08/14/10 Costa Mesa, CA Pacific Amphitheater

[Orthography Enthusiast]

Al does use a lot of pre-recorded vocal tracks during his live show though. So I can understand where that person thought he was lip syncing. For example, I was at a Puyallup show a few years ago, and in between songs the vocal track to Melanie started playing out of the blue and you could clearly hear Al's vocals as the backing singer on the track. The track was basically singing every word, but was used so that Al didn't have to always hit the high notes when his voice was weak on a particular night.

From the youtube clips I think Whatever You Like is the biggest culprit to this. The backing vocals (I know wrong terminology, but its late) are from Al, so when he's singing the song live, the background vocals take over for Al's voice. Here's an example of WYL and Al's vocals almost being completely buried under the track. Yes, this is breaking the rules, but I'm using it to explain the confusion for some fans

I'm going to have to find some bootleg concert video of Melanie and listen to it again. Your description "used so that Al didn't have to always hit the high notes when his voice was weak on a particular night. " sounds exactly like lip syncing. But in the vid you linked to, what I saw was Al being very careful to move the microphone away from his face when his recorded voice was singing on the backing tracks, so that no one would think he was actually singing that part. It's always kind of a negotiation I guess between fidelity to a recorded version and dealing with the realities of live performance, and it would probably sound wrong to us if songs that were recorded with more instruments were stripped down to what the band could actually play live, unassisted.

[Elvis]

I'll have a more detailed review once I get home, but I'm on a really big Al fan high right now, after an unexpected gift from the guy sitting behind me. He liked my during show enthusiasm so much that he pulled the after show pass off his shirt, and gave it to me!

Judy Tenuta was backstage. And, this one really excited me, so was Jamie Lee Curtis!! I'm guessing there were other celebrities too, because Louise left with lots of autographs on her flag, but I'm not really good at the identify a celebrity game. I once literally tripped over Matt Groening and didn't know it was him until the next day.

Anyway, I didn't get to talk to Judy, but Jamie was very nice to me, and very patient, as I tried to figure out how to use a camera that wasn't mine to take a picture with her. I was very excited to meet her. Neat thing also was she was wearing a Weird Al shirt! What an awesome unexpected surprise to not only meet, but to get a picture with her, and to find out she's an extremely nice person in person.

Just goes to show that even after 90+ shows, the Al concert experience is full of surprises! To the mystery man, whoever you are, wherever you are, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Dave

[TMBJon]

He liked my during show enthusiasm so much that he pulled the after show pass off his shirt, and gave it to me!

That is a great story! What enthusiastic activity were you demonstrating? Singing along, loud cheering, or something else? You really are the king...

[young dumb and ugly]

Went last night! I was in the Pit, Row EEE seat 25 having the greatest time. The ticket was a gift from Nancy, and I was able to get her the Amish Paradise shirt, yay! Thank you

I worked at the OC fair this year, and worked a few of the shows at Pac Amp, and out of all the shows i've seen this summer..Al truly had the best performance. In fact, this may be one of his best performances i've seen at the OC fair over the past what..10 years? I remember when he would perform in the Action Sports Arena 7 days in a row..those were fun times waiting in line all day He did an awesome job, and last night..the OC fair broke their attendance record for all time! The crowd was amazing, audience participation and interaction is my favorite thing about an Al concert, ALways. No complaints, except they should have gotten rid of the chairs in the pit. Other than that, I am on that Weird Al concert high

More to come...

Sarah

P.S. Remember when he went all Radio, Radio on us during White & Nerdy back in 08?

[fred27]

AW MAN, JAMIE LEE CURTIS, i get told i look like her, now im bumbed i didnt go

[Kristine]

Show #16, 2010 #2
Last night was fun, too! Before the show, I ran into a few family friends (I knew they would be there) and talked to them for a bit. They had seats quite a ways back from the pit, so we parted ways. I went down and sat in my seat, Pit FFF... 7? I think that was the number. Anyways, a couple of guys recognized me as "Pamela Finkelstein" from AlFest, and said they also saw I was there the night before. We were talking about a bunch of random stuff for awhile. Then I got a text from Aron, so I went over and hung out with her until it was almost time for the show to start. Al's vocals were much better that the previous night (there were some cringe-worthy moments on Friday, from a vocalist's standpoint, but most audience members likely didn't notice). Sounds like he rested well between the shows. I still don't see why they don't just change the key for You're Pitiful... I don't think I've ever been to a show where the YP vocals were that strong. They lowered the key for the live version of Why... but who knows. I hate to admit it, but CNR is growing on me. I wasn't a big fan of the song when I heard the recorded version, but now I think I actually like it. Anyways, overall it was another great show. After, I walked over to where Dave was, and he told me someone had just given him a pass- that was pretty cool. Went back and said hi to everyone, gave Jon a batch of my brownies he loves so much, and watched Ludo collect a million autographs (you ARE gonna frame that thing in a vacuum sealed container, right? lol) Saw Judy but didn't get to meet her, but never got to see Jamie Lee Curtis. Either I wasn't paying enough attention, or I just happen to not be looking at the right time. I ended up playing "photographer" for a bunch of people backstage, too. It started out when I offered to get the mom in the photo with Jon and her daughter, then Aron asked me to take her photo with Al, then later for Ruben's guests and for Jim, too. I didn't mind at all. I actually spent most of my time after the show hanging out with Aron. I was great seeing her again!!

Next week is Henderson, and my last show for this tour.

[Alinite27]

Well...this was an awesome day...I've let my friends in on what happened during the day, but I'll leave it at that for you all...

Awesome trip...really enjoyed the time I was at the fair...I did run into a celebrity after the show, I'm sure there were more there too...Nice to say hi to the different fans after the show, that finally got to meet me!

Great to see Al get that big of a crowd, although, at 10 bucks a ticket...it's expected!

The concert the night before was better...and Al's voice did go out some in this show...but I still think that shows what a tremendously strong artist he is. Had an awesome chat with some more people who's first Al concert it was, when I was leaving the fair.

Can't wait til the next shows!

[i_love_yankovic]

Just got back from Costa Mesa, had an excellent time at the show and pretty awesome seats. =) Things went relatively smoothly as far as tickets and coupons..considering.

It was great to see you guys that I did see - Vikki, Ludo, Kristine! I wish I had seen the rest of you but we got there quite late.

I will post the pictures that turned out when I get my camera charged up.

So awesome that there were so many celebs there!

Christina

[TMBJon]

I've let my friends in on what happened during the day, but I'll leave it at that for you all...

Wow, what is that supposed to mean?

[Orthography Enthusiast]

P.S. Remember when he went all Radio, Radio on us during White & Nerdy back in 08?

Yes, and while I kind of miss having the possibility of random cover tunes thrown into the show, I'll bet the band & crew don't miss that perpetually-crashing server one bit.