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Upon first glance, there wouldn’t seem to be much common ground between Saturday night’s co-headliners Weezer and Panic! At the Disco.

After all, Weezer’s heyday of the blue album and "Pinkerton," born out of the ’90s garage alt rock era, would happen almost a full decade before Panic! would notch their first big hit, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies," in the midst of music’s emo power pop rock phase. Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo isn’t quite old enough to be Panic! frontman Brandon Urie’s father – 46 and 29, respectively – but when Urie talked up Weezer on stage, about how their early albums inspired him and taught him to play music, the "Buddy Holly" rockers sounded more patriarchs than partners.

But hey, the first Marcus Amp headliner double act – Alabama Shakes and Chris Stapleton – managed to find the soulful center that harmoniously united the seemingly disparate bands. And yet again, Saturday night … eh, no, never mind; the same did not happen, as the differences between Panic!’s high-energy, polished power pop rock and Weezer’s more lowkey, charmingly dorky alt rock only became more apparent. But that didn’t mean the two didn’t put on one strong show, their two styles willfully fusing into a fun night of entertainment complete with beach balls and back flips a plenty.

As the youngsters of the duo, Panic! At the Disco took the stage first, emerging from behind a large teal green curtain and with "Miserlou" blaring before hopping into their energetic opener, "Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time," complete with big band brass and Urie’s explosive falsetto. The crazed energy wouldn’t come down for the rest of the 75-minute set, as Urie – clad in a leopard print shirt and shiny blue suit jacket – raced forward through rocking hits ("Vegas Lights," "The Ballad of Mona Lisa" and the theatrical "Hallelujah" complete with glitchy video footage of Pentecostal preachers gone wild) with bright, colorful and laser-focused vigor.

It wouldn’t be until after "Emperor’s New Clothes," the set’s sixth song, that Urie would finally take a break to chat with the crowd a bit – only to quickly wrap it up with a profane morsel of advice and swiftly jettison off to more music. Panic! may have been sharing the stage Saturday night, but Urie and company seemed determined to deliver a full night’s set of their own or die of exhaustion trying. They were on a quest to earn the exclamation mark in their name.

Thankfully, they didn’t die and, instead, kept finding new ways to keep the energy up and the young-leaning audience rapt and going wild. About midway through the set, Urie disappeared for a brief moment only to reappear at a piano spun out from behind the stage’s wall of lights for "Nine In The Afternoon," only to bring out a second drum set for the very next song for a raucous drum solo duel/duet. That song’s title? "Crazy = Genius," seemingly the Urie’s mission statement for the evening.

Speaking of decisions both crazy and genius, after "Miss Jackson" and "Golden Days" (and Urie losing his shirt, much to the dismay of nobody in the crowd), Urie launched into a cover of none other than Queen’s "Bohemian Rhapsody." Yes, the band recently recorded it for the "Suicide Squad" movie soundtrack, so it wasn’t a complete shot in the dark for the band. Still, not many band’s have the chops to keep up with the sporadic rock anthem and even fewer have a lead singer to hold his own against Freddie Mercury’s iconic falsetto and flair for vocal drama. Yet there Urie was at his piano, more than holding his own with the rock classic and creating the evening’s major showstopper moment.

Thankfully, Panic! didn’t peter out afterward, wrapping up with "LA Devotee" and "Death Of A Bachelor" before launching into its biggest hit, "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" and launching the crowd – this reviewer included – happily back in time to summer camp radio singalongs circa 2006. "This Is Gospel" and "Victorious" finished off the night for Panic!, and considering the 75-minute manic music outburst the Marcus Amp crowd had witnessed, the title of that last track was more than apt.

SUMMERFEST WAS AMAZING THANK YOU @PanicAtTheDisco & @Weezer YOU GUYS WERE GREAT #panicatthedisco #weezer #summerfest pic.twitter.com/uUuZwpfMzh — rachel misses panic! (@odetobeebo) July 10, 2016

Somehow, however, the night wasn’t even over – though it was for a few of the younger fans in the crowd who bailed before Weezer. Still, an almost full Amphitheater crowd was there to greet the alt rock icons as they opened up with "California Kids" off the band’s latest self-titled record.

Coming off Panic!’s performance, it’d be almost impossible for Weezer to seem anything but a little subdued. After all, their predecessor spent the last hour-plus howling arena anthems and falsetto blasts to the moon, taking off his shirt and playing shirtless for the final half, breaking hearts throughout the crowd, playing one of the greatest rock songs ever written to the hilt and sticking the landing on not one but two back flips.

