Musically, the groups that co-featured the Saturday Xcel Energy Center had a lot in common. In terms of personality, Weezer and the Pixies were as different as Buddy Holly and Mary Tyler Moore.

Weezer is out – get this! – dressed in matching stripes and sang "Pork and Beans" as a barber foursome. It's a fun start to an 85-minute set that did nothing to diminish the growing reputation of Los Angeles' wildly cool rockers as a novelty.

Weezer not only plays his remake of Africa, Toto, which is the subject of heated debate, but the quartet has also taken songs from Tears for Fears, Black Sabbath and TLC.

In contrast, the Pixies were as noble as the groups.

Singer Black Francis (aka Frank Black) did not speak to the crowd throughout the first round of his pioneer quartet Boston. Instead, he used all his time to rip 22 often rhythmic songs, where he was tearing his throat. A polite hello from the bald and screaming leader could at least keep the young children out of the crowd from having nightmares around him.

Despite their diverging performance styles, the two groups combined to form a rather happy and flamboyant rockathon with tons of familiar melodies, at least for Generation X members who were present. They came from opposite ends of the alt-rock boom of the early '90s, but each put their own turn in the strong-loud melodic punk formula that Nirvana had made famous between them.

The presence of more than 9,000 people on Saturday was comparable to Weezer's previous appearances in Twin Cities over the last decade. So, their new success with "Africa" ​​did not really increase their power of attraction – and maybe even hurt them, if you count Groupon's current deals and fans leaning towards the Pixies.

Weezer is however all-in on the cover-band shtick. These four songs from his album "Weezer (Teal Album)," seem excessive / annoying compared to one of the newest and original "Black Album" ("High As a Kite").

Matt Damon's super character "Saturday Night Live" by Weezer was actually disappointed by the set list, which turned heavily on the band's first three albums. Most Saturday fans did not complain.

The trio of "Undone (Sweater Song)", "My name is Jonas" and "El Scorcho" kept his breathtaking energy and vocals shortly after "Buddy Holly" at the beginning of the set. Towards the end, the group delivered a four-shot finish with "Pink Triangle", "Beverly Hills" and a reminder of "Pork and Beans" and "Say It Is Not So".

In between, however, things have become really crazy.

Dressed remarkably like Holly from "Land of the Lost," Cuomo crossed the crowd in a wooden boat while guitarist Brian Bell sang their rendition of Sabbath's "Paranoid". He then sang an acoustic version of A-ha's "Take on Me" at the end of the arena, which ended with his melody as the old singer of Bill's "SNL" Murray.

The song Toto came after the return of Cuomo on the big stage. He played that decidedly straight and sincere – too straight, actually, but most of the audience seemed to be inside. For the rest of us: no one was hurt, it was over in four minutes, let's move on.

The set of Pixies was a slow builder by design. Francis / Frank played the acoustic guitar throughout the first half, and his counterpart Joey Santiago did not really deepen his devilish and burning guitar sound until the 10th track, "Gouge Away". songs in the meantime, including "Where Is My Mind?" and "Here Comes Your Man," who both pulled the crowd out of their seats.

Weezer fans who dragged themselves late for the Pixies may have felt like they had entered a typhoon. The last half hit hard with "Monkey Gone to Heaven", "Wave of Mutilation", the cover of Jesus & Mary Chain "Head On" and the recent nugget "Classic Masher". Also in the end, "Caribou" and the "Gigantic" finale showed how Paz Lenchantin – the second alternate to Kim Deal's co-founder – fits well with vocals after being rock solid all night long. .

All in all, this set of Pixies was not as exciting as their two flagship shows at the Palace in 2017, their best in town since their reform. But he definitely beat the dates of the U2 arena.