07/29/10 Denver CO, Paramount Theater

[JDTurnbull272]

Sitting at the show as we speak! Em and I got third row tickets, so we are pretty freaking stoked! Ten minutes till show starts!!!

[JDTurnbull272]

Show is over, was amazing, and now we are just sticking around to try to figure out if Al may possibly do anything. I heard Jim say to some guy who yelled up to him if they'd be around after, and Jim said they would....hrrrmmmmm....

[annacanada]

Hope you get to meet him!!

[Killingsworth]

Our boy Al pretty much killed it in Denver last night. The show was truly spectacular. Seriously, it was quite a surreal experience for me (even knowing most of the set list by heart weeks before I even ordered tickets) and I could not have asked for a better first ever concert. Anyway, here's my first ever official concert review (I just wanted to get mine in before anyone else.)

Me and my dad left our house in Longmont at 5:30. Driving through Denver during rush hour and trying to get in and out of that parking garage was quite a trying ordeal, but it was more than worth it. We managed to beat the rush on our route. By the time we parked, it was already 7;00pm. The doors had opened and we went inside. We both got a drink there before finding our seats. My dad got me a Gatorade ($5.00) and himself a Coke ($4.00). Then, I decided to buy a Craigslist shirt. At about 7:20pm, we went inside and found our seats. I was pretty impressed with the view we got. I'm glad the stage was just small enough so that we could see the whole band from where we were sitting in the far right section of the mezzanine. The seating map on their website made our seats look worse than they actually were. Anyway, me and my dad continued our small talk from the car ride over until "Fun Zone" started playing. He told me about the time he saw "The Excorcist" 35 years ago when this venue was just a movie theater.

The show got going (my dad bought out his binoculars) and right off the bat I proceeded to scream myself semi-hoarse and sing along with EVERYTHING (yes even the "Yoda Chant"...I could barely help myself...I think I actually heard a little girl sitting behind me say "that guy singing sounds like a cow" and I'm pretty sure she was talking about me) while explaining to my dad what songs and styles he was parodying (as well as the sources to most of the clips onscreen)

"Polka Face" sounded great. The only song my dad seemed to recognize was "Blame it" asking me "Didn't Jaime Foxx do this?" The rotating songs were "Franks' 2000" TV" and "You Don't Love Me Anymore" (both songs I initially tweeted to him in February, so that's a happy coincidence at least). The introduction to the latter was hilarious as usual ("Are you ready to rock?!!? I was afraid of that...'cause the next song we'll be doing is a ballad and it's not gonna work...so, if you could at time shift your capacity to rock, that would be great) At one point he actually said "Yeesh...awkward..." which I personally loved. As Al went into "Smells Like Nirvana", my dad said he loved the "impression" and that Al sounded just like Kurt Cobain. The shirts for "You're Pitiful" were the sparkly gold Hawaiian shirt, the "three wolf moon" shirt and the ever popular "Atlantic Records STILL Sucks!" CNR sounded the best I've ever heard it done live and it was followed by what was in my mind the best segue into "Let Me Be Your Hog" in the entire history of Al's live performances.

I think I'm badly paraphrasing here, but it went something like this: "This next number is from the UHF soundtrack...it's a very lyrically complex song...the best way I can describe it, stay with me, here...this is, um...essentially a song about a man who has a need...well, let's say an obsession...obsession to be another person's hog..."

