GregsOpinion.com

Some days should just be declared a national holiday ... like any day Weird Al comes to town. Close the schools, close the banks, close the libraries, close the 24 Hour News Stands ... it's a day of celebration. Still, there I was stuck at work all day in eager anticipation of seeing the Weird One that evening.

Credit Uber with the bad-ass 11th row seats ... the view was almost center stage. You can't beat that ... at least not by much. Going into the theater, we exited Hard Rock to a line of Weird Aliens and I still have no clue how best to describe the target market for this genre of music. There was not a cool person to be seen by human eye ... and Lord knows I sure as hell wasn't holding that standard up any! Still, upon glancing at the sampling of tshirts on display, I realized another sign of aging when I realized that I could not take seriously anyone who opted for a concert t-shirt from the Running with Scissors tour several years back. Show me the person with the Bad! tour shirt, or the Food Album tour shirt ... then I'll be impressed.

Now on to the show ... well, first things first ... there was an opening act. I'll be damned if I can remember the guy's name. Stand up comic, they mentioned some credit from Comedy Central ... and then he proceeded to suck for about 30 minutes. At about the point he ranted on air travel, I was tempted to pull out a little Simpsons humor and do a Homer, yelling "Don't you hate pants?" to the stage. He spared himself only marginally by not going on about airline food. I'd have been in all-out heckle mode by then had he done so. Probably a good thing I can't remember the guy's name, but now I feel like I need to go see a REAL standup comic. I'll give this guy one thing, though ... not a bad impersonator ... he just had CRAP for material. I think his Ozzy impersonation saved him with the younger crowd. Fools.

Now, you'd think that after an opener like that, then you'd just get to the Weird Al show, right? How much freakin equipment does a standup comic have? A microphone ... and a mic stand ... and maybe a cup of water. Pretty sure he left with the mic and stand. Yet there we sat for another 20 minutes of eager anticipation as the stage crew ... well ... they brought out Weird Al's mic and mic stand. Everything else was already set up. So what the hell took 20 minutes? It boggles the mind.

Alas, it was time for His Weirdness to take the stage. I thought the opening segment of the show was a bit novel ... all new material, getting most of it done right up front. I recall going to see Boston in a reunion tour back in 1986 I believe ... they opened the show doing their new album start to finish in the same track order as the record (yes, I said record!). After that, much like in Weird Al's set ... they then proceeded to do the old standbys. I'm curious who popularized that routine. I can't say I'm overly fond of it, but I think it works in some cases, this one included.

I'll admit to not having managed to go out and get a copy of Poodle Hat, the new release. But given the strength of the tunage this night, I'm on my way to rectify that situation this weekend. Even though I'm a tad older now and I couldn't identify any of the new tunes or bands that Al was parodying, it still came across as solid. Shoulda learned my lesson from "Amish Paradise" ... even though I'm not a fan of the song he's mocking, the way it comes across is, in the end, uniquely Weird Al.

And therein lies the genius of Al Yankovic. The ability to tie an old element to a new one that allows for everyone to be made happy. Check the audience ... parents with kids were in abundance (well, in addition to the chess club members, also). Parents might not get all of the references in a certain Weird Al tune, but they get the fact that it's done to Billy Joel's "Piano Man." They may not get Coolio, Nirvana, or Eminem, but they get the jokes about the Amish, incoherent rock stars and the plethora of cable channels now available. It doesn't seem like it matters much that they parody a band or song that the kids love ... the parents can laugh with their kids for once, as opposed to at them. That's the beauty behind what Weird Al does, and that's what has to make one fully appreciate the gift of comedy. It might seem like just childish antics, but there's a talent that goes into making it good and effective to a wider audience. Weird Al is going on 25 years of recorded music, yet he's nowhere near the nostalgia act that many of his day have become.

A lot of the classics were on display ... not sure I remember the Flintstones song getting played, though. I know "Like a Surgeon" and "Another One Rides the Bus" were not because Uber and myself had tried to guess at the encore material and those songs had not been played in the primary set.

The show is mixed up a great deal with video clips here and there ... all damn funny, too. The Al TV segments perhaps being the best ... snippets of celebrity interviews cut in with Al as the "interviewer" making for hilarity done well. Worth noting that they showed the Simpsons episode with Weird Al ... it's been nominated for an Emmy. The final video segment, naturally, was the strongest ... with Al "interviewing" Eminem. Upon asking Mr. Mathers his views on the first amendment, Al then launched into a comedic diatribe about how that freedom should then be granted to him to do a parody of the 8 Mile tune that Al covered. Seems Mr. Mathers would not grant permission to allow Al to do a parody of the video. I just about died laughing. As Al enters the stage to do a parody routine of the song, I have to admit it was a great performance, capturing the intensity of the original tune while working in Al's own material in deadpan serious tone. Never let it be said that Al is an overgrown child allowed to make money goofing off ... this was great parody theater done masterfully.

Back to the guessing game for the encore. I had suspected the show would end with "Yoda", "Like a Surgeon", and "Another One Rides the Bus." Shows how freakin old I am and how better in tune Al is with his overall market. The closing was classic Al ... yet simple also. He opted for "The Saga Begins" and "Yoda." Might come across as odd at first glance. But it's the perfect tie in with old and new that makes Al the success he is. "The Saga Begins", of course, is done to the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie" ... thereby connecting dots between the older generation's music and the younger generation's movie. "Yoda" is a similar connection of course, albeit more timely in its day, it's proof that if you latch your comedic material to the right horse, you can get a lot of mileage out of it. There are a lot of genres that Al never fully parodied ... to the extent that he has picked his targets, he's picked them wisely and that's allowed him to have the great career he's had. I can't claim to have fully appreciated that till seeing the live show ... so now I'm richer for having seen it.

ADD-ON: Well sonofabitch. Had I known Kuff was gonna be there, too ....

PILE-ON: Uber's review is also up finally.