9/19/15 - Greek Theater. Los Angeles, CA

[QuantumError]

Had a good time. Last minute we realized that we had left our printed tickets at the house (north of San Francisco), so we had to run to a Office Depot and print out or tickets from e-mail. Got to the theater grounds about 7:45 and waited for a while to get parked, we weren't the only ones that were late. Missed the Tacky Intro and part of Lame Claim To Fame, but our tickets were up in the front row, so they were good. Loved the show, my friend really got a kick out of seeing Al lick Suzanne's face during WBUL. After the show, met a couple forum members and then we left shortly after. Was my first time sitting up front, which was awesome, and I would love to do it again someday. Real bummed my tickets weren't CZAR though, would have enjoyed meeting Al.

[TMBJon]

For my 30th birthday, I attended this show along with 12 other friends who ranged from big fans of Weird Al to only being vaguely familiar with his songs. Some had seen him live before, and others were going for the first time. It was a totally unique way to experience an Al concert, and it was one of the most memorable birthdays I've ever had. Among those in attendance were WOWAY members Bill (Not A Weird Al Fan), Drew (MandatoryFun), and Heather (yankochick27).

We went out to dinner first at a restaurant in Los Feliz, then got ice cream, and then headed up the hill into Griffith Park. We were directed toward a side parking lot that was way more convenient than the terrible Parking Lot B where most people had to park. We headed over to Will Call to pick up our last few tickets, and on the way there we ran into Rubén, his fiancé, and their friend. My wife and I talked to them for a little while, and Rubén joked that I was a huge Donald Trump supporter.

After we got all our tickets from Will Call, I had only 5 VIP out of 13 total tickets, so I unfortunately did not get to visit the VIP Lounge, though it was already 7:30 so I am assuming the activities were wrapped up anyway. I did get the poster and trading cards set. I'm glad I held off all these years from buying the individual trading cards because I ended up getting the complete set for free anyway.

We headed to our seats. I had purchased one row of five, and then a row of eight that was two rows behind. I ended up in the slightly closer row of 5, which was in Section A Right, the closest section behind the pit. It was a very good view but still gave us a nice view of the entire stage. We were also on Steve's side, and the two previous shows I'd seen this summer were from Jim's side. While waiting for the show to start, I saw from afar Thomas Lennon, Suzanne, Jay Levey, and a few WOWAY members (Sara and Vikki) milling about. And of all people to sit right next to my group, it was UHJeff!!

The show was really great. It was obviously a hometown crowd, and Al played off the crowd's energy nicely. It felt like they really have a good handle on this setlist and are now ready to take it to Europe. A few highlights/notes: this was my first time seeing Dare To Be Stupid with the full new lighting setup: in Vegas it was very basic, and in Del Mar it was still too bright out and we were too close to get the full effect. I really appreciated not just the lighting but the overall look for this song. The acoustic set was really awesome again, and it seemed like there was a bit more improvisation on Like A Surgeon than a few weeks ago. Wanna B Ur Lovr was omitted from Del Mar, so it was great to see this time. He stayed completely on one side of the venue, but went really far back on that side. As others have mentioned, he licked Suzanne's face which was neat to see.
Bermuda's vocal performance during Handy is really hilarious, singing the backup female vocals. I actually think Handy improves the most of any song on Mandatory Fun in its live form. Much funnier than the album recording when you get to see Al's moves.

My friends all seemed to really enjoy the show. My wife's favorite song was Word Crimes, and she really lost it when Al did high kicks during Gump, Lame Claim, and Yoda. She said at first she thought the video clips were annoying, but eventually she got the point and said it was a worthwhile tradeoff to have all the costumes which add a lot to the performance. Other friends mentioned Dare To Be Stupid, Pentiums, Gump, Fat, eBay, Foil, and Amish Paradise as highlights. It was really interesting getting their reactions as casual fans to this show. Seeing one friend go nuts over Gump, a song I'm guessing he hasn't listened to since the mid-90s, was especially fun.

After the show, we all headed down to the famous House of Pies in Los Feliz for additional food/dessert. I got a great strawberry cream pie. The restaurant was filled with Weird Al fans who had just left the show. My group had a nice rap session where everyone talked about their favorite parts. My wife said that one friend said that going to the show "seemed like a religion" for me. I admit, I went way overboard doing dance moves, audience participation, and even singing along with the Yoda Chant in order to "impress"/freak out my friends.

Really a fun experience, and a great closing of the US portion of the 2015 Mandatory Fun tour. I can't say that I tourchase as much as some other members here, but I greatly enjoyed all three shows I got to see this summer. Hoping for another US tour in 2016 with lots of Southern California dates!

[Muldernscully]

Happy Belated Birthday, Jon!