Then, Al went into WBUL (we loved the suit) and then the medley (the first time I've seen the whole medley from this tour preformed live in its entirety) and my dad loved it (particularly Money For Nothing, Bus, Ode To A Superhero, and Eat It.) He kept telling me how much he just wanted to see Al preform "Eat It" and "Fat''. Then, of course he went into "Craigslist" where he didn't sound as much like Jim Morrison as he should've, but he more than made up for it with some of the best mock drunk stumbling I or this tour had ever seen. He also twirled and spun himself around quite a bit there. Then, he went into AP and W&N. Normally, I would find these two songs overrated (as comedically brilliant as they may be) but this being my very first Al concert, I got just as into them (if not even more) than the rest of the crowd. Then, he went into "Fat" (the only other song my dad wanted to see) and we both loved it. He went into the "Star Wars" encore surprisingly quickly. I expected to be waiting for a few minutes, but Al seemed to have gotten out of the Fat suit and into the Jedi robes rather quickly. Anyway, as usual he preformed stellar versions of Cell Phones, The Saga Begins and Yoda (possibly the best rendition I've seen.) Just before the chant, Al asked the crowd to sing the "Yo-yo-yo-yo-yoda" refrain and then pointed the microphone at one random guy in the front row and said "okay, now just you" and the guy sang it decently well (like he vaguely knew the song) After that, me and my dad were on our way back to Longmont. I asked him if I could hang around the tour bus to see if Al would come out and sign autographs to take pictures, but he had to be at work tomorrow and he said he "didn't feel like hanging around much longer" so we just left, but we took I-25 back at about 10:30pm and got back in a little less than an hour. Oh well, there's always next year for a meet and greet.

My dad said he was thoroughly amazed with the live show Al and the boys put on...not only the hilarity of it all, but the sheer professionalism. He was impressed by Al's raw energy and how expertly timed the video clips and costume changes were (so that the audience has something to look at and there is something happening on stage.) He was also particularly impressed by how many clips shown were from other TV shows and movies making references to him (just illustrating how big of a part of pop culture he has become over the past 30 years) He asked me how long the band has been together and when I said "since 1980" he said what great performers and musicians they all were and what a tight cohesive unit they are comparing the to the Allman Brothers, Aerosmith, and The Rolling Stones. Apparently, you can judge the level of seasoned professionalism in a band by just how long they've been playing together. Well, what else is there to say except that it was the true highlight of my summer by far and that the crowd was really into it and I really got into it because we could tell the venue was packed with die hard fans. I had the time of my life. I can't wait to do it again either next year or the tour after that. Until next time, have a great summer and an even better remainder of the tour to Al, his band and crew and the rest of the WOWAY fan community.

[TMBJon]

GREAT review, Casey!! Sounds like you and your dad had a great time together. I didn't get to meet Al until 10 years after the first time I saw him live, so don't be too worried.

[algonacchick]

Casey, what a fantastic review!!! Sounds like both you and your Dad were quite impressed. Al does put on one heck of a show, so I'm not surprised. I only wish I could see him again this tour as well. I have a feeling Al will tour again next year to support the new album. Perhaps you'll have a better opportunity to try and meet him then. *I didn't meet him after my first concert, either*

[Alinite27]

Great review Casey! It always makes me feel good when other fans will also put together awesome reviews that encapsulates everything...it's really the best way to try to remember a concert, and you can always look back at the archives on here and relive them...

Wish you could have met Al...I was actually able to after my first concert, and it's still one of my most memorable meets even to today...Hopefully next year!

[JDTurnbull272]

Em and I actually had an amazing time, and I finally got to introduce her to him aand explain I played franks 2000" tv on our first date...we both got pictures with him, signatures, and I even got a chance to give Al a personal letter I've been meaning to give to him for a while, he promised he'd read it once he got a chance. It was great because the security nazi guards were saying that wse couldn't speak at all to him, only get something signed and that the picture needed to be taken during the signing...but they weren't around when the last half of the line was around, so we actually got to spend some nice time with him outside the tour bus. Em got quite a few decent pictures last night too...if we knew cameras were going to be allowed we would have brought her Canon Dslr!!! Grrrr...but we made due, even got some priceless video clips on there too. Great great show, best I've ever been to so far.

[Orthography Enthusiast]

Great review, Casey! I was especially happy to see your dad's response as an adult concert newbie. That really is an excellent band we follow around.

[Elvis]

Nice review!

Dave