weezer.net
weezer.net (also known as the Rebel Weezer Alliance or RWA) was a semi-official Weezer fan website formed in late 1994 by Weezer fan Anuj Behal.
Contents
History
In 1994, Anuj Behal (under the username pimpbot2k) created the "#weezer" channel on the IRC network EFnet; possibly the first public home to Weezer discussion on the formative internet.[1] Later the same year, he formed the Rebel Weezer Alliance website. The name was a reference to the "Rebel Alliance" faction in the film franchise Star Wars. The site was originally co-ran by Behal and a Utah-based programmer named Tim Boisvert (who joined sometime after the site's formation), however in 1998 Boisvert became inactive.[2] Dan Gdowski became a secondary webmaster in the interim, alongside Steve Carman who provided technical support.
The website featured a wide variety of contents, including bios for each band member and their respective side bands, regular news updates, information on the official fan club, a discography of releases by or featuring Weezer and side bands, fan-made tabs for many songs, archives of articles on the band, contests for real items, audio/video/image files, etc.
Behal and Gdowski were both members of the Weezer Fan Club (members #2264 and #2162, respectively) and would communicate often with its founders Mykel and Carli Allen.[3] The sisters shared news and tidbits with the two to be published to the website for the benefit of online fans, designating the RWA a destination for regular exclusive information. In 1996, Behal and Gdowski met band associate Karl Koch at a Weezer concert in Cincinnati. The two also stayed in regular contact with Koch, which would later help lead to the adoption of the RWA as an official website.[3] In 1997, Behal conducted an interview with Koch to be hosted on the site.
In the Fall 1997 issue of the Weezer Fan Club print publication Weezine, in a section dedicated to Weezer websites, Koch features the RWA as his favorite site, describing it as "official/unofficial".[4] The section also contains a detailed guide by Behal and Gdowski on how to access the #weezer EFnet channel.
Around 1999, a merchandise section was added to the website. It served as an official online storefront for the Weezer Fan Club.
On January 6, 2000, the first online Karl's Corner post was made onto weezer.net. Karl's Corner was originally a column in Weezine, however the impending dissolution of the fan club meant the RWA would serve as a primary means of communication with fans. The column continued online rather than in print, now in the form of smaller, near-daily updates. Throughout 2000, more content was contributed to the site by Koch, including an FAQ, the Fall 1999 and Spring 2000 Special Goodness tour diaries, the Recording History and Equipment History, etc. At this point, the website had become an official band homepage and exploded in popularity.
In January 2001 the band acquired the weezer.com domain name.[5] The contents of the RWA were slowly migrated to this website and on May 11, 2001 it officially went live as the new Weezer homepage.[6] After this, weezer.net began redirecting to weezer.com, and eventually it shut down completely. Behal and Gdowski continued to serve as webmasters on the new website for a short time.[1]
Legacy
In 2014, an entry to the "Today in Weezer history" series of social media posts celebrated the anniversary of the first online Karl's Corner post made to weezer.net, and briefly covered the history of early online Weezer activity. An illustrated T-shirt and poster design featuring the "Rebel Weezer Alliance" name was sold at shows on the EWBAITE Tour later in the same year.
A page in the Weezine Omnibus: Deluxe Edition is dedicated to the history and relevance of weezer.net to early online fandom and the Weezer Fan Club.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Karl Koch. January 6, 2014. "Today in Weezer History: 1/6/2000 - On this day in 2000, the very first online "Karl's Corner" post was put up, on weezer.net (AKA RWA, AKA Rebel Weezer Alliance)". Facebook. Archived from the original on Weezerpedia at Historic event: 01/06/2000.
- ↑ "where's tim?". 1998. weezer.net. Archived from the original on December 5, 1998 at https://web.archive.org/web/19981205221927/http://www.weezer.net/hifi/bios/tim.html.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Karl Koch. 2016. "weezer.net". Weezine Omnibus: Deluxe Edition p.341.
- ↑ Karl Koch. 1997. "weezer on the web...a guide to finding weezer in cyberspace!". Weezine Issue #11 - Fall 1997 p.5. Archived from the original on Weezerpedia.
- ↑ "Buh-Bye.". 2001. weezer.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2001 at https://web.archive.org/web/20010105185100/http://weezer.com:80/index.html.
- ↑ Karl Koch. May 11, 2001. "5/11/01 Workin' Out The Bugs!". Karl's Corner. Archived from the original on Weezerpedia at Karl's Corner - 05/11/2001.
