World of Weird Al Yankovic

Well I only ran into one-ish of you, which sucks. But the show was great, and I got my shirt signed. (I also gave him my Since You've Been Gone video)

Mr. Rooney @ Aug 12 2007, 05:39 AM wrote: Well I only ran into one-ish of you, which sucks. But the show was great, and I got my shirt signed. (I also gave him my Since You've Been Gone video)

WHAAATTTT??? you got your shirt signed??? Did he come out??

I was out waiting for an hour after the concert...at first they said he would be out, but later..but then they said he wasn't coming out after all.

(beverly mass right?)

DONT TELL ME HE CAME OUT AFTER ALL AND I MISSED IT!! NOOOOOO!

Mr. Rooney @ Aug 12 2007, 05:39 AM wrote: Well I only ran into one-ish of you, which sucks. But the show was great, and I got my shirt signed.

Whom did you run into? I couldn't find anybody! Hey, did anybody get photos? Jackie? Post 'em in the tour-photos topic if you did, ok?

(my concert report is forthcoming.)

First off…where the heck WERE you guys!?! I couldn’t find any of you before the show, and after the show, I waited outside between the venue and the free-parking lot for the better part of an hour holding a “WOWAY” SIGN, and no one stopped or said hi or anything! Then my hubby and I and our two hyper kids waited for an hour in the long line of fans waiting for Al to come out and sign autographs until that dude came out to tell us that Al wasn’t signing tonight. (I yelled, “What about handshakes?” but apparently the band was planning to just hit the road, so we did too…) Anyone else here in that line besides Laurie and I? Btw, thanks to young Mr. Ross and friend for keeping my kids amused in line; that was helpful.

And now, my concert report…

Beverly, MA, North Shore Music Theater, SOL tour, 8/11/07:
(warning: set list spoilers!)

I’d never seen Al at a theater-in-the-round before, but I’d certainly do it again. Although I wished he could be facing me all the time, the slowly rotating circular stage gave everyone in the place a chance to look Al in the face, see how great TBITB are looking, and get a few glimpses of what MarlinsGirl likes to call Al’s “assets.”

The crowd, literally ranging from toddlers to geriatrics, seemed a good mix of die-hards and first-timers. At 8 pm when “Fun Zone” started playing over the PA, we die-hards began to bounce excitedly in our seats and hoot adoringly. There’s nothing like the moment when you know you’re about to see The Great One, real and alive and just a few meters in front of you. Suddenly, three large video screens roared to life, and right away I noticed some new stock footage, for which I was grateful, as I felt I’d seen enough of some of the video from recent tours. A quick video clip of Mr. Rogers raised a chuckle from the audience.

The band opened with “Polkarama,” and by the time they got to the “Golddigger” part, huge waves of bubbles emanated from the stage. Al, in black pants and shirt, shiny silver belt, and red tie, was looking rather Billie-Joe-ish, albeit with his lovely curls bouncing against the back of his neck and his stunning cheekbones leaving no question that it was indeed our one true Al up there. Speaking of Billie Joe, after the polka medley, they launched into “Canadian Idiot,” to the delight of my four-year-old-son, who still seems to think it’s a coincidence that Al’s song and Green Day’s sound so much alike (preschoolers have a limited grasp of parody.) For me, the highlight of “Canadian Idiot” came after “like it’s a real sport,” when Al gave an intense butt wiggle that for once made me okay with the fact that he was, at that moment, facing away from me. When they got to “pre-emptive strike,” there was a loud cannon-blast sound effect that probably frightened a few of the older or younger listeners, but my kids didn’t seem to mind, especially when “Idiot” gave way to one of their favorite songs: “Close But No Cigar.” Following that fan-fave, Al made a quick change backstage into the Mighty Silver Suit for “It’s All About The Pentiums,” a strobe-heavy number that got the crowd singing. A further change was needed for the next number, as Al treated the audience to his unreleased but oft-downloaded mockorama “You’re Pitiful.” That “costume” found His Royal Cuteness in a sparkly gold top, but he was soon to change again…right (gasp!) in front of us! During “Pitiful,” he pulled off the gold shirt to reveal a black tee with white “ribs” on it, but then he pulled that shirt off, too! (Be still, my beating heart!) Under the black shirt was a yellow t-shirt which read, “Atlantic Records Sucks,” a reference, as you probably all know, to Atlantic’s refusal to approve the James Blunt parody for release. Most of the audience appeared to be aware of the skirmish, as the t-shirt’s message drew much supportive laughter.

