World of Weird Al Yankovic

Edit: so wrapped up in my own world I completely misunderstood what Minnick said.
---
Here's a post unrelated to his instead.

I think the only negative attention I attracted from my Al fandom that is deserving is from back in my day where I never shut the heck up about him. None of my friends needs to be given the daily news about Al- no matter how exciting it may be to me.

Nowadays I only bring it up if necessary. Example: A good buddy of mine who respects Al's works (who is one of the aforementioned friends exposed to Al concerts) is also an avid fan of Rob Zombie. Naturally, I told my friend "Y'know...I found out Al is in a scene with Dr. Loomis". Joe liked hearing about it. Other friends I won't bother telling.

NONE of my real-life friends know I'm an Al fan (99% of them wouldn't even know who he is). Seriously. I never ever bring him up in conversation.

NNY273000 @ May 08, 2009 02:17 pm wrote: "I know a vast assortment of not-quite-useful Al Yankovic trivia"

I had a conversation with someone at work last week, I don't remember exactly what we were saying, but Al came up in conversation, and I spewed about three relevant factoids before the look on her face told me it was kinda weird (to her, anyway) to know that much about him.

weirdojace wrote: Lyrics that have a sense of humor and make use of wordplay.

One of the reasons I like the band that inspired this topic. They're a Christian band and one of their songs was for a Veggie Tales movie. The song is about Jonah:

Woke up this morning kinda blue,
Thinking through that age-old question:
How to exit a whale's digestion?
It might behoove me to be heaved.
Head out like a human comet....
[Larry Boy: "Guys, ya might not wanna rhyme with 'comet.'"]

See? Now I'm spewing nb factoids over here. Sorry.

minnick27 @ May 09, 2009 12:49 pm wrote: Its funny, with the amount of shows I saw over the last two summers, I still dont understand Dave Matthews Band fans. I dont know if he still does it, but for several years DMB did a weeks worth of shows in Philly. And I knew people that went every show. Did not understand it. Still dont. How can you see the same show 7 times in a row. At least Al changed 1 song up per show, but I still took a day or so between shows. So in conclusion, we are not weird, but DMB fans are.

Except DMB does a COMPLETELY different set list every single night. Every. Single. Night. DMB set from day to day changes no matter if they're playing at the same place. This is one of the reasons why they're so fun live because they HAVE to play different songs each night else the band members would get bored with the songs.

That is one of the reasons why DMB fans can go and see them 4 nights in a row because the set list is different every night. And its not just because they're playing in the same city 4 nights in a row. They change their setlist whether they're playing in the same city again or not.

For example here's the set list for May 5, 2009 in Albuquerque, NM:Everyday *
Stay Or Leave *
Funny The Way It Is *
You Might Die Trying *
Why I Am *
Anyone Seen The Bridge *>
Too Much (Fake) *>
Ants Marching *
Spaceman *>
Corn Bread *
Seven *
Burning Down The House *
#41 *
Grey Street *
Dancing Nancies *
Where Are You Going
Two Step *

Encore:
The Maker *
Pantala Naga Pampa *>
Rapunzel *

Special Guests:
* Jeff Coffin
And the VERY next night there's a completely different set list on May 6, 2009 in Phoenix, AZ:01: Intro [00:35]
02: Rye Whiskey + [04:06]
03: Tripping Billies [06:52]
04: Spaceman [06:28]
05: Pantala Naga Pampa > [00:39]
06: Rapunzel [07:33]
07: Crash Into Me [06:50]
08: Seven [04:56]
09: Dreaming Tree [15:46]
10: Funny The Way It Is [07:03]
11: So Damn Lucky [09:44]
12: Everyday [10:54]
13: #41 [18:54]
14: Why I Am [04:06]
15: Dancing Nancies [10:31]
16: Warehouse [10:46]
17: Crush [14:11]
18: Grey Street [05:34]
19: Encore break/intro [07:35]
20: Don't Drink The Water [09:02]
21: All Along The Watchtower [09:23]
Hope that explains things. I'm a DMB fan but not like HARDCORE where I know every single thing they do. Basically unlike Al, the band is very unpredictable when it comes to surprising fans. And I think that's what interests people because with say Al for example we KNOW 95% of the set list before we even arrive at the venue. With DMB you know nothing about what they'll play.

Hope that clears things up!!

Al is actually one of the few people who does the exact same show every night. Not that he doesn't have a good reason to... his shows are more like a theater production than a rock concert.

But a lot of rock bands actually vary it up. Not to the point of DMB doing a completely different show, but I've seen The Flaming Lips, My Chemical Romance and They Might Be Giants in concert and they do different songs each night. They'll have a few staple songs that they feel obligated to do at every show, but they switch others out.

weirdojace @ May 09, 2009 04:16 pm wrote: But a lot of rock bands actually vary it up. Not to the point of DMB doing a completely different show, but I've seen The Flaming Lips, My Chemical Romance and They Might Be Giants in concert and they do different songs each night. They'll have a few staple songs that they feel obligated to do at every show, but they switch others out.

Oh ya I know, I was just using DMB because that's what they used.

Driew_La_27 @ May 09, 2009 03:45 pm wrote: Except DMB does a COMPLETELY different set list every single night.

Matthews 1, Yankovic 0


Haha, just kidding. Jace is right. Al has a good reason for playing the same show all the time. But it does give me an excuse not to tour chase...

I understand completely why Al does what he does--I like it--wasn't trying to say Al was less of an artist than Dave.

On their current tour Elton John and Billy Joel are doing the same songs every night. When I saw them 6 years ago Billy had a little more variety in his set from night to night.

I'm still waiting to finally hear Vienna.

I think Al fans tend to be more "rabid" is because, as a few of you said, he attracts nerdy people (like me and lots of you here), maybe because he's kind of a nerd himself (I mean that in a good way, of course). And us nerds are obsessed with memorizing facts, whether they're about Al or not.

How he acts towards his fans is another reason. Like scottidog said, there's not a vain bone in his body. Some people are nice on the stage, but jerks when you meet them. But it seems Al is even nicer in person (if it's even possible to be more kind than he already is).

And finally, I think of Al as "unique". I know that every single person is unique, but Al is a lot different from other musicians and performers, and it's so fun to know all the interesting facts!