World of Weird Al Yankovic

There were no grab bags in San Antonio. I didn't end up buying anything but the latest action figure (which my brother had autographed to match the other figure) and some more trading cards. Would've definitely bought a grab bag.

Whoever was claiming that Al wrote all the setlists before the tour started... fake news!
Al shared last night that, at the beginning of the tour he wrote setlists the night before each show, but as it went on the crew needed to know the setlist in order to prepare (I assume this means things like the bongos in Good Old Days, the harmonica in Bob, etc), so he started writing setlists every Sunday that would go for the next week or so.

Originally, Bermuda said in a podcast that Al had everything planned out so that every show would be different, in a way that sounded like the setlists might have all been planned out. But then someone heard (from JW I think) that Al was indeed deciding through the tour.

And FWIW, the instruments on stage appeared the same for all 5 shows I saw. Some didn't get used show. Maybe someone else has noticed otherwise.

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Yeah, a few instruments were put on the table that weren't used. At my first show I saw bongos and the tambourine, but Good Old Days and CNR were not performed that night.

As of right now, there are 7 songs in the rotation I have never seen live:
Mr. Frump, Mr. Popeil, That Boy Could Dance, Nature Trail To Hell, DTBS Unplugged Version, Good Enough For Now, and UHF.

And two I have seen before but would like to see again on this tour: Twine Ball and Albuquerque.

With two shows left for me, tonight in LA and tomorrow in SD, I am hoping to knock all of the above (or most) off of my list!

TMBJon wrote:As of right now, there are 7 songs in the rotation I have never seen live:
Mr. Frump, Mr. Popeil, That Boy Could Dance, Nature Trail To Hell, DTBS Unplugged Version, Good Enough For Now, and UHF.

And two I have seen before but would like to see again on this tour: Twine Ball and Albuquerque.

With two shows left for me, tonight in LA and tomorrow in SD, I am hoping to knock all of the above (or most) off of my list!

How many shows have you seen on this tour so far? Was last night your first? I think the 2 shows in the same city is the best way to go if you can since he makes sure both shows are totally different from each other (minus the Medley). That meant over 2 nights I got to hear about 38 of the 50-some songs they'd prepared. It was amazing.

He hit all of my "must hears" between his 2 shows in Chicago, but I am hoping I'll get to hear Mr. Popeil, Good Enough for Now and/or That Boy Could Dance at the Green Bay show (fingers crossed some tickets come available).

I am now back at work, recovering after one of the most fun and memorable weeks of my life. I am so grateful to Al, his band, and their crew for everything they have done and continue to do to make this tour happen. I have spent about 23 years now as a die-hard Weird Al fan, and during the entirety of that period I never would have guessed that I would day see songs like "She Never Told Me She Was A Mime", "One of Those Days", or "I Was Only Kidding" live. It is such a love letter to the fans that we have this tour, and I got rather emotional during the last two shows thinking about how much even the most obscure Weird Al songs have meant to me over the years. It is so great to see first-hand that this tour is really resonating with audiences and that songs like The Night Santa Went Crazy or One More Minute or Albuquerque can get just as huge of a reaction as a song like Amish Paradise would get during a regular tour. I think there has been a misconception that those of us who go on this forum or are otherwise part of the super hardcore fanbase would be the only folks who would love this tour. It's quite clear from my five nights that this was the opposite of what is true. There is a huge market for Al to perform these lesser known songs, and I can only hope that the lesson learned is that maybe future tours can exist as a hybrid format where the first 5-6 songs rotate through the list of 40-50, and then the rest of the show is costume/video/server-based. Of course, if Al never returned to the usual format ever again and we only got Vanity Tours going forward, I would be more than happy with that, too.

This tour really gave Jim and Rubén the most time to shine, though Bermuda and Steve also have impressive moments. But I told Jim the first night: I never realized how all of the most awesome guitar solos are on Al's deepest cuts! He said he felt weird to be shredding so hard while sitting politely on a bench. And I also noticed Al bobbing his knees around a lot. Next time, let's ditch the stools! The musicianship of everyone was so impressive, and their ability to play so many different styles of music has never been more evident than this tour. And one more word regarding the crew - I had never had the pleasure to meet JW before this week as I had never attended the VIP parties during the Mandatory Fun tour. He is a really cool guy and the perfect person to host Weird Al Jeopardy. He has exactly the right temperament and personality to interact with Al's fans and get the crowd hyped up for the show. This was a great hire by CID, and I hope to see him as a regular on the tour for many years to come.

Finally I have to recognize one of the greatest parts of this experience which was the opportunity to see so many old friends again. It can be hard to translate an online friendship over one common interest into an extended real life hangout. This was the most consecutive time I've spent with Dave and Jackie in person. They are both really great and I had a lot of fun with them. It was also great to see Alicia and Gus and film some YNN segments with them (and to continue to get to know Gus who is a great guy whom I hope joins WOWAY sometime soon! ) The great Vikki, UHJeff (and the extended UHFamily!), Kristine (it's been so long!!), Helen and Tina who sat next to us at the last show, Joe Jaffa, Cyd, Scott and Kulap, the new people I met at each show, and of course, Anna Canada who flew out to go to the San Diego show with me. I feel a bit like I did after Al Fest, sad to be done with my first ever tour chase; the Al fan community is truly a great group of people, and I'm so grateful for all of the long term friendships I have made over the years, mostly thanks to this wonderful website.

Thank you to everyone for such a memorable experience. Here's hoping to much more fun in 2019 and many, many, many years to come!

Well said! I think it made it even better for me that I took my daughter for her first concert and we were both able to enjoy it and have something to share for many years to come. During the show in Dallas I would sit there going "OMG THIS IS MY FIRST TIME HEARING THIS LIVE....AND HER'S!!"

I don't know if anybody mentioned this throughout the Tour but, The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour logo is I am pretty sure a spoof logo of Mel Brooks' "Old Jews Telling Jokes" , which was a comedy Tour he did once upon a time. Love Mel Brooks, surprised I didn't put that together until yesterday, but I am guessing Al loved it and that was a silent homage of sorts to that. If I am wrong there, then the logo is from one of his movies.

Yankomaniac wrote:I don't know if anybody mentioned this throughout the Tour but, The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour logo is I am pretty sure a spoof logo of Mel Brooks' "Old Jews Telling Jokes" , which was a comedy Tour he did once upon a time. Love Mel Brooks, surprised I didn't put that together until yesterday, but I am guessing Al loved it and that was a silent homage of sorts to that. If I am wrong there, then the logo is from one of his movies.

I see Monty Python when I look at the tour logo. "Life of Brian" and "Meaning of Life" movie posters come to mind.