But then – brace yourselves, AlGals – Al made one more alteration to his costume, unzipping the black pants and sliding them off to reveal heart-print boxers and a small pink tutu. This was followed by several minutes of pure bliss as Al crooned “Wanna Be Ur Lover” to a very appreciative crowd, although I hope the woman he walked right up close to to sing, “do you mind if I chew on your butt?” was a die-hard and not some newbie who wouldn’t have appreciated the great honor which he bestowed upon her. By the time he screamed “wanna be your lover!” for the last time of the night, he was all up in some old lady’s grill; I felt quite jealous, despite being seated five feet from my hubby/soulmate all night… it’s quite a powerful hold the Great One has over us Al-Gals, and seeing him live just reminds me why all over again. On screen, videos of Al’s fake interviews, music videos, and weird random footage played between every song throughout the two-hour show. While most of us have seen the interviews endless times, they’re always fun, and they provide guaranteed belly laughs to those audience members who aren’t familiar with AL-TV (poor dears).

After WBUL, Al sang “Couch Potato,” and after a change into a red hoodie-under-black-dress-shirt ensemble with a grey Taylor Hicks wig, ”Do I Creep You Out?” Then it was time for…new material! Donning a red shirt and white sailor hat, Al began to sing, “My name is Gilligan…” I don’t know what it was a parody of, and I didn’t get all the words (there’s a job for Happy Steve!), but the song was called “I’m In Love With The Skipper.” While the audience scratched their heads over that one, Al burst into “Headline News,” featuring NEW VERSES! (Something about a DUI presumably refers to Lindsey Lohan’s latest scrape, but I liked the line that was something to the effect of “why is this considered news?”)

Next up was “A Complicated Song,” followed by a medley of “Bedrock Anthem,” “Ode To A Superhero,” “Pretty Fly For A Rabbi,” “Trapped In The Drive-Through,” and “Gump.” Then, slipping into his red leather jacket, Al thrilled the audience with his classic food song, “Eat It,” followed by the much more recent “I’ll Sue Ya,” for which he dressed in olive fatigues and dreadlocks.

Then the stage went dark. Slowly, darkly familiar music began to rise from the stage area, and I found myself thinking of…Darth Vader and the Evil Galactic Emperor. Aha, I realized; they’re going to do “Saga” and “Yoda.” My favorites, but also the show-enders, right?

“A long, long time ago…in a galaxy far away…” Thrilled, I watched as a Jedi-clad Al sang “The Saga Begins” and “Yoda,” - including the latest version of the Yoda Chant - then the lights went out again. The crowd stood, cheering, preparing to leave, as the video for “Weasel Stomping Day” came on the screens and my kids happily sang about ritualized animal cruelty. I leaned over to my handsome hubby and asked if Al was going to do “Smells Like Nirvana.” He didn’t think so. “Oh,” I said, “because I thought I just saw two cheerleaders come out of the backstage area.” Sure enough, after the WSD video, the band broke into “Smells Like Nirvana,” with dancing cheerleaders and Al dressed as Kurt, and the North Shore Music Theater was like one enormous happy mosh pit. Trading the blond wig for a flat black hat, Al sang “Amish Paradise” as the crowd waved their arms rhythmically along to the music.

The band caught their breath (they’d soon need it) while some videos played, including Al’s fake interview with Moby in which Al suggests Moby give him a lyric, and Moby says, “We all have cellphones, so, come on, let’s get real,” and Al proceeds to sing that. The crowd laughed, and then die-hards and newbies alike went bananas as Al and the band performed their newest hit, “White And Nerdy.” When the cheering after that song ended, the “Fat” video began to play on the screens (my hubby had to console my son, who’s still young enough to be frightened of that video), and Al waddled, in “Fat” costume, up onto the stage to sing it live. (Even wrapped in all that bean-filled foam, Al can sure shake his thang.) When he once again left the stage after “Fat,” the crowd started chanting – what else? – “We Want AL! We Want AL!” Obliging (and unsurprised, I’m sure), the band returned.

