I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: March 16, 2018] “Weird Al” Yankovic

The last time I saw “Weird Al” I kind of assumed that would be the last time I saw him…  I love his shows but I have seen him possibly more than any other performer.  I joked with my friend Matt that I wished he would play a deep cut amid all of the hits.   his originals.

Well lo and beheld, Al listened and announced this tour, the brilliantly named The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour.  And when he announced the show, he explained that there would be no costumes: “Please note: this is a scaled-down tour in smaller, more intimate theaters, with limited production (no costumes, props, or video screens) and Al’s set list will be comprised almost entirely of his original (non-parody) songs.”

The 2018 • North American • small venue • back to basics • stripped-down • nothing fancy • theatrics-free • no videos, no costumes, no props • no frills whatsoever • non-extravaganza • sorta kinda unplugged-ish • bare bones production • taking it down a notch • super-casual • low energy • old guys sitting on stools • just hanging out on stage • pulling out none of the stops • trying not to work up a sweat • fun for us, maybe not so much for you • none of the songs you really want to hear • all of the songs you usually skip over • obscure original tunes • deep cuts & b-sides • no hits, all filler • lowered expectations • let’s just see what happens • this might really suck • crowd-disappointing • audience-baffling • limited commercial apparel

Sorry No Refunds • All Sales Final

And I was willing to drive two hours to see it (actually I didn’t realize that Atlantic City was quite so far).

Emo Philips warmed us up and then soon enough, he and the (same) band came out and sat on stools.   There were stage lights of course, but that was about it.  And his accordion was there waiting for him.

They proceeded to play, as promised, deep cuts and wildly popular (despite being called unpopular) songs.  And it was awesome.

Since this show was several into the tour, there were no “first time since” songs.  But nearly everything they played was a “first time since…” song when the tour started.  I included those dates in the setlist.

They started with “Close But No Cigar” a song I had forgotten all about from Straight Outta Linwood.  Not an old song, but certainly a deep cut.  Once the chorus came in it all came back to me though.  And I love that he played a vibraslap.

Then he mentioned how he was having fun with palindromes, and he was thinking about writing a song that was ll palindrome sentences.  And when he put them together they kind of made sense but not really.  Just like Bob Dylan!  Hence “Bob” (from Poodle Hat, which might be my favorite Al album, maybe.)

Steve Jay and Ruben Valtierra left the stage so it was just Al, Jon Bermuda Schwartz and Jim West to play the awesome White Stripes-inspired “CNR” (from Alpocalypse)  I had seen that one live with a video, but it was just as fun to see it here with just red and white lights.

I have seen “Dare to Be Stupid” on nearly every tour, but it’s always fun.  Especially when they play it in this unplugged or, as I saw it called “Grateful Dead version.”

He mentioned that he had just released the new Hamilton single (which got everyone very excited) and that he has remixed two songs for Portugal, The Man. Now, they weren’t that familiar with playing those song yet so…they were going to play something else.   It was “Why Does This Always Happen to Me” (from Poodle Hat) the kind of song where the lyrics are something you have to listen to and will laugh at when you do.

Then they played “If That Isn’t Love” a song I sorta remembered (and then it all came back), apparently a parody of Hanson songs (also from Alpocalypse).

He joked about doing a movie in the 80s and that he was going to play the title song from Tapeheads.  I may have been the only person in the audience who has even heard of Tapeheads because when that movie came out I was working at my college radio station and they promoted the heck out of it to college radio.  I have a poster, buttons, bumper stickers.  John Cusack was in it with Tim Robbins and a ton of musicians: “Weird Al”, Jello Biafra, Stiv Bators.  It went nowhere.  But I got the joke.  I wish I could have acknowledged that to him.  But instead he played the theme from “UHF,” which was so much fun to hear live.

I could not believe he told us the story that is “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota.”  I love this song.  It’s also weird that I have seen it live before.  But I love that he was able to get all of the words of this seven-minute song right.

He apologized for the next song, saying it was one of his most disgusting and this was just the kind of place he could play it.  “Party at the Leper Colony,” was probably a low point of the show for various reasons (I can’t believe it’s on Poodle Hat), although the jokes are still kinda funny.

Bermuda played a “drum solo” and then they blew my mind by playing “Jackson Park Express” a hilarious NINE minute song (from Mandatory Fun) that is chock full of complicated lyrics.  It was amazing to hear him sing it and a show highlight for me.

he then talked about the subtle nuances that are often lost in the big stage productions of “Let Me Be Your Hog” (having seen it live before I totally agree).  And then he introduced “Melanie” a very pretty song that I can’t believe I’ve heard live before (22 years ago).

