Great minds respect one another, and Oasis and Weezer exemplify this camaraderie. The Britpop icons Oasis shattered UK chart records with their 1997 release Be Here Now and saw all seven studio albums claim the No. 1 spot at home, yet Liam Gallagher himself once crowned Rivers Cuomo his “favorite rock star” in 2005—high praise from the famously candid frontman.
The admiration is mutual. Brian Bell of Weezer shared with Rolling Stone Australia a vivid memory from a ’90s rehearsal in London when Gallagher marched past and hollered, “Buddy Holly—top tune, mate!” in the band’s communal lounge.
“Compliments from someone you idolize are priceless,” Bell reflects. “No matter what else they think of us, their respect means everything. If they ever doubted us, we’d still hold them in the highest regard.”
Bell has already secured tickets for Oasis’s Live ’25 performance at the Rose Bowl next month, though he admits he flirted with the idea of journeying to Scotland to experience the phenomenon on home soil.
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Oasis isn’t the sole ’90s legend on tour. Weezer is traversing North and South America through November, then heads Down Under for headline slots at the Good Things Festival in early December, calling at Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.
“We’re experiencing a creative renaissance,” Bell says over Zoom. “The band has never been tighter, and everyone’s more inspired than ever.”
That fervor fueled six pandemic-era releases, from the arena-ready Van Weezer to the ambitious four-part saga Seasons.
Last year, Weezer’s self-titled debut—known as the Blue Album—recharted the Billboard 200 at No. 87 following its 30th-anniversary deluxe edition, and rumors swirl of a forthcoming feature film after Cuomo teased, “we’ve been busy making the Weezer movie back in L.A.” at Coachella.
Bell hints that fresh material could debut live this year. “Anything’s on the table,” he says. “We’ll deliver the hits fans love, but there’s one new song we’ve been crafting that might just sneak into our set.”