“I know what you want,” teased The Great One, and he began to croon sweetly…”We aaaaaall haaaaaave cellphoooones, so, come on, let’s get reeeal.” We laughed our butts off and held our glowing cellphones aloft as he sang the line over and over. Then he promised us one last song. Well, when you’re seeing Al in the flesh and you know there’s only one song left, you want it to be wacky and funny and visual and…well, LONG, so you can spend maximum time in his presence. And he must have known all this, because he launched into…”Albequerque!” It’s long, it’s wacky, and it provided Al the opportunity to do lots of his physical comedy, although how he does that and sing at the same time I can’t imagine. He must have lungs like a blue whale.

After two and a half hours of sheer perfection, the show was over. But it’ll be with me forever, one of the great memories of my life.
Karen Taylor, 8/12/2007 4 am

One edit: Bermuda informs me that the "cellphone" interview with Moby is actually an interview with MICHAEL STIPE. Apparently I am so colossally uncool that I couldn't tell the difference. Oopsie! - kaz

That was an excellent Review, Karen. One correction, the Fake interview is with Michael Stipe of REM not Moby.

Other correction, the Headline News new lyric was about Paris Hilton. I admit it's hard to keep the vapid celebchicks with sustance problems straight, and I congratulate you for having paid so little attention to their travails.

WARNING: My review (while not much details are given) is long winded due to my poor writing skills...I'm still working on making these posts more easily read.


Myself (my ninth show), my mom (her 6th show), and my friend Joe (first time) had attended.

We arrived at the venue after nearly two hours of travelling from the Warwick, Rhode Island and stopped for pizza at a nearby little spot to eat (if I could remember the place I'd warn you all that the cheese will kill your intestines with its greasiness).

We parked at the tourbus area next to a van playing songs from the In 3D album (whoever it was...thanks for the entertainment). Joe had pointed out Bermuda walking towards the bus (more or less asking who Bermuda is then merely pointing him out). We then saw Al walking in after laughing and conversing with someone by his side... next we were pleased by the sight of little Nina walking towards the bus while holding Suzanne's hand. Nina is just adorable. We also recognized Steve walking around.

We walked around and familiarized ourselves with the venue, found the bathrooms, merchandise booth (conversed with the vender for a bit), and encountered this strange old man...
We walk next to the box office and gaze upon the signs advertising previous show performances at the theater- I spy the poster for High School Music and gave a look of disdain and a disapproving "No...just no".

The elderly man sitting right near by chimed in asking if I liked that musical and said he's attending it during it's world tour soon. I briefly responded during the little friendly conversation (friendly if not for the awkward and unsettling vibe) and later saw him making a fit to the box office lady over the prices, banging his fists on the desk and saying "this is an outrage" as the lady responds with "you're a big boy now, you can stop banging your fists".

Eventually the doors opened and we took our seats (my! the seating chart made our spots seem farther back than they turned out) slightly behind one of the screens. My mom tried to get photos but couldn't turn the flash off, she handed it to Joe to figure out and as he attempted to do so, one of the workers approached us and said "The artist requests you do not use any kind of recording devices including cameras- flash or no flash"...Now I'm sure she is merely trained to use such choice of wording- but we know Al has no qualm with photos (while he couldn't speak for the band) and him and Bermuda seem to me to encourage submission of quality photos to the mothership (or were most of those professionally taken?)

review time- I won't just give accurate details of each number and will merely point out anything that seems either new or noteworthy for this particular show. generic spoilers could be easily found elsewhere and is unnecessary for me to type.

As previously stated by another poster, the set was revolving...perhaps a tad bit too slow (doesn't need to be fast and making the boys dizzy or sick but slightly faster). Or maybe that's just my opinion.

-Al introduced Bermuda's drum solo before CBNC with "Beverly, Massachusets! Are you ready for the drum solo?!"

