Very Norm-Al; Weird Al Yankovic @ St. Louis Music Park 9/9 Concert Review

Weird Al Yankovic for people of a certain age was always at the zeitgest of popular culture and popular music. But without a record deal and the rise of YouTube with the millisecond attention span of society, he's not quite had the same impact the last decade. In fact before the show we weretalking with a cashier at a Goodwill store who was only 18 or 19, hadn't heard of him or his work at all. Then again as laughable as the pop culture scene is, it's also hard to out zany the artists in what they already do.

But my Weird Al golden period was 1996, at age 12 with Bad Hair Day. My wife was more of the time during 2006 and White and Nerdy. I had never seen Yankovic and when the tour was announced last Fall? I got my tickets to see legend.

And the venue was a first for me, the St. Louis Music Park, adjacent to Riverport to the south. An "outdoor" arena that was mostly covered. I wound up with seats on the left side near the center aisle 8 rows back. Overall a good view. And I'd say a pretty solid venue, which doubles as a hockey arena too.

The show started at 7:30 with Puddles Pity Party. The opening act a morose clown who crooned mauldin ballads. He preformed for around 40 minutes. Complete with video screens and using guests to help, his part was enjoyable and didn't overstay. The highlight for me was a mash up of Stairway to Heaven, with the Gilligan's Island Theme. He also appeared to have a Kevin Costner fetish, as almost every song used clips of Costner movie scenes. Assuming some kind of inside joke.

After a 15 minute break, barley enough time to make the restrooms and back, Al's band took the stage @8:20 to beging their two plus hour show. Al started to show singing Tacky backstage and working his way to the stage by the time the song ended.

He played several more songs, including Everything You Know is Wrong was an early highlight for me, bringing back the aforementioned memories of 199, before the first of several costume changes. These were complete with video interludes to keep the audience engaged as well as laughing.

Weird Al, like the pop stars he spoofs, has always been visual with his act. So, there's no surprise, like the mega pop acts, there's a bunch of choerography and costume changes. Unlike most acts it doesn't distract from the music. If pop stars do it, it's a gimmick. With Al, it always has been part of the complete package.

He worked through most of his well-known parodies(many in medley to hit the highlights), some originals and lesser known material. It was a fun entertaining show. Complete with two drum "solos" that were single beats. A performance of a song that played during the credits of his bio-pic and doesn't make sense outside of it (But we're going to play it anyway!"). An ask anyone in the audience for a request, and of course he asks the guitarist, and a cover of What is Life? is played.

The encore was Star Wars themed with The Saga Begins and Yoda complete with Star Wars characters brought on stage. All in all a fun time and I got to see another of artists I've always to see. That list has slowly dwindled into being very, very few that I'm interested in...

Weird Al Set List

Tacky
Mission Statement
Polkamania!
Everything You Know is Wrong
One More Minute
Smells Like Nirvana
Dare to Be Stupid
Party in The CIA/It's All About the Pentinums/Bedrock Anthem/My Bologna/Ricky/Ode to Superhero/I Love Rocky Road/Eat It/Like A Surgeon/Word Crimes/Canadian Idiot
Fat
Captain Underpants Theme Song
Now You Know
What is Life?
It's My World (and We're All Living in It)
Skipper Dan
eBay
Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me
White & Nerdy
Amish Paradise

------------------
We All Have Cell Phones
The Saga Begins
Yoda

Puddles Pity Party Set List

I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
Come Cry With Me
Crazy Train/Message in a Bottle
Americana Day
Estoy Sentado Aqui
Stairway to Gilligan's Island
Let's Give Them Pumpkin To Talk About
My Heart Will Go On/Enter Sandman/One