stop Partying,” and there is an Indian influence to “Love is the Answer.”
“I’m just always looking to get myself off musically and do crazy things that sound cool, and this time around I wanted to do something with Lil Wayne,” Cuomo said. “I loved the vibe he had going on with his record and thought it’d be a challenging combination and unlike anything I’d ever heard before.”
Weezer also recorded a track to support the United States men’s national soccer team in the World Cup, called “Represent.” When the men defeated Algeria, the song was playing in the locker room. Cuomo was thrilled to have his song used that way, though he also found it funny that a Yahoo! Sports article mentioned Weezer in the same sentence as President Bill Clinton, who was also in the locker room after the game.
“It’s just funny because Weezer doesn’t have any business being in that article,” Cuomo said.