-Al addressed the crowd saying "The last time I came to this theater was probably in 1999...and I realize I didn't sing a song made completely out of various palindromes. I won't make that mistake this time", he then proceeded to play Bob with harmonica solos that sound very different from the ones on audio track for Poodle Hat.

-I'm In Love With The Skipper...Mom noticed Al now does that little hand motion Gilligan would "dance" with on that old classic sitcom.

-Ode To A Superhero- the audience was able to "get" Al's "who are you?" expression towards the stage manager holding the microphone.

-Trapped In The Drive-Thru- the band was awesome during the Led Zeppelin bit.

-Yoda. Al's typical "all right you sing it" was funny as usual. a moment into the brief audience sing-a-long Al simply said in a joke-demanding tone "do itbetter"...Yoda chant was fun to sing along to (some new sections are tricky, and I realize quite a few bits I had just said random syllables to the tempo and tone)

-Smells Like Nirvana...Joe was able to recognize that Al held the guitar just like Kurt but pointed out that Al was not using a lefty-guitar.
The two cheerleaders were probably the ones with the best routine I had seen. As most of us are aware, the usual case for the cheerleaders is that they just run around meeting Al and the band and enjoy free food and lazily think up a routine at the last minute (as so heavily implied by a lackluster routine). These girls had done a choreography that fit the music and wasn't thought up at the last moment. It's probably because the North Shore Music Theater often does theatrical performances by kids for kids (the two cheerleaders seemed to be minors...then again the Al-induced haze could be to blame if I'm wrong) and may have found the cheerleaders through past productions at the venue.

Amish Paradise- plenty of arm waving during second chorus but not enough for the other times.

Cell Phones- everyone had their cellphones out without Al having to ask (though he did because his asking for cellphones to be woven in the air is practically a part of the lyrics) due to audience being able to see eachother in the round theater.

Albuquerque had even more new donuts then usual...and Al had fine tuned his different voices and expressions for different bits so as to improve upon the original recording. At one before he talks of biting the guy's jugular vein he says aloud "Ahh y'know, you are probably all tired maybe I should just stop here."
but then continues after our "approval".

After the show we had rushed out to bus and gathered with fans.
We met Michael, Mikeala, and Nigel after singing along to various songs played through Mike's fancy .mp3 playing Nintendo DS (songs including Horoscope, Harvey, and UHF)...two younger kids were playing mp3's from their vans.

A lady from the venue came out to tell us that Al would come out for autographs after he finishes his meet-and-greet with the backstage passers. Plenty of us (including Joe) had ran up to hug this messenger and some awkwardly posed for pictures and asked for autographs from her.
We all waited for an hour (which fortunately moved fast due to the company of our new acquaintances) until we were told Al would not do a meet-and-greet with us. We followed the bus leave the venue as we desparately tried to get photos of Al entering the bus.

As I approached the car for our ride home we recognized Bermuda.
I opened the car door slightly so to cry out "Bermuda Schwarts! What a guy" he smiled back with a wacky expression as we drove off.

Edit: Thanks, Oopsidaisy.

Stuff is posted in the Concert Photos thread.

Hey, I was at this show! I'd purposefully avoided WOWAY to stay spoiler-free until now, but I was indeed there and did indeed consider it an INCREDIBLE, world-class concert.

Plus, ya know, I got to see Dave/Elvis and his posse, get a glimpse of Nina, hug Jon, give Al a copy of yesterday's ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY in which he's mentioned (he hadn't seen it yet, so I let him keep it, 'cuz how can you say no to that face?!), and hang out w/ Jim and Ruben.

So all in all a ridiculously kick-ass multimedia entertainment extravaganza. I was particularly delighted that they played CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR, my favorite groove off the latest album, and the CELLPHONE SONG. The concert-only bits, like the Donny Osmond-heavy WHITE & NERDY video and I'M IN LOVE WITH THE SKIPPER were delightful.

Hell, words can't describe it.

I love these guys.

That is just odd that they said Al would sign and then said he wouldn't. It's fine if he doesn't, it's finer when he does... but he keeps his commitments. That must have been some weird venue-or-security-related miscommunication, or maybe the backstage pass folks took way longer than they were expecting.