Okee dokee folks… When you mention that you are going to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert, some folks will give you an odd look and ask, “Why?” These people obviously don’t get it. Weird Al’s concerts are maybe the most enjoyable live shows you could ever witness. I just saw him again, for the third time, tonight, and I was grinning from ear to ear all evening.
Weird Al Yankovic’s Bigger and Weirder show rolled into the Providence Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, July 14, and it was definitely Bigger and Weirder! Yankovic started the show with “Tacky” – singing backstage and having a camera follow his roving performance to the stage, though he detoured and went up and down the main aisle before actually taking the stage. The live video was projected onto a large screen behind the band. The video screen provided visual transitions as he went from song to song, adding MTV-like video augmentation to the music, Video shorts took over when the band left the stage for their many costume changes.
This time around, Al’s show included a mix of his original songs and his famous parodies. Many of those parodies were included in one LONG MEDLEY of hits: “Party in the CIA,” “It’s All About the Pentiums,” “Bedrock Anthem,” “My Bologna,” “Ricky,” “Ode to a Superhero,” “I Love Rocky Road,” “Eat It,” “Like a Surgeon,” “Word Crimes,” and “Canadian Idiot.” To pump up the show even more, Al’s band was supersized with five more members adding guitar, keys, backing vocals, and horns. Other hits performed throughout the evening were: “eBay,” “Fat,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Dare to Be Stupid,” “Captain Underpants Theme,” and many others. The homestretch brought Yankovic dressed as a rapper and riding a Segway scooter while singing “White and Nerdy,” and “Amish Paradise” with a costume change to long beards, hats and plain black and white clothing. Band intros were done to the James Brown tune, “Get On Up” complete with the “cape routine” that Brown was famous for. The show wrapped with “We All Have Cell Phones,” the EPIC “The Saga Begins,” and “Yoda.” It ended with a blast of confetti and streamers!
One of my favorite numbers of the night was “Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me.” If you were to pay attention to the lyrics of ANY “Weird Al” song such as the aforementioned you would realize just how profound, complex, well written, and funny they are. And the world-class musicianship of Yankovic, as well as his band, is truly amazing. To be able to jump genres like they do and emulate so many different artists takes a massive amount of talent. When I am asked “What is the best show you have seen?” Weird Al is always in my top three. His shows are truly impressive, fun, and funny! Tuesday’s concert was just that!
Warming up the crowd for “Weird Al” was Puddles Pity Party — a very bizarre, but highly entertaining act. Puddles is a sad clown, dressed in white from head to toe. He sings, with a great voice, to prerecorded tracks, some straightforward cover songs and some that were a bit altered. One such song was the Gilligan’s Island theme sung to “Stairway to Heaven” with lots of video of Kevin Costner. A few times throughout his set he brought up “volunteers” to help him out on stage by dressing them up, playing along, or eating several Ring Dings on camera. Puddles Pity Party was an enjoyable experience and the perfect opener for “Weird Al.”
That’s it for now. You can listen to my podcasts at motifri.com/rootsreportpodcast and find my photographs (“Weird Al & Puddles) at motifri.com/fuzeksfotos. Thanks for reading and listening. johnfuzek.com