Posted on 04/13/2020 11:24:24 AM PDT by billorites
Last summer, in the middle of what struck me as an otherwise very full life, I went to my first Weird Al Yankovic concert. Weird Al, for anyone reading this through a golden monocle, is the most renowned comedy musician in the history of the multiverse — a force of irrepressible wackiness who, back in the 1980s, built a preposterous career out of song parodies and then, somehow, never went away. After 40 years, Yankovic is now no longer a novelty, but an institution — a garish bright patch in the middle of America’s pop-cultural wallpaper, a completely ridiculous national treasure, an absurd living legend.
I have spent much of my life chortling, alone in tiny rooms, to Weird Al’s music. (“I churned butter once or twice living in an Amish paradise” — LOL.) And yet somehow it had never occurred to me to go out and see him live. I think this is for roughly the same reason that it has never occurred to me to make my morning commute in a hot-air balloon or to brush my teeth in Niagara Falls. Parody is not the kind of music you go out to see in person — it’s the joke version of that music. A parody concert felt like a category error, like confusing a mirror for a window. To me, Weird Al had always been a fundamentally private pleasure; I was perfectly content to have him living in my headphones and on YouTube and — very occasionally, when I wanted to aggravate my family — out loud on my home speakers.
< SNIP >
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
nothing weird about it...
I saw Weird Al and Monkees concert in 87 jones beach ny
awesome
Canadian Idiot - also awesome
As a writer, I love this one! And I have always heard he is a loving family man.
met him a couple of times warm humble and pretty dang funny
I always visualized him making breakfast or lunch for his kids, and him making up these food songs so they’ll eat it and quit bitching.
Yes to all of the above, particularly the part about him being an excellent musician .
We saw him on his Mandatory Fun tour. The t shirt I picked up, with Al halfway morphed to Che, is my go to shooting shirt. I’ve got to be careful though, it has on occasion gotten me some sour looks from older guys who don’t know who Al is.
That’s hilarious!
He really is a genius.
I was at the Flint, Michigan premiere of UHF.
The audience consisted of myself, my future wife, and some kid down in the front row who kept opening and closing his umbrella throughout the entire film.
By Weird Al’s own admission it got blown away by other blockbusters which premiered at the same time.
When people visit Tulsa they still drive around looking for Spatula City.
Last saw him in concert a few years back at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY and it was awesome as always. In recent years, Weird Al has opened up his shows outside the theater, usually in the middle of the street, stopping traffic and whatnot as he waves to the motorists, who are quite amazed to see him (and know who he is too). All of this is shown live on big screens inside the theater. Then the cameras follow him as he comes into the theater by a side entrance and makes his way through the backstage area and finally through the audience and up to the stage. A pretty amazing way to open a show and here is an example of that..
As another poster pointed out, the fact that he never brings partisan politics into his music or his act is so refreshing. Also, his parodies have caused me to appreciate some modern pop songs that I otherwise never would have listened to. His polka medleys are great as well.
Anyway, it's been a while now since the last Weird Al album (which went straight to number one back in 2015). Time for some new music Al!
Just too soon
James Brown
Living in America
Living With a Hernia
So random.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X8Ow1nlafOg
[[Dr. Demento would play his songs.]]
There’s a name i haven’t heard i n a long long time- used to listen to his show
Now that was just corrupt (chortle)
My kids love “Christmas at Ground Zero”.
I told them that the sirens going off at the end of the song brought up scary memories of duck and cover drills.
I first heard Weird Al on Dr. Demento’s show.
A lot of good talent on that show.
Do you remember “Poisoning pigeons in the park”?
One of my faves from his more recent work - no, it isn't a parody, but it does sound quite a bit like Weezer...
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