7/31/15 The Mann Center, Philadelphia PA

[HappyGilmore]

Spoiler?

[Yankomaniac]

Dave mentioned that Bermuda said tonight's show would be a little different or something and there was a spoiler. Figured it was a song switch or something, no?

[minnick27]

Ok, quick review. Got there about 630 and the venue was giving out baseball cards with Als picture, apparently they do it with all shows there. Grabbed afew extra for the collection. I met up with Dave and Jackie about 15 minutes later. Coming through the gates right behind them was someone who looked familiar, but didn't place right away. As soon as he walked away I realized it was my wife's cousins ex husband. Another few minutes and Dana and Mary show up. We all hung out for a while before Mary and Dana went to the merch stand. About a minute later a james bracciante showed up so I talked to him for a bit. Then we all split up and I met up with Bob and talked to him for a minute before meeting my cousin who just walked in the gates. We all ended up at our seats about a minute before the show started. The woman in front of me was super into it. Her jaw dropped when the unplugged set came up. I told her afterwards how fun it was watching her. Looking back, that may have sounded creepy, but her and her husband were super cool. After the show James, Mary Dana and I hung by the ramp the bus would come down. About 20 of us waited. Dave, Jackie and Bob wandered over and hung for a bit. Eventually we were told to go across the street which I knew meant no Al, but I stayed anyways. We all hung out for about an hour, then said goodbye several times. All in all it was a fun night. There was some people I missed and no big meal before the show, but we got to see each other.

5 out of 5

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

[WeirdDana27]

Great review, Mike! I'll do mine later as I'm about to leave for work, but it was great spending time with you last night and catching up!

[TMBJon's Mom]

Mann Music Center - Concert Review

I'll start by saying I have not been to a Weird Al concert in about 15 years. The last concert I saw in Phila. was at the Keswick Theater. All I can say is "wow". The entire Weird Al concert experience has changed for the better. It's no longer "just a concert". Seeing a Weird Al concert is definitely more about seeing a show with music, comedy, and a fun atmosphere. Al has polished his act and his show is one not to miss.

The opening entrance was amazing. The way he showed Tacky on the screen, progressed to showing familiar scenery in the venue, and then entered into full view while singing the song was genius. It was very cool to see him walking in while singing and then jump on the stage. It was an unexpected surprise and a great way to get the audience engaged right away.

The next song, "Lame Claim to Fame" was upbeat and fun. It kept the crowd going and he sounded good. When he next raised the accordion into the air for the polka, he raised the energy even a few more notches. The polka was great. The footage behind it was fresh and funny. The best part for me was the "Polka Gangham Style", footage. Although the song naturally creates an amusing imagery with the lyrics, seeing the footage behind it made it even better.

Moving along, "Perform this Way" was great. I love this song and he certainly did it justice. Again, the footage behind it was done well and it was fun to watch. "Dare to be Stupid", was a great choice for the next song. It flowed nicely from the last song and it was received very well. I have seen the intro to the next one before so I was not surprised when he came out in the "Fat" costume next. This song was good but he didn't seem to be having as much fun with the song as he did with the others and it was my least favorite of the set. Remember, the bar was high because the others were so good. My thought is it was really hot outside and the costume must have been ridiculously uncomfortable. That being said, I would have been disappointed if it was left out of the show.

"First World Problems" was another highlight. It's a great song and it was great to see him doing it for the first time. "Foil" was a crowd pleaser. Everyone liked the song, the costumes were good, and the footage highlighted it nicely. He then moved into "Smells Like Nirvana". It was nice to go to an older song at that point in the show. The band was particularly sharp on this one. He was great in the performance of the song and the energy was again raised up a notch. Though this is an oldie, it's a "must do" and it was nice to see him performing this one.