He said that someone requested a deep cut from an unpopular album (Polka Party), which means that no one has ever heard it.  It was “One of Those Days.”  A song I didn’t remember but which is very early Al.  he said he had heard this on an in flight comedy channel on some airplane and there was a bizarre edit that he didn’t understand.  Then he went through the lyrics and found the missing one: “a 747 crashed into my den” maybe they didn’t want that on a plane.

And then he explained that John and Steve were contractually obligated to be off stage for three minutes.  And they played the awesome ballad “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” which I had seen back in 2011, but it was still wonderful.  Al “played” the tambourine in a hilarious way (which you had to see).

Al jumped back to Polka Party for the Talking Heads inspired “Dog Eat Dog.”  Which was the biggest surprise (not necessarily good) for me.  It was interesting to hear it live, but I wasn’t actually looking for it. And then from Even Worse was “Good Old Days.”  I recalled the song well (Even Worse being a great record), but his delivery really made me see how it was a James Taylor style parody more than anything else, which I rather enjoyed.

Then there was a medley of songs done in different styles.  I had seen him play “Eat It” like “Layla” but it’s a treat to hear it. Especially as he played more songs in the medley in rather unexpected styles.  He ended it with a belting rendition of “Like a Surgeon” in which he held an amazingly long note for about 17 seconds.

He came back for the encore.  I had no idea he was playing “real songs” in his encore.  So I was pretty excited to hear their amazingly accurate version of “867-5309.”  It sounds spot on.

Although a few days later he and the band did an incredible version of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl.”  I am genuinely blown away by how good it sounds [not from my show, I didn’t record it].

And he ended with “The Saga Begins.”  I was mildly bummed that he ended with this song as I’ve heard it so many times.  But it was a nice satisfying conclusion.

I absolutely loved this show.  It would have only been more fun if my friend Matt was there to enjoy it with me.

There were three songs that I see he has played that I would have loved to hear: “Mr Frump In the Iron Lung” and “Nature Trail to Hell” from his first album would have been tremendous.  And if he had added Albuquerque to the ridiculously long tongue twisting songs, i would have been super excited for weeks.

On my way out of the theater I heard these three meatheads complaining about the show saying “I didn’t know any of those songs.”  “Nobody did.”  “Except for those four **** in front of us.”  “The only good part was the last two songs.”

The one guys said his wife had told him it wasn’t a typical Al show but he went anyway.  I had to laugh at a meathead who didn’t listen to his wife, and who is apparently enough of a Weird Al fan to want to go to his show but somehow missed the weight tons of promotion that said this wasn’t a typical show.

Bizarre.

And yes, if he did this same tour again with different songs mixed in I would totally see it again.

And here’s the setlist from eight different shows.  Turns out since seeing him in 1996, I’ve only missed the Poodle Hat and the Straight Outta Lynwood tours (because of little kids).

2018 Atlantic City, NJ “The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour”	2016 Bethlehem, PA “Mandatory World Tour”
Close But No Cigar [last time played in 2008]	Fun Zone Intro/ Tacky
Bob [last time played in 2008]	Lame Claim to Fame
CNR	Now That’s What I Call Polka
Dare to Be Stupid (unplugged)	clips/ Perform This Way
Why Does This Always Happen to Me [last time played in 2008]	clips/ Dare to be Stupid
If That Isn’t Love [first tour played]	clips/ Fat
UHF [last time played in 2009]	clips/ First World Problems
The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota [last time played in 1997]	Foil
Party at the Leper Colony [last time played in 2004]	clips/ Smells Like Nirvana
Drum Solo	clips /Party in the CIA / It’s All About the Pentiums / Handy / Bedrock Anthem / Another One Rides the Bus / Ode to a Superhero / Gump / Inactive / eBay /
Jackson Park Express	Canadian Idiot
Let Me Be Your Hog	clip/ Wanna B Ur Lovr
Melanie [last time played in 2004]	clip /Unplugged Medley:  Eat It (done to the tune of Layla) / I Lost on Jeopardy / I Love Rocky Road / Like a Surgeon
One of Those Days [last time played in 1986]	clip / White & Nerdy
You Don’t Love Me Anymore	clip/ Word Crimes
Dog Eat Dog	clip/ Amish Paradise
Good Old Days [last time played in 2011]	Encore
Eat It / I Lost on Jeopardy / Amish Paradise / Smells Like Nirvana / White & Nerdy / I Love Rocky Road / Like a Surgeon	Cheer/Piano solo
encore	We All Have Cell Phones
867-5309/Jenny	The Saga Begins
The Saga Begins	Yoda

2015 Bethlehem, PA “Mandatory World Tour”	2013 Bethlehem, PA “Alpocalypse Tour”	2011 New Brunswick, NJ “Alpocalypse Tour”
Fun Zone opening/ Tacky	Polka Face	Polka Face
Lame Claim to Fame	[Drum solo/bass solo/ keyboard solo] TMZ	Frank’s 2000″ TV
Now That’s What I Call Polka	Radio, Radio	You Don’t Love Me Anymore
Perform This Way	Smells Like Nirvana	Smells Like Nirvana
Dare to be Stupid	Skipper Dan	Skipper Dan
Fat	Party in the CIA	You’re Pitiful
First World Problems	CNR	Dare to be Stupid
Foil	Canadian Idiot	CNR
Smells Like Nirvana	Wanna B Ur Lovr	Let Me Be Your Hog
Party in the CIA / It’s All About the Pentiums / Handy / Bedrock Anthem / Another One Rides the Bus / Ode to a Superhero / Gump / Inactive / eBay / Canadian Idiot	Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies* / Whatever You Like / Another Tattoo / eBay / I Want a New Duck / Theme from Rocky XIII /Spam / My Bologna / Ode to a Superhero / Lasagna / Eat It	Canadian Idiot
Wanna B Ur Lovr	Amish Paradise	Wanna B Ur Lovr
Unplugged Medley:  Eat It (done to the tune of Layla) / I Lost on Jeopardy / I Love Rocky Road / Like a Surgeon	Craigslist	Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies* / Whatever You Like / Confessions Part III / eBay / Bedrock Anthem / Another One Rides the Bus / Ode to a Superhero / Trapped in the Drive-Thru / Gump / Eat It
White & Nerdy	Perform This Way	Craigslist
Word Crimes	White & Nerdy	Amish Paradise
Amish Paradise	Fat	White & Nerdy
Encore	encore	Fat
We All Have Cell Phones	The Saga Begins	encore
The Saga Begins	Yoda	We All Have Cell Phones
Yoda		The Saga Begins
		Yoda

2000 Morristown, NJ “Touring with Scissors”	1999 Wilkes Barre, PA “Touring with Scissors”	1996 Wilkes Barre, PA “The Bad Hair Tour”
Gump	Gump	Since You’ve Been Gone
Polka Power!	Polka Power!	Gump
Jerry Springer	Jerry Springer	The Alternative Polka
My Baby’s in Love with Eddie Vedder	My Baby’s in Love with Eddie Vedder	One More Minute
The Night Santa Went Crazy	The Night Santa Went Crazy	Like a Surgeon
Dare to Be Stupid	Dare to Be Stupid	Melanie
It’s All About the Pentiums	It’s All About the Pentiums	Headline News
Germs	Germs	I’ll Repair for You
One More Minute	One More Minute	The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota
Like a Surgeon	Like a Surgeon	Jurassic Park
Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies* / Fast Food / Addicted to Spuds / Free Delivery / Laundry Day / Pretty Fly for a Rabbi / Another One Rides the Bus / I Love Rocky Road / Achy Breaky Song / Jurassic Park / Grapefruit Diet / I Lost on Jeopardy / Eat It	Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies* / Fast Food / Addicted to Spuds / Free Delivery / Laundry Day / Pretty Fly for a Rabbi / Another One Rides the Bus / I Love Rocky Road / Achy Breaky Song / Jurassic Park / Grapefruit Diet / I Lost on Jeopardy / Eat It	Laundry Day / Chicken Pot Pie / Spam / My Bologna / Alimony / Syndicated Inc. / Another One Rides the Bus / Gee, I’m a Nerd / Achy Breaky Song / Phony Calls / Cavity Search / Green Eggs & Ham / Eat It
Smells Like Nirvana	Smells Like Nirvana	Smells Like Nirvana
Bedrock Anthem	Bedrock Anthem	Bedrock Anthem
Amish Paradise	Amish Paradise	Amish Paradise
Fat	Fat	Fat
The Saga Begins	The Saga Begins	Yoda
Yoda	Yoda