Rivers Cuomo, Scott Shriner of Weezer at the 2025 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 12, 2025 in Indio, California.
Katie Flores/Katie Flores / Billboard via Getty Images
Just days after Weezer bassist Scott Shriner’s wife Jillian Lauren was shot by Los Angeles police officers — police say she fired first — the rocker took the stage at Coachella for a 45-minute set.
But the drama stayed offstage on Saturday afternoon: The band delivered a smooth and practiced performance to a bigger crowd than the Mojave stage could stand (and probably the largest crowd of the day so far). Swaths of people spilled out the edges of the tent, waving fans and holding up parasols against the sun.
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Shriner, alongside lead vocalist Rivers Cuomo, drummer Patrick Wilson and guitarist Brian Bell, began with “My Name is Jonas,” and then spun through hits like “Hash Pipe” and “Island in the Sun” — and a cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” Just beloved hit after hit, with no mention of the week’s swirling, strange saga.
Weezer wasn’t even on Coachella’s original billing, but organizers Goldenvoice announced the band’s set and Ed Sheeran’s with the drop of the full weekend schedule on April 6.
Cuomo referenced this in one of the veteran group’s brief gaps. He said they’d been working on the “Weezer” movie back in Los Angeles when they were asked whether they’d come for a surprise set. He didn’t mention Lauren’s charge directly, but expressed excitement about performing.
“It’s so good to get out here with you guys and let out these emotions,” Cuomo said. “Let’s get back to the music.”
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The crowd cheered, and the band jumped back into their groove. All blissed-out fun and sing-alongs, no crime updates.
Los Angeles police said they were pursuing hit-and-run suspects in the Eagle Rock neighborhood Tuesday afternoon when they saw 51-year-old Lauren, an author, standing in the yard of her home with a handgun. She allegedly refused officers’ requests to put her gun down, then fired it, police said on Thursday — after originally saying only that she pointed a gun at officers. A cop shot and hit Lauren, and she was later treated at a hospital for what police called a “non-life-threatening gunshot wound.”
Police booked her on the charge of attempted murder, but she posted the $1 million bond and was released Wednesday. It’s unclear how, and whether, Los Angeles prosecutors will proceed, per the Los Angeles Times.
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The New York Post tracked down Shriner while he was walking dogs in the neighborhood Thursday, to ask about his wife — and the upcoming set. He told the Post, “She’s all right, thank you for asking,” and added a “See you at Coachella!” as he returned home.
