Reviewing a “Weird Al” Yankovic concert (and yes, “Weird Al” is stylistically always in quotation marks) presents said reviewer with something of a challenge: Which part of the show do you focus on? The comedy? The music? The staging, effects, and costumes? Even the audience?
And which of his three distinct types of tunes do you hone in on? The song parodies he’s best known for by far? The song pastiches that are done in the “style” of a certain performer or band? Or the wholly original comedy tunes?
The answer is, you take it all in. Or would that be Al in?
I did. And I can say unequivocally that this was the most fun I’ve ever had at a concert. And I’ve been to hundreds over the past 41 years.
Well, since Yankovic is known for his ongoing “Polkamania!” medleys in which he and his squeezebox transform contemporary pop, rock, and R&B tunes into the soundtrack of something you’d hear at the Tomball German Festival, I’ll take a similar approach here.
The Parodies
I was struck by how many of the artists Weird Al has parodied (and, to note, gotten permission to do so. Something he’s not legally bound to do but does anyway) who are no longer with us. Famously, his White Whale was Prince, who never gave him the royal nod.
Emerging in a blond wig and striped shirt, Yankovic channeled ‘90s grunge angst into “Smells Like Nirvana” (spoofing “Smells Like Teen Spirit”). Complete with female backup band throwing pom-poms and a bored janitor sweeping.
He put on a fat suit for “Fat” (Michael Jackson’s “Bad”), garnering one of the best audience responses of the night. How the PC Police haven’t shut this down or shamed it away yet is mindboggling.
“Amish Paradise” (Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”) was the best one by far, with Al in full Amish bearded regalia and with full rap braggadacio. And in a note to detail, even most of his band were in costume, down to the women at the back of the stage in their bonnets and plain clothes.
Admiringly, he managed to dispense with many of his best-known parodies (including “Eat It,” “Like a Surgeon,” “My Bologna,” “Ricky,” “I Love Rocky Road,” “It’s All About the Pentiums,” “Canadian Idiot”) in a medley. But unlike most performer’s medleys intended to shortchange the crowd, this worked surprisingly well. And extra kudos for all the costume changes, even those performed upon Yankovic by others as he was singing.
The show ended with a two-fer for Star Wars nerds: “The Saga Begins” (a send-up of Don McLean’s “American Pie”), which retold the plot of The Phantom Menace. And “Yoda” (the Kinks’ “Lola”). The latter has aged much better.
Who really remembers Naboo and midichlorians? And elicited the biggest audience singalong. That Weird Al was dressed as a Jedi Knight in front of a chorus line of Stormtroopers, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and a freaking robotic R2D2 that moved was sheer genius.
And yes, the Writer Nerd in me loved “Word Crimes” (Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”). Let’s hear it for proper grammar!
The only misfires here were opener “Tacky” (Pharell Williams’ “Happy”). Though kudos for the superlative and inventive camera work that had Yankovic starting the song from his tour bus (beamed on the video screen) and walking through the Pavilion’s backstage before emerging onstage just as the song ended. And “White and Nerdy” (Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’ Dirty”) which had dated references, and we’d already seen “rapping” Al.
The Pastiches
The highlights here were “Mission Statement”—done in the style of Crosby, Stills and Nash and whose lyrics consisted solely of lame, but shockingly familiar business speak (“We must all efficiently operationalize our strategies/Invest in world-class technology/And leverage our core competencies”).
And one of his earliest classics and his own mission statement, “Dare to Be Stupid,” done in the style of Devo with Al and band in yellow jumpsuits. It’s been adopted by Weird Al’s most diehard fans as an “Hey, it’s OK to be different” mantra.
The Originals
Here’s where I had the toughest time. On Yankovic’s original tunes over the decades, he’s written some of his sharpest and funniest lines. And you get them. If you listen to the records. Live, the words tend to get swallowed up by the band and the sound system. Hence, “Everything You Know is Wrong,” “Now You Know” and “eBay” just…got lost.
Thankfully, “Skipper Dan” (about a great thespian reduced to giving tours on amusement park jungle boat cruises) at least had a partial video to help tell the tale. And you could somewhat get the words to one of my absolute Al favorites, the doo-wop epic “One More Minute.” This one had a suave, deep-voiced Yankovic walking through the audience, up the ramp, dispensing mock kisses, Elvis scarves, and at least one pair of boxer briefs festooned with hearts to one swooning woman.
Thankfully, the evening’s most prescient and real-world relatable song, “Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me” had a lyric video behind it to showcase Yankovic’s disdain for receiving emails from friends.
