The line stretched around the block, and was filled with hundreds of fans who had arrived hours before the doors actually opened, hoping to score free admission to the hottest show in town. It was a so-called "secret" gig--one announced on the Internet only two days earlier--but everyone in San Francisco, as well as the surrounding areas, seemed to know about it. Those who actually made it inside the building were handsomely rewarded for their efforts.

"Welcome to the Weezer [ tickets ] MySpace secret show," announced the alt-rock band's lead singer, Rivers Cuomo, to the approximately 1,500 fans at the Regency Center on Wednesday (10/21). "I hope you all wore your deodorant. It's going to get downright stinky tonight."

With that playful proclamation, Cuomo and crew proceeded to show why Weezer still matters so much in 2009. The band's 75-minute set was full of classic cuts--all of which sound at least as good now as when they were first released--and just-as-strong new songs from Weezer's forthcoming CD, "Raditude," which hits stores Nov. 3.

The quintet, having recently served as the main support act on Blink-182's reunion trek through North American amphitheaters, resembled its hard-rocking '90s/early 2000s incarnations as it opened its set with a smoking "Hash Pipe" and then followed with a blistering take on "Undone - The Sweater Song."

Weezer's first three albums--the 1994 self-titled debut, 1996's "Pinkerton" and the band's second eponymous release, from 2001--are all classics of the alt-rock genre. Thus, it's no surprise that the song selections from that great triumvirate all proved popular in San Francisco. The shocker was just how much better those songs sounded this go-around than during the band's other tours of this decade.

For whatever reason, Weezer has decided to lock into high gear in 2009, in a fashion that, given the last few headlining treks, fans might've assumed the band was incapable of reaching at this point in its career. Yet, what fans witnessed in San Francisco--which was the same thing that they saw during those shows with Blink-182--was a group reclaiming its position among the best in the business.

Weezer hammered its way through enough new songs, including the current single "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" and "I'm Your Daddy," to make one hopeful that "Raditude" could be the group's best full-length offering since 2001's "Weezer" (known by fans as "The Green Album").

That's saying more than one might think. Sure, Weezer's previous three albums--2002's "Maladroit," 2005's "Make Believe" and last year's "Weezer" (a.k.a., "The Red Album")--pale in comparison to the band's classic platters, yet they all still include their share of memorable songs. They've never been more memorable, however, than as played on Wednesday night; indeed, the fiery reinterpretations of "Pork and Beans" and "Troublemaker," both from "The Red Album," turned out to be distinct highlights.

Weezer is also known to throw a few twists into its live shows, and they didn't disappoint their San Francisco fans in that regard; the encore included partial covers of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs," MGMT's "Kids" and Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" before the band capped things off with its best-known song, 1994's "Buddy Holly."

"Shhh!" Cuomo said at the end of the set, reminding fans that this had been a so-called "secret" show. "Remember, don't tell anyone!"

Oops. Sorry about that, Rivers--but this concert was simply too good not to spread the news.