World of Weird Al Yankovic

You got any BEAR CLAWS?

So it's not about Al, but didn't it make you think of him??

Wow, how many times I've bought apple fritters just because they're mentioned in Albuquerque.



-CindyBob

we were at the donut shop the other day and it was almost too tempting to be like...you got any bear claws?

Here's an article on American musical heroes that's looking at things a little differently; it's got Al in the company of a couple of his targets.

Pretty cool, OE! Al is a true American hero! I like it! I also love the Laundry Day pic they used!



Patti

I can't seem to find the Tour Review thread I started, so I'll post this here.



From the Albany Times Union:



Weird Al mocks, rocks at the Palace



By DAVID MALACHOWSKI, Special to the Times Union

First published: Wednesday, July 16, 2003



review

ALBANY -- "Weird Al" Yankovic once again brought his zany parody tunes back to the Palace Theatre Tuesday night for a fun night of rock, rhymes and mayhem.

After a video montage of some of the funniest moments on film set the mood, there was Al in bad Hawaiian shirt, hunched over his instrument of choice -- the ever-popular accordion. Yankovic opened with the wacky medley "Angry White Boy Polka," taking a jab at everyone from Rage Against the Machine, Limp Bizkit, Staind to The White Stripes, complete with Laurence Welk-issue bubbles gently floating about.



Hailing from Lynwood, California, Yankovic began doing parodies in 1979 with a send-off of the Knack's "My Sharona" entitled "My Bologna." The rest, they say, is history. Even though he has been doing virtually the same thing for decades, Yankovic is far from running out of material or ideas. Why not? Well, because pop stars keep offering him new tunes just begging for the Weird Al treatment.



Longtime bandmembers Jim West (guitar) Steve Jay (bass) and Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz (drums) held down the fort as Weird Al went off on his comedic tangents. "Party at the Leper Colony" held a mutant Zydeco/Bo Diddley beat while Al took a cellphone call and showed his sensitive side with "A Complicated Song," spoofing Avril Lavigne and terrorizing all the words that rhymed on the chorus (constipated, mutilated, decapitated etc.).



"One More Minute" had a '50s feel and valet who accompanied Al into audience as he bonded with his people. An oversized white suit sent up Talking Head's David Byrne in "Dog Eat Dog," an urban set found Nelly in "Trash Day," while Dire Straits, Bare Naked Ladies, Celine Dion, Billy Joel and the Backstreet Boys ("eBAy") also took direct hits during the course of the evening.



Video interludes ("'Al TV") were numerous, at times brilliant and kept things moving, while limber local dancers Jessica Serrano and Nicole DiGiovanni provided eye candy as cheerleaders in a silly satire of "Smells Like Teen Spirit."



More than just bringing fine humor to the world, Yankovic performs the huge public service of keeping pop stars who take themselves a bit too seriously down a peg or two.



Regional funny man Steve Van Zandt's show was filled with local references and tidbits. He ranted about old rockers, old Albany Airport, did some excellent impersonations of TV and movie stars and had the audience sing the theme to Rocky. "Dant, dant, dant."

What fun! Thanks, El! But was it a "bad" Hawaiian shirt?

Yeah, that was a pretty good article, but, as OE said a bad Hawaiian shirt? Also, "hunched over his instrument of choice"? Every pic *or concert clip* I've seen of Al playing the accordion shows that he's pretty much standing up pretty straight. He doesn't look like he's hunched over to me. Hmmmm. Still a good article. Thanks, El!



Patti

QUOTE But was it a \"bad\" Hawaiian shirt?



It was the same orange Hawaiian shirt Al wore in Poughkeepsie and 2 of the OC Fair shows last year. It's not really one of my favorites either.

Poor Rubén. Dissed again...

I noticed that, too, Bobbi. No mention of Ruben anywhere.



Patti



*I can't do the accent thingy*