Summer Game Fest, one of the summer’s biggest gaming showcases, began this afternoon. As part of the proceedings, Weezer helped to open the kick-off stream by performing a new song called “Tell Me What You Want.” As the band took the virtual stage, they started trending on Twitter for a number of reasons.
Premiering their brand new song “Tell Me What You Want” from @WaveBreakGame, this is @Weezer! #SummerGameFest pic.twitter.com/SBVvTGiAeR
— Summer Game Fest (@summergamefest) June 10, 2021
During the song, Rivers Cuomo coughed (seemingly intentionally as part of the song’s lyrics) while referencing a certain online music publication, singing, “Don’t be influenced by an office full of dorks / I won’t mention any names… [coughs] Pitchfork.” Those watching the event took notice of both the coughing and the Pitchfork diss:
did the weezer guy fuck up or was that cough an intentional lyric because that was fucking funny
— dot (@dotJade_) June 10, 2021
DID MR WEEZER JUST COUGH ON THE MIC
— Juan (@YuunagiBou) June 10, 2021
Pitchfork after Weezer calls them an office full of dorks pic.twitter.com/hIp2QMmrgv
— foof (犬人間) (@Psii_fii) June 10, 2021
yoooooo weezer pitchfork diss lets go
— epic gamer facts (@epic_gamer_fact) June 10, 2021
A few others saw the cough as an opportunity to joke that the band has finally lived up to their name by wheezing on a song.
https://twitter.com/nintendofac/status/1403068471320010752
weezer more like wheeze
— Firos (@WeebFiros) June 10, 2021
Weezer more like Wheeze
— Also known as vosem (@yikesb0y) June 10, 2021
The performance also included footage from the forthcoming game Wave Break, in which there will be a level called “Weezy Mode” that’s based on the new song. The band, Wave Break developer Funktronic Labs, and Crush Games have also “taken steps to ensure ‘Tell Me What You Want’ is stream-safe, so it can be freely used on Twitch, YouTube, and anywhere else without being blocked or losing monetization.” As for Wave Break, it’s described as “the world’s first skateBOATING game, inspired by arcade skateboarding classics.” Both the game and song will be released tomorrow, June 11.
Watch Weezer perform “Tell Me What You Want” above.