After a successful year of touring the U.S. with a final
date at Carnegie Hall, Weird Al Yankovic and his long-time backing band took a
break for the holidays and are heading to Europe for a rare batch of dates.
Prior to making that trip, Yankovic had a few make-up shows in the Midwest to
perform after contracting COVID last spring and added a few bonus concerts to his itinerary since
he and the band were already going to be in the area. This was especially good
news for fans in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois who got one last chance to
catch The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour and potentially a last chance
to catch Yankovic live at all.
Despite the recent success of his parody biopic, Weird,
and the continued interest in his years of audio and video material from new generations
of fans, Yankovic has not released an album of new music since 2014 and has
lightly teased he may be working toward retirement sooner than later. The
current tour adds more weight to that speculation as Al and the band showcase
specifically deep cuts, original material, pastiches, and style parodies from
his 14 LPs, rather than running through the standard greatest hits show yet
again, avoiding costume changes, video interludes, and the crowd-pleasing parodies
of popular songs from rock history for which he is most known. Heavily
advertised in advance to avoid confusing fans who might be disappointed to not
get the regular hits show, this tour has been an absolute delight for hardcore
fans and followers of Yankovic and his music, some of whom have been with him
since his early years in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.
Treating audiences to 30 minutes of stand-up comedy from
the great Emo Phillips sets the tone for the evening. A veteran comic of many
years himself, Phillips’ oddball observations are sometimes even funnier and
potentially more offensive in the modern social climate, with occasional boos from
the uninitiated from the crowd. As for the headlining act, the song selection
is one of this show’s greatest strengths. Not only does the set list change
nightly (and shows that are geographically close to each other are changed the
most), but tracks are included from all of Yankovic’s many eras, shining the
spotlight on everything from “Midnight Star” and the Talking Heads pastiche “Dog Eat Dog” one night and
then switching to “One More Minute” and “Dare to Be Stupid” at the next show (even
if one of those tracks is performed in a loungey, bossa nova arrangement, and honestly,
wouldn’t they all sound great that way?). One of Yankovic’s two Christmas songs
is always featured (but they alternate), and equal time is given to tracks from
the ‘80s, ‘90s, '00s and '10s without dwelling too long in any one era. The
shows generally end with one of Al’s notable long songs (“The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota” or “Albuquerque,” for example), followed by an encore that
features a straight cover of one of the band’s favorite songs from the rock and
roll timeline and a well-rehearsed, multi-section medley that sprinkles a few
minutes of some of the big hits in at the end of the night.
The inclusion of Yankovic's pastiche of The Doors, "Craigslist," which included Doors organist Ray Manzarek on the studio recording, provides one of the show's absolute highlight segments. During the song's spoken word bridge, much in the style of Doors vocalist Jim Morrison's poetic interludes during many of their classic songs, the performance deviates from the familiarity of the recorded version and dramatically shifts into a comically-moody and intensely-psychedelic section that draws on several memorable and even infamous moments from popular Doors live recordings. Hilarious to followers and fans of The Doors, unfamiliar audience members may find this section of the show downright frightening if not at least uncomfortably confrontational, somewhat comparable to Willy Wonka's "Wonderous Boat Ride" scene in the classic Gene Wilder film. After all that disorientation, the remainder of the original song comically continues as though the several minutes of major tonal change never occurred.
The precision and execution of each member of the band reaffirms their ridiculous talent as they change styles, adjust on the fly, and go from sounding like one artist to another on every song. Jon Schwartz (drums), Steve Jay (bass), and Jim West (guitar) have been touring and recording with Yankovic for over 40 years, and keyboardist Ruben Valtierra was added in the early ‘90s to allow Al more freedom to move around during concerts. The long-running gag of ultra-short drum and bass solos from Schwartz and Jay is still a delight whether between Yankovic’s biggest hits or his least-known album tracks. Yankovic’s banter between songs was uncharacteristically calm and (comically/sarcastically) serious, a big change from the extreme excitement during those same moments at one of his standard shows. Altogether, the experience is entirely different for both the band and the audience which has made this particular tour so fun and notably successful in spite of the advertised lack of hits.
Whether or not Yankovic will tour the standard show again
remains to be seen, but even if he does, the Ill-Advised Vanity shows will
doubtlessly stand out as some of his very best and probably most enjoyed (especially
by him).
*****
Weird Al Yankovic-Kalamazoo, MI (2/2/23) set list:
Fun Zone
Lame Claim to Fame
My Own Eyes
I’ll Sue Ya
My Baby’s in Love with Eddie Vedder
Frank’s 2000’’ T.V.
Midnight Star
(drum solo) (mini-jam)
Dog Eat Dog
Close but No Cigar
Craigslist
(drum solo reprise) (mini-jam)
When I Was Your Age
I Remember Larry
Nature Trail to Hell
You Don’t Love Me Anymore
Good Old Days
The Night Santa Went Crazy (extra gory version)
Albuquerque
-----------------------------
Radio Radio (Elvis Costello)
Medley: Amish Paradise/Smells Like Nirvana/White &
Nerdy/Word Crimes/Yoda
*************************
Weird Al Yankovic-Saginaw, MI (2/6/23) set list:
(Carl Orff-“O Fortuna” ) (intro tape)
---------------
CNR
Melanie
Bob
Generic Blues
Christmas at Ground Zero
Good Old Days
Close but No Cigar
Dare to Be Stupid (lounge/bossa nova version)
(drum solo) (mini-jam)
Airline Amy
(bass solo) (mini-jam)
First World Problems
Craigslist
One More Minute
(drum solo reprise) (mini-jam)
Why Does This Always Happen to Me?
Don’t Download This Song
U-H-F
Skipper Dan
The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota
------------------------------
Glad All Over (Dave Clark Five)
Medley: Amish Paradise/Smells Like Nirvana/White &
Nerdy/Word Crimes/Yoda
-------------------------------------
(Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast-“Time Warp” (outro tape)
**********************************
*Follow Jamblog by subscribing on the home page, by following our facebook page, or both!
*For even more, don't forget to also like and follow our music video and live performance page for great music from all of rock history in your timeline every day!!* https://www.facebook.com/rocknrollhst/
