2012 Tour

[TMBJon]

I think if more dates are announced, there's a better chance they will be later in the summer around July/August.

Well that's just inconsiderate of what's convenient for Jeremy, now isn't it??

[Kevbo1987]

So what do you guys think the deal is with last year's tour and this year's tour? It seems that Al is doing drastically fewer tour dates than he used to, and some of the locations he has played have been just plain strange (West Wendover, Nevada, for example). There also seems to be a large concentration of dates on both the far west and east coasts. I have noticed that his frequency of midwest dates is way, way down from previous tours. For example, he used to play several Ohio dates on each tour (Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Cincinnati, etc.), but last summer he played only one Ohio date, and so far, that is again the trend on this tour. There are also no Pennsylvania dates so far on this tour. I know there are huge gaps in the touring schedule, but it seems too late for any June dates to be scheduled, and it's getting pretty late for more July dates to be scheduled. My gut tells me the new booking agency has a lot to do with this, but I also wonder if Al might want to scale his touring back, especially in the summer, in order to spend more time with his family. I missed out on the Akron date on this tour because I had a final, and it's looking pretty likely I might just plain miss out on the Alpocalypse Tour all-together.

[OneWAY]

I don't know. I understood what happened last year, but I was kind of expecting Al to go out with a bang this year before taking 2013 off.

In a recent interview Al also said this tour would progress intermittently (as in, starting and stopping frequently) instead of plowing through. I mean, Al already kinda does that with the bigger tours, but he made it sound like he was going on and off every month or so. Maybe the timing is just not lined up very well this year? It could be that with Al touring (with breaks) since 2010 it's all a bit much, but honestly, this tour was supposed to be a bigger deal than 2010/2011. I'm happy either way, but the tours are getting very bare nowadays...

My guess for this year is that Al will be done touring until the one-off date in July and then back again in August to finish the year. The only reason I'm thinking this is because August is the absolute earliest month that has been added in a while, and it'd be a little weird for the tour to suddenly announce earlier dates after everything two months later has already been confirmed.

[TMBJon]

Kevbo, I think you raise a lot of interesting questions that I, too, would like to know the answers to. I do think that whoever booked Al at the two Nevada locations needs to go. Even if the shows are great and/or well attended, it's extremely embarrassing to be playing in such small venues. Honestly, they remind me of the fake tour dates that he used to print on the back of tour t-shirts.

[minnick27]

I thought this year was going to be a spring/early summer, late summer/early fall tour. Meaning May-June and August September. Sure Al wants to spend time with his family, his daughter is 9, she has to go to school, so summer is when he can take long vacations. And when you consider he has been touring for two years, you cant blame the guy for taking the time off. Yes, this tour is more sporadic than last year, and yes he is playing odd venues, but its also getting him to newer areas. Remember, there was a first time he played the Keswick. And the tour kicked off in a damn gymnasium!

[TMBJon]

I don't mind at all that he is playing fewer dates. It just seems to make sense that, in exchange, the venues would be bigger since fewer shows creates more of a demand to see him. I just somehow doubt that new demand is located in West Wendover, Nevada.

Hey maybe if this trend keeps up, Al would be willing to play a show in my apartment. I'd pay him at least $25.

[Orthography Enthusiast]

If the Wendover venue wants to pay Al enough to make it worth Al's while to show up, I think that's great. Touring is a business, and there's nothing at all wrong with a new customer! I wonder if Wendover will draw any business from Salt Lake City... it seems to be about a 2-hr. drive.

[spmahn]

I think it's just that we've been spoiled in the past. Al and the Band are obviously getting older, and have other commitments, so I think the days of them touring 11 months straight non-stop are probably over. I'm sure the economy has a lot to do with it, maybe he's not getting the support he needs from his label to finance a full tour, who knows? Honestly, what I would like to see is Al to embrace the retro act boom that's been taking place over the last decade. Some of the biggest tours every year are band whose heyday was 30 years ago, and they still sell out playing all their hits.

Nothing against Al's current stuff, but I would love a retro tour where the entire setlist was Pre-Poodlehat, and 80% of it was even Pre-Off the Deep End. I know Al has expressed in the past that he has a lot of disdain for his earlier material, but that doesn't mean he should ignore its existence. Lets bring back the Food Medley, swap out some old Polkas every night, bring some old concert only material out of the mothballs, give us some old gems like Midnight Star, I Lost on Jeopardy, Another One Rides the Bus, even horribly dated stuff like Here's Johnny would be fun. I really wish Al would do a tour with more old material, because as great as his show is, it always feels to me like he's been doing more or less the same show for the last decade, and hasn't really changed a whole lot up. I'm not saying Al's concerts are getting stale, but.....

[Orthography Enthusiast]

What is the current medley if not Food Medley Redux?

[Yankomaniac]

The current medley is fine, I don't think he meant the medley, he mean's the show as a whole. There should be more original material from before Poodle Hat like he said, that would be cool. It would be perfect having Frank's 2000" TV, You Don't Love Me Anymore, You Make Me, Dare To Be Stupid and Let Me Be Your Hog in the set for the whole Alpocalypse Tour. That would have been plenty of older classic originals along with all the awesome new stuff and parodies. Even without Dare To Be Stupid all those would be enough I guess. Im glad I went to the DVD shoot back in July 'cause that set was prime...ONE classic original each night isn't quite as appealing. Don't get me wrong though, ANY Weird Al show is amazing when you have all those awesome legends up there and your into it, Al is Al, it rocks. But he should include more classic original material in the set all the time.