Emails with cat pictures, conspiracy theories, years-old videos, “hackneyed Hallmark poetry,” Chicken Soup for the Soul, Neiman Marcus cookie recipes, and celebrity misattributes. No, those “George Carlin observations” never actually came from the mouth of the late comic. And Mister Rogers never butchered any Viet Cong in pitched battle.
The Video Screen
I’ve never seen an artist make better use of a video screen, as literally scores of clips played (often to bide time for costume changes) of both Weird Al in other media as well as mentions of him in film and TV shows ranging from 30 Rock to The Simpsons to Family Guy stretching over decades
Even a clip from the truly subversive 2022 biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story with Daniel Radcliffe-as-Al playing “Another One Rides the Bus” to an astonished “celebrity” crowd drew more applause and fevered shouts than I’ve seen of actual live songs from other bands.
But the best were snippets of the ongoing “Weird Al TV” segments where he takes real celebrity interviews and intersperses them with him asking inane, rude and offbeat questions to their actual answers.
The entire jaunt is dubbed the “Bigger & Weirder” tour for a reason. Yankovic’s last three major efforts were more for his diehard fans playing smaller venues, featuring a stripped-down band, no costume changes or video interludes, and with a setlist mostly bereft of his famous parodies in favor of his original material. Also, the tour with the full orchestra.
For this one, all the Al-centric bells and whistles were back. And to better play some of the songs that he hasn’t before, he’s added four more great and into-the-humor musicians to augment his core trio band, all of whom who have been with him since 1982 or even earlier (Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz on drums, Steve Jay on bass, and Jim “Kimo” West on guitar).
He’s also playing his largest venues ever, including The Forum in Los Angeles (where, he told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, he saw his first-ever concert in the ‘70s: Elton John). And, amazingly, a completely sold-out Madison Square Garden.
While he hasn’t put out a full-length studio album in over a decade (2014’s Mandatory Fun) “Weird Al” Yankovic has still been around. He’ll drop the occasional single or show up in cameos on TV and film, guest on other’s records.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story was a sharp and funny sendup of music biopics. You know, the real Yankovic never had massive drug or ego problems, was a trained killer, had a torrid affair with Madonna, or was assassinated at the MTV Video Awards.
Most recently he showed up with Lin Manuel-Miranda on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to console the host a few days after it was announced his show is going to be cancelled.
All of this is pretty astonishing to remember that “Weird Al” Yankovic’s career started when he was nerdy, accordion-playing college student with glasses, curly hair, and a questionable mustache. Who would record his parodies at home and send them into the Dr. Demento radio show, hoping for airplay.
He didn’t say much to the crowd tonight (probably out of breath from all those costume changes). But Yankovic comes off as genuinely engaged, engaging, and appreciative of his fans. And his energy was consistently high all evening.
I put it to you, dear readers: Is there any performer whose career is a more unexpected and unpredicted American music success story…than “Weird Al” Yankovic?
How Was the Opener?
I knew nothing about Puddles Pity Party. The sad clown with the operatic voice who sang everything from the standard “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” to mashups of “Stairway to Heaven/Theme from Gilligan’s Island” and a tearjerking cover of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” to a montage of clips from Kevin Costner films.
And indeed, Puddles has a thing for Kevin Costner, who appeared on screen throughout his set. But this clown was thoroughly entertaining, and the perfect opener for Weird Al. Now, I really need to finally see Waterworld
Random Notebook Dump
Though there were Hawaiian shirts by the scores, there were fewer Weird Al cosplayers than I expected. But I did run into Warren Maness as “Amish Paradise” Al!
Ask A 25-Year-Old (with apologies to Pete Vonder Haar).
ME: How did you like the show?
DAUGHTER EMMA: It was great! Very silly and whimsical.
ME: What about the video clips?
DAUGHTER EMMA: I liked the Whiplash one the best. (Note: J.K. Simmons’ harrowingly brutal music teacher’s withering musical commentary from the actual film was interspersed with “Weird Al” unsuccessfully trying to please him with his accordion playing).
ME: What about the songs?
DAUGHTER EMMA: I was obsessed with “Word Crimes” in high school.
Setlist
Tacky
Mission Statement
Polkamania! (polka versions of songs by Billie Eilish, Adele, Lil’ Nas X, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion, Ariana Grande, and more)
Everything You Know Is Wrong
One More Minute
Smells Like Nirvana
Dare to the Stupid
Medley: 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 Crime/Canadian Idiot
Fat
Captain Underpants Theme Song
Now You Know
Happy Together (Turtles cover, with Puddles Pity Party)
It’s My World (We’re All Living In It)
Skipper Dan
eBay
Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me
White & Nerdy
Amish Paradise
Encore
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
We All Have Cell Phones
The Saga Begins
Yoda
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