And Weezer’s just not the kind of band to match that kind of crazed, ludicrous-speed energy. Instead of a backflipping rock heartthrob, they’re a band of kind of dorky, 40-something everymen, led by a guy who oddly spent the opening bits of "Pork and Beans" running offstage and grabbing an umbrella-clad cart of dorky costumes – like a sombrero, a lei, and a regal cape and crown – for later use. While Urie plays rock star hard, Weezer is more low-key, playing good rock songs combined with the occasional finger point, fist pump or power pose, as well as charmingly stiff interactions, from dryly reading tweets before the encore (one of which seemed to be from another night) to introducing themselves as, "We’re the me’s."

Even the patented, guaranteed safe, perfectly pandering go-to move of a Packers shout-out played out awkwardly, receiving a mixed reaction from the apparently Illinois-centric crowd. That’s right; a Packers reference in Milwaukee got boos. What is this world? At least they recovered nicely with a shout-out to something both Wisconsinites and Illinoisians could agree on: brats.

Anyways, after the big, colorful arena pop rock sheen of Panic!, the delightful strangeness of Weezer seemed just a little more unpolished. But that doesn’t mean Rivers Cuomo and company put on a bad show. Quite the opposite, actually, as the rock mainstays nicely capped off the night by cranking out an energetic collection of crowd-pleasing hits.

After "California Kids," Weezer dipped into the vault with the menacing hit "Hash Pipe" and "My Name Is Jonas," happily sating the fans in the crowd. "I Want You To," the lone representative off of 2009’s "Raditude" (aka the one with the partying song with Lil Wayne), and "Jacked Up" off the most recent white album followed. Unfortunately, despite sounding pretty good, neither got the crowd insanely fired up – some near my seats took their seats and took to their iPhones during the latter.

From that slight hiccup, however, it was mostly smooth sailing for Weezer, playing the heck out of hits old ("Say It Ain’t So"; a medley featuring "Surf Wax America," "Keep Fishin’" and more), new ("Beverly Hills," "Perfect Situation") and brand new, such as "King of the World." In some cases, I mean completely and utterly brand new, such as with "I Love The USA," which made its live debut Saturday night. In a way, the song encapsulated the night with Weezer: a rocking mix of oddness and goofy earnesty – the chorus features the "Team America"-esque hook of "I love the USA/F*ck yeah, this place is great" – that can’t help being endearing.

The same goes for "Thank God for Girls," another sincere lyrical oddball that, by the end, turned into a feminist/gay pride tribute with giant images of First Lady Michelle Obama, Harriet Tubman, Brienne from "Game of Thrones" (obviously) and the rainbow flag of LGBTQ pride flashing in the background. There’s no doubt some of the younger audience members from Panic! had no idea what to do with songs like those. That strangeness, however, is what makes Weezer fun, and their simple, strong rock sound is what makes them good.

Cuomo and company eventually wrapped up with an acoustic "Island in the Sun" – complete with some unnecessary electronic accompaniment – and "Say It Ain’t So," before a double old-school encore of "El Scorcho" and "Buddy Holly." For all I’d heard about and experienced of Weezer going a touch off the rails over the past decade, of losing their sound in the name of pop and trying too hard, the band performing Saturday night seemed like the one people fell in love with about two decades ago.

Perhaps that’s the unifying middle ground between the two acts: a trip back in time to what fans loved about these bands during their glory years.

In opener news, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness and his power pop piano rock did a fine job in the usually thankless role of Marcus Amp opener. He effectively got people into their seats and into the show with songs like "Cecelia and the Satellite" and "Dark Blue" from McMahon’s Jack’s Mannequin days – not to mention venturing all the way into the lawn seats for one track.

Set list

Panic at the Disco
"Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time"
"Vegas Lights"
"The Ballad of Mona Lisa"
"Hallelujah"
"Time to Dance"
"Emperor’s New Clothes"
"Girls / Girls / Boys"
"Ready to Go"
"Nine In the Afternoon"
"Crazy = Genius"
"Miss Jackson"
"Golden Days"
"Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen cover)
"LA Devotee"
"Death Of A Bachelor"
"I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
"This Is Gospel"
"Victorious" 

Weezer
"California Kids"
"Hash Pipe"
"My Name Is Jonas"
"I Want You To"
"Jacked Up"
"Pork and Beans"
"I Love The USA"
"Perfect Situation"
"Thank God for Girls"
"Beverly Hills"
"Dope Nose"/"Back to the Shack"/"Keep Fishin'"/"The Good Life"/"Surf Wax America"
"Undone – The Sweater Song"
"King of the World"
"Island In The Sun"
"Say It Ain’t So"

Encore:
"El Scorcho"
"Buddy Holly"