Next, the medley of songs was a great transition. The flow from one song to the next was seamless and it was a great way to fit in some other favorites. The songs included; "Party in the CIA", "It's all about the Pentiums", "Handy", "Bedrock Anthem", "Another one Rides the Bus", "Ode to a Superhero", Gump", "Inactive", "E-bay", and "Canadian Idiot". In this set, E-bay stood out but my favorite, by a huge margin, was "Canadian Idiot". The band was off the chart on this one and Al was incredible. This was a great way to end the medley and the crowd was quite satisfied. Moving along to "I Wanna Be Your Lover" was an interesting next step. His costume was a riot and he nailed this one. This is the first time I have seen this song performed and it was great. I never expected him to work the crowd the way he did. He was funny and the crowd loved it.

The Acoustic Medley was interesting as I obviously have never heard these songs performed this way. It was nice as I enjoyed seeing "Eat it" in a different format. "Lost on Jeopardy", "Rocky Road", were nice additions and "Like a Surgeon" had to be in there. I would have been disappointed if he hadn't touched on this one. I kind of missed the whole "Like a Surgeon" act but if he hadn't added it somewhere I would have been disappointed. It was also a nice way to slow down the act and fit in some more songs. But, he didn't want us to stay calm for too long because "White and Nerdy" raised the energy again. It was a great performance and this was a highlight for me. The footage with Eminem was a great lead into "Word Crimes". We knew it was coming and we couldn't wait. He didn't disappoint on this one. Of course, he couldn't leave out "Amish Paradise". It was a great way to end this portion of the show and I would have been unhappy if he didn't include this one.

The crowd wanted more and he ended the show with "Cell Phones". This was cute. "The Saga Begins" and "Yoda" were great. The crowd seemed satisfied. He squeezed in most of the "must do's" and everyone seemed pleased with the show when we listened to them speaking on the way out.

A couple more interesting points. "Ode to Superheroes" is a song I have never heard. It was excellent. All of the cartoons were good but the Homer Simpson piece was a standout. The Scott Auckerman/Comedy Bang Bang footage was a pleasantly interesting surprise. The throw back footage is always funny. The video portion of the show was done very well and it made the show into a very tight and enjoyable event.

Feel free to comment. As you can see, I loved the show and will suggest it to friends and family alike. Special thanks to TMBjon for sustaining my interest in Weird Al and encouraging us to attend.

[BullMoose]

There is a video of his Tacky walk on~

MOD EDIT:Sorry, no bootleg concert footage is currently allowed here.

[WeirdDana27]

Amazing show! Mary met me at work and then we got a ride (via Lyft) over to the Mann Center as soon as I was finished for the day. Once we passed through bag check and had our tickets scanned, we met up with Dave, Jackie, and Mike, and as we were standing in line for merch, I spotted some of my cast mates from Rocky Horror who had told me beforehand they were planning to be at the show. I also ran into my friend Eric who was spinning some awesome tunes at the DJ booth (he's a radio DJ/host for WXPN 88.5FM), my friend Darlene (whom Mary had met at my housewarming party last year), and a former co-worker of mine, Mark, with whom I had worked at a summer camp for a few years while I was in college. It's great to run into people anywhere, but even greater to run into them at an Al concert! As soon as we had bought our merch (I got a tote bag, a Mandatory World Tour t-shirt, some buttons, and 2 packs of trading cards; Mary got a tote bag and some buttons), we went back over to where Dave, Jackie, and Mike were and James had joined us as well. We got some photos and then headed to our seats for the show. Al's entrance for "Tacky" was seamless and his energy, as usual, was incredible. Overall, I was very impressed with the set list, even though he didn't do "You Make Me." I noticed he changed the costume for "Perform This Way"--instead of a peacock suit, he came out dressed as an octopus with an ice cream hat! Video clips were awesome and I was happy to see Cupcake Wars and My Little Pony (Cheese Sandwich is the perfect name for Al's pony persona ). Acoustic medley was amazing; loved how they jumped to different musical styles for each song. During the encore, the lights in the background made for an awesome effect and I loved how they changed color! I was surprised Al didn't single out anyone in the front row during "Yoda," yet he had the whole audience sing it back to him twice. Afterwards, Mary and I went to look for the buses and a guy who had his adorable and eccentric 6 year old daughter with him heard us talking and decided to tag along with us. Mike and James met us in the parking lot, and after Dave, Jackie, and Bob finished their VIP meet and greet with Al, they joined us there as well. Security had us move to the grassy area on the outskirts of the venue, telling us that if Al were in the mood to meet with fans, the bus would pull over there, but after a few hours, the bus drove away. We chatted a bit more, and after we parted ways, James drove Mary and me back to my place. Even though I had to be at work by 10am, I managed to squeeze in a good 5 hours of sleep--still on Cloud 9!

