The glasses were still there. So were the khakis and the sweater – this time it was blue.

But Rivers Cuomo also has a beard, and that’s not all that has changed.

As was apparent Saturday night at Hilton Coliseum, Weezer is a new band, with new fans, new record sales and a new attitude.

Gone was the geeky, slightly scared-looking front man whose only words used to be a mumbled thanks to his adoring, bespeckled fans.

Instead, Cuomo’s funny and sometimes mystifying stage presence overpowered guitarist Brian Bell and drummer Patrick Wilson, although new bassist Scott Shriner played off the crowd’s energy, goofing off throughout the performance.

“Hey Ames, Wisc.,” Cuomo said, which was followed by confused shouts from the floor.

“That’s the oldest trick in the book,” Cuomo added. “I can’t believe you fell for that.”

The band then ripped into its latest single, the arena-rocking, mosh-inducing “Dope Nose,” from their fourth album to be released next week. Cuomo thrust his guitar straight out from his body during the solo, drawing screams from a crowd that seemed more MTV than geek.

But as Weezer knocked out an 85-minute set that featured songs from all four albums – including four from “Pinkerton,” songs Cuomo said only a year ago he would not play anymore – as well as some unreleased material and a cover of The Turtles’ “Happy Together.”

After the band finished many of the songs, Cuomo rambled after the cover.

“I’m happy,” Cuomo said. “I’m happy.”

Cuomo kept up the witty banter throughout the performance, talking to the crowd and himself.

“Get me a fresh ax, my man, it’s time to shred,” Cuomo said to a roadie before playing the opening chords of “Say It Ain’t So.”

Aside from a thrown sandal that smacked Cuomo during “El Scorcho,” the gathered fans at Hilton, who left about half the upper deck empty, didn’t seem to mind Cuomo’s quirks.

“I want to be on the floor next time,” said Jamie Reckinger, senior in civil engineering. “I liked being able to hear the way they sing together, the harmony.”

Indeed, the music was solid and pleased the crowd that moved wave-like during “Island in the Sun” and “Surf Wax America” and created a many-thousand member chorus during “Say It Ain’t So.”

“They played all the songs I wanted them to,” said Kari Poulsen, freshman in pre-business, who hoped to hear a lot of material from “The Blue Album.”

Two songs from that album comprised the blinding, sparkling confetti-strewn light spectacular that closed the show.

After the hazy, feedback frenzy of “Only in Dreams,” the band briefly left the stage, returning to chants of “Weezer, Weezer” to close with the crowd-pleasing “Buddy Holly.”

Jon Dahlager is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Cottage Grove.