"Weird Al" Yankovic recap

"Weird Al" Yankovic
Ram's Head Live!, Baltimore, MD
5/8/07

(I wrote this for other friends, and figured I'd just post the whole thing here for any curious minds. That's, uh, why it's so long.)

It was indeed this last Tuesday, and I've taken the time since then to reflect and figure out exactly what to write. You see, I now know that "Weird Al" concerts are so rediculously packed tight with entertainment of all sorts that it's nigh impossible to capture it all, let alone chronicle it. And for that matter I wouldn't want to be responsible for taking all the magic and surprise out of any of his shows that you may one day attend... which I will forever encourage you to do.
The venue was a smallish, stanging-room-only club. I was surprised Al's not playing bigger venues, but then again he's not famous for his tours anyway. The show was to begin at 8, and just before 8:30 the sound system began blaring the tune Fun Zone from the UHF soundtrack album; I understand he begins every concert on every tour with that recording. Then Al's trusty backing band took the stage, and finally Al himself.
What followed was a show filled with costume changes, props, choreography, rehearsed routines, confetti, a video screen and other treats. This made for quite a spectacular event, but even more impressive is considering all that went into the concert (in addition to the actual music), you wouldn't expect the show to be very long; 90 minutes, tops. But Al had a show planned that was just shy of two and a half hours.
Granted, that's factoring in the costume changes. There were nine total, with each lasting an average of five minutes. This sounds like an annoying impediment, but remember that during these breaks there are videos playing on the screen. They almost entirely consisted of classic Al TV fake celebrity interviews, clips from films and TV shows featuring or referencing Al, or clips from UHF. They were a satisfying diversion, especially since watching these videos with 2,000 other hardcore "Weird Al" fans is itself an exciting experience.
So now I'll go through the setlist, and mention some of the para-musical antics involved:

Polkarama!
Al played the accordion-- pretty much the only song in which he played an instrument. Accompanied by sped-up clips from the music videos of the original songs.
Canadian Idiot
Al, originally wearing a black collar shirt and slacks, added a thin red tie to it, a la Billy Armstrong. White and red confetti fell towards the end.
Close But No Cigar
Al removed the tie and added a trucker cap and sunglasses, a la John McCrea of Cake. He also played the vibraslap. He messed up the lyrics, singing the ending of the third verse during the second.
Why Does This Always Happen to Me?
Wanna B Ur Lovr
Costume change: a flashy, red silk suit. Al got sleazy and gyrated around, causing the women in the club to cheer him on. He came down from the stage and sung directly to women in the crowd.
It's All About the Pentiums
Costume change: the silver suit and sunglasses from the video.
You're Pitiful
Costume change: Al came on wearing a hooded raincoat and trackpants. For the deliberate false start, he took “lyrics” out of his pocket and checked them, then began again. During this song Al occasionally took his top off, subsequently revealing a zany Hawaiian shirt, a “Tom is my only friend” myspace T-shirt, a “Don’t Hassel the Hoff” T-shirt, and a SpongeBob SquarePants T-shirt. Finally he pulled his pants off, revealing a pink tutu, heart boxers and fishnet stockings. People cheered.
Medley
This was a terribly impressive string of over a dozen of his most popular parodies. Beforehand there was a costume change, then the band began with Couch Potato and Al was wearing a hooded sweatshirt (hood up) like Eminem in “8 Mile”. This went into Do I Creep You Out?, where Al pulled down the hood to reveal a Taylor Hicks wig. Al replaced this with a Gilligan outfit (white fisherman’s cap and red shirt) for a new parody, I'm N Luv (Wit Da Skipper), which was accompanied by homoerotic clips from the TV show. This was followed by Confessions Part III, Headline News, A Complicated Song, eBay, Bedrock Anthem, Ode to a Superhero (a stage hand stood next to Al and held up various harmonicas for him to play), and Pretty Fly (for a Rabbi). Trapped in the Drive-Thru came as a total surpise, and included the whole middle section of the song (including the bit from Led Zeppelin’s Black Dog) as well as a cartoon acting out the song. Gump followed, and it finally concluded with Eat It complete with Al wearing the red leather jacket from the video.
I'll Sue Ya
Costume change: Zack de la Rocha, including an army coat with fake patches and arm bands, plus a dredlock wig (kinda strange since Zack recently shaved his head). Towards the end, fake $100 bills with Al's picture fell from the ceiling.
The Saga Begins
Costume change: the Jedi costume from the video.
Yoda
Before the final verse of this song, Al and the