World of Weird Al Yankovic

New topic for discussion/debate: what is the best venue to see Al? Especially interested in people who have seen Al in many different venues across the USA.

When I saw Al in 2004 & 2008, it was in a theater, and the setup was really nice. The state fair show I went to was kind of unorganized. There were bleachers, but the management or whomever let the people form a "pit" in front of the stage.

I've been to multiple fair venues and one indoor theatre. I like the fair setting- more people, more fun! If I had to pick the best fair.... hmm, well definitely not San Diego since the stage was so high compared to the front rows of seats. Lancaster was pretty nice, and they had side screens with live close-up video. Sacramento and San Mateo were fairly small seating wise. I guess I'd have to say Orange County!!

I think the most fun I had was at the Keswick. I was in the pit for that, third row just 10 feet or so from Al on the stage during the RWS tour. But that was only personally fun for me because I was so close in an already tiny venue just a few miles from home. I think he considers the OC Fair his home venue, so the energy is more fun there. I may have fun at the Keswick, but Al has more fun at the OC.

I'm going to go with my hometown choice: the Greek Theater. Bonus: celeb-spotting in the audience. Only drawback: not a very likely venue for a passless meet & greet afterward. But Al can sleep at home, in his own bed. Plus it has the Best Address Ever: 2700 N Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Keswick, hands down.

The State Theatre in Minneapolis and the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee have been my favorites (for venue). For audiences, it's the Orange County Fair.

On the other side I'd have to say the venue I liked the least was the place in Poughkeepsie -- it's a dive. It was the site of my best post-show meet n greet though. Al, everyone in the band and Jimmy Fallon were all there.

The best Al show I've been to was at the Atlantic City House of Blues. He needs to play more g/a venues.

trippingdaisy wrote:The best Al show I've been to was at the Atlantic City House of Blues. He needs to play more g/a venues.

I saw Al there. Sort of. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you're 1) younger than I am 2) taller than I am. General-admission no-seats shows are no picnic for the height-challenged.

I've seen Al shows in pretty much every type of venue there is: Theatre to Theme Park to Arena to Casino Ballroom to House of Blues to Outdoor Music Showplaces to GA Standing Theaters to Outdoor Beach Amphitheatres to Canada to Fairs to JailCells(a.k.a. Red River Valley Fair in Fargo) to Casino Pavilions in the middle of Nowhere to Music Festivals to Beach Convention Centers to Amphitheatres in the Woods to Zoo to Turning Stone Tables to Concerts on a Boat to The Cotillion at Wichita.

So, if you just look at that...it's amazing how many different places, venues, and people that Al gets to play to.

My favorite type of venue to see Al at overall is still the Theatre. All of these are just such beautiful places, and it's nice to go around the country, and see all the different designs of the theater's, inside and out.

Fairs, personally...and I haven't been to OC yet, so can't comment on it, til the end of this tour, but...I just dislike the whole aspect of the fairs. From crappy parking to walking through the whole fair to get to the venue to the unfair advantage of getting a spot either in the Grandstands or the GA up near the stage, getting to that, etc...is just a lot of work. Especially, whenever you are traveling hours from the town the night before. The one aspect that I do like about the fairs, is the large amount of people that see Al.

All of those other variety of venues just add a certain characteristic to the shows. As in the people, that attend the respective shows. It's just real interesting when you can go from a zoo to the woods to a theatre, all in three days.

I think Al definitely has his own favorite places he likes to play. It has always seemed like he enjoys the theme parks best, to me. There just always seems like there is much more energy from Al. I've also seen that from fairs, so I'm sure that adds on to the fact of OC. Not only is he home, but he has that type of venue, that he enjoys.

Through all of these different types of varieties of venues, though, my favorite place I've ever seen Al was at Ft. Yates, ND in the Casino Pavilion in the middle of nowhere. This was such a beautiful town, and if you read my reports from that show, since it was so deserted, I pretty much spent the whole day with the guys from the band. It was awesome to have that personal touch from this show. Running a close 2nd, would be in the Theatre in the Woods of Louisville, KY. Another venue, with very beautiful surroundings. It was on July 4, and from my seat, I could see continuous fireworks throughout the show. This also had to do with the very nice promoters of that show. They got my mom a free ticket, as well as, giving me other benefits, backstage passes, etc. Those guys were the friendliest promoters of an Al show that I've attended.



--Ft. Yates, ND....if you don't want to read through all that...