When Weezer was announced last weekend as a surprise addition to this year’s Coachella lineup, few likely predicted that the veteran alt-rock band’s set would be among the festival’s most closely watched.
But that was before bassist Scott Shriner’s wife, Jillian, was involved in a bizarre episode in Los Angeles this week that ended with her being shot by police officers after they encountered her with a handgun in the backyard of a home in Eagle Rock.
Walking onstage Saturday afternoon in the Mojave tent, Scott Shriner pumped his fist and drew a huge round of cheers from the overflow crowd of several thousands.
The episode between police and author Jillian Lauren Shriner happened Tuesday during an unrelated manhunt for several people suspected of fleeing a hit-and-run on the 134 Freeway. The search led officers to a house near the couple’s, where they say they found Shriner with a gun that she used to fire at police; the officers fired back, hitting Shriner, who was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and later arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Shriner posted $1 million bond and was released from custody late Wednesday.
On Thursday, reporters for the New York Post quoted Scott Shriner as saying that his wife was OK as he walked the couple’s four dogs outside their home.
“See you at Coachella!” the paper said he added.
Weezer’s performance, which frontman Rivers Cuomo said served as a welcome break from the band’s work in L.A. on a Weezer movie, was packed with oldies including “Hash Pipe,” “Perfect Situation,” “Undone — The Sweater Song” and “Surf Wax America,” during which Cuomo put his arm around Scott Shriner as the latter sang a falsetto vocal line. No one onstage said anything about the incident with the bassist’s wife.
The band also covered Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and closed with a one-two punch from its hit self-titled 1994 debut: “Say It Ain’t So” into “Buddy Holly.”
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