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I'd always kinda wanted to see "Weird Al" Yankovic (why do they always put it in quotes like that?). When they announced this tour we decided we might as well go. Then my wife got sick, so I took my sister in her place. She was a fan back in the day (bigger than I) so she absolutely loved it. I think she had his first three albums, when we were young.
Emo Philips opened up. He was on for about half an hour. I don't think he had a lot of new material, but my memory is bad (saw him just two years ago) so it was still hilarious. Honestly, it still would have been hilarious even if I'd remembered all the jokes. Many of his jokes are intellectual and multilayered. Some are not so deep. They always take a turn you didn't expect. That's what jokes do, of course, but how does he come up with some of this stuff?
Weird Al's humor is... I don't want to say juvenile... but it seems to be made for teenagers. I would imagine most fans find him in that part of their lives, and after that there's a certain amount of nostalgia. But then his parodies are usually pretty well done, so there's that. But this time out he wasn't really doing the parodies. The tour was billed as doing only his original work, hence the title, "Ill-advised Vanity."
I'm not a huge fan of Weird Al, so I don't know most of his songs. I was a little worried at first, because I had trouble understanding the words, and if you don't get the words you miss the humor, which is the whole point. So I struggled through the first couple of songs, and as usual, the sound crew had it dialed in by the third song. Through, I'd say, the first half, it was fun but not great fun. But then he played "Albuquerque." He announced it and the audience went wild. My sister and I looked at each other, like, wha? But it was a fun song. Or rant, as it were. I had to watch a few videos of it afterward. It and a few other songs got some chuckles from me. I guess it's a fan favorite that he doesn't always play. So it ended up being a fun show.
They advertised that he wasn't going to do any parodies, but that wasn't exactly true. First, he did some style parodies. He did a Doors thing, which wasn't a parody of any particular song, but sounded just like them in general. At the end of the main set, he did a medley of his famous parodies, but the music was a different style than the original. Like "Eat It" done to something that sounded just like Eric Clapton. "Like A Surgeon" was sung as a blues tune. And then he came back for the encore with the classic, "Yoda." And he did a straight cover of Tom Petty's "Breakdown."
I'd hoped he'd play "Nature Trail to Hell," because that was the only original tune I could sorta remember, but he never did. Late in the show I remembered "One More Minute," but he didn't do that one either. My sister had been hoping to hear "Mr. Popeil." It turns out that he plays all those songs on this tour. His setlist varies from night to night, and he can do two shows in a row without repeating any songs. Looking over the setlists, we would have loved to hear "Mr. Frump In the Iron Lung."
Weird Al's band consists of the same three guys he's been playing with since the beginning - drummer John "Bermuda" Schwartz, whom he met when recording his first hit "Another One Rides the Bus" on Dr. Demento's radio show. Also Steve Jay on bass, and Jim West on guitar. Rubén Valtierra on keyboards since 1991. Weird Al played "midi accordion" on a few songs.
( setlist )
Emo Philips opened up. He was on for about half an hour. I don't think he had a lot of new material, but my memory is bad (saw him just two years ago) so it was still hilarious. Honestly, it still would have been hilarious even if I'd remembered all the jokes. Many of his jokes are intellectual and multilayered. Some are not so deep. They always take a turn you didn't expect. That's what jokes do, of course, but how does he come up with some of this stuff?
Weird Al's humor is... I don't want to say juvenile... but it seems to be made for teenagers. I would imagine most fans find him in that part of their lives, and after that there's a certain amount of nostalgia. But then his parodies are usually pretty well done, so there's that. But this time out he wasn't really doing the parodies. The tour was billed as doing only his original work, hence the title, "Ill-advised Vanity."
I'm not a huge fan of Weird Al, so I don't know most of his songs. I was a little worried at first, because I had trouble understanding the words, and if you don't get the words you miss the humor, which is the whole point. So I struggled through the first couple of songs, and as usual, the sound crew had it dialed in by the third song. Through, I'd say, the first half, it was fun but not great fun. But then he played "Albuquerque." He announced it and the audience went wild. My sister and I looked at each other, like, wha? But it was a fun song. Or rant, as it were. I had to watch a few videos of it afterward. It and a few other songs got some chuckles from me. I guess it's a fan favorite that he doesn't always play. So it ended up being a fun show.
They advertised that he wasn't going to do any parodies, but that wasn't exactly true. First, he did some style parodies. He did a Doors thing, which wasn't a parody of any particular song, but sounded just like them in general. At the end of the main set, he did a medley of his famous parodies, but the music was a different style than the original. Like "Eat It" done to something that sounded just like Eric Clapton. "Like A Surgeon" was sung as a blues tune. And then he came back for the encore with the classic, "Yoda." And he did a straight cover of Tom Petty's "Breakdown."
I'd hoped he'd play "Nature Trail to Hell," because that was the only original tune I could sorta remember, but he never did. Late in the show I remembered "One More Minute," but he didn't do that one either. My sister had been hoping to hear "Mr. Popeil." It turns out that he plays all those songs on this tour. His setlist varies from night to night, and he can do two shows in a row without repeating any songs. Looking over the setlists, we would have loved to hear "Mr. Frump In the Iron Lung."
Weird Al's band consists of the same three guys he's been playing with since the beginning - drummer John "Bermuda" Schwartz, whom he met when recording his first hit "Another One Rides the Bus" on Dr. Demento's radio show. Also Steve Jay on bass, and Jim West on guitar. Rubén Valtierra on keyboards since 1991. Weird Al played "midi accordion" on a few songs.
( setlist )
