World of Weird Al Yankovic

Figured there should be a centralized topic for all local reviews we come across.


Here's one from last night:
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=228589

Here is a very fun and upbeat review (with pics) from the Washington DC show
http://melodicrockconcerts.com/2010/06/ ... ge-for-dc/

From 411mania.

Dave

Has anyone come across any negative reviews yet?

I just finished reading the first 14 pages of customer reviews on the ticketmaster website. Al was scoring 4.8 out of 5 stars. And it wasn't just folks like us stuffing the ballot box either. Lot of newbies and sudden fervent converts to Weird Al fandom. Some of the negative ratings were for things entirely out of Al's control (theater restroom smelled bad, huge drunk guy sat down in front of me, promoters didn't make it clear what actual start time of show was as opposed to door opening time, so we had to sit around for an hour and a half, some of those Storm Troopers were a little short and/or chubby) and some of them were only partly in his control (couldn't see the video screen too well, had bright lights shining right in our eyes for most of the show). About the only thing that was completely in Al's control and got mentioned negatively several times was the lack of freshness of the video clips. There really wasn't anything but praise for Al's energy, singing ability, showmanship and desire to please his audience, or for the band's musicianship, versatility and generally being good sports about it all. I mean, 4.8 out of 5! Those are some nice numbers.

Those spotlights are terrible!! He had them last tour too, this tours are worse though

Just for yuks I decided to browse the Ticketmaster reviews from the bottom up... the lowest-rated artists. Hi there Coolio, with one review and one star!

About the only thing that was completely in Al's control and got mentioned negatively several times was the lack of freshness of the video clips.

Yeah, I gotta confess I'm a little underwhelmed by the video clips this time around. The "Channel Hopping" segment is awesome as always, and I love the little unexpected creative flourishes

Spoiler:

(setting his Grammy spin to "Bite Me" and his dancing on Yo Gabba Gabba to NIN's "Head Like A Hole" for example)

and of course there's obvious clips he couldn't get away with NOT playing ("Brain Freeze," "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story") but beyond that, it felt like he went a bit too far out of his way to include literally EVERY televised mention of his own name, not just the funny ones. Also, the selections of AL-TV interviews felt kinda random, and not reflective of his best interview work (perhaps out of desperation to not include the EXACT SAME clips this time) but I'm sure next year, when he's got NEW interviews to work with, he'll weed out the weaker clips.

I dunno, just my opinion. Maybe I've been working on the AL-Tube Playlists so long that I've grown jaded...

Most of the name mentions were new to me, and I mentioned that to Al when he asked me what I thought of the video clips, so maybe I'm slightly partly remotely responsible in a tiniest way for them staying in. They're kind of fun to watch if you haven't seen them before, but they lose a lot on repeated viewings. And like you said, some just aren't funny the first time, like the Uncle Muscles thing, and the one where the guy says he wants as many Twitter followers as Al, for example. The interviews are well tested, so yeah, most of them are repeats, but he edits them down to the parts that get strong audience reaction, and ultimately that's what Al is after.

Dave

http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dailyl ... with-pics/
St. Petersburg review with pics
And another one from the Denver Post

http://blogs.denverpost.com/reverb/2010 ... t-theatre/