[BullMoose]

@Mod Edit: Sorry! I didn't know about that! Didn't think personal recordings counted as "bootlegs".

[Elvis]

Dave mentioned that Bermuda said tonight's show would be a little different or something and there was a spoiler. Figured it was a song switch or something, no?

Sorry man, you had to be there to fully appreciate it. There is no possible way I could do justice to what happened in words.

So, we left at about 3:30 and it worked out well. Last time I went to the Mann in 2003, I recall a ton of tolls and traffic to get there, well my car's GPS must be really awesome because this time it recalculated a million times to avoid traffic and I only ended up paying two toll, totaling $6.50 to get there. Still it took us three hours to get there, so I'm glad we left early. Would have been there a half hour earlier if I actually had the correct address.

Parked, walked to the gate and said hi to JW, then walked back to the car to drop off contraband iPad, then walked to the gate again and met Mike. I got an exclusive baseball card or a whole stack of them. Mary and Dana joined us shortly after, then I went to the bathroom and came back and James was there. Then I went to get food and came back and Bob and Mary Kathleen were there. Then we all took a group picture without Mike.



When we got to our seats I was a little further off to the side then I wanted to be, but there were 4 seats empty next to me, so we moved at the first video clip to get a much better view. Then right as we moved the people with the our seats arrived but we ignored them and they sat where we were sitting. All through the show people were showing up. Arrive on time people. You paid for the whole show.

Al came right down the aisle next to us for "Tacky." I don't think he saw us because there were some obnoxious people getting in his way. Right as the polka was about to start, a "Please Stand by" graphic came on the video screen, so Al asked us twice if we were ready to polka.

We were blinded by the strobe lights in DTBS. It was so bad that I had to look at the ground during the song. A few people sitting near me put on their sunglasses. Shortly before "Fat" I noted a girl about 12 sitting two rows in front of us enthusiastically mouthing the whole video clip to her siblings and parents. She was having such an awesome time, it was so much fun to watch her. Though they all left right after the the James Brown thing, so I don't know what was up with that.

Mary Kathleen got a lap dance during WBUL. He climbed on the little barrier thing that separates the pit area from the rest of the venue. During "Eat It" someone sitting close lit up and through second-hand smoke I was able to appreciate the mellowness that is the unplugged medley.

After the show, to my surprise, I got to join the Mandatory Czar pass holders and meet Al. We were brought backstage and down a set of stairs, and the line snaked into a room. From the end of the line we could see the table Al sat at to do the signing. Darth Vader and the stormtroopers were in the room, and a few of the storm troopers were walking around entertaining everyone in line. They had a good sense of humor.

I got a poster signed and asked Al to sign my baseball card. Then I asked him if he would put me in a choke hold and he agreed way too quickly and asked how tight did I want him to squeeze.



Waited outside by the buses with the gang, but the buses were behind a fence, and when venue staff asked us to move across the street, I figured he wouldn't come out for the others who were waiting. Everyone waited patiently though for another half hour or so, until Al's bus drove away.

On the way home, I figured out that Pennsylvania must have replaced all the toll booths with red lights (and all the toll booth revenue with red light cameras!) which meant I spent the next 20 minutes stopping every 50 feet for another red light, until I got on the highway that brought be back to Jersey. Got home at 2:20 a.m. but was totally worth it!

Dave

[Yankomaniac]

Nice choke! Did they light up a J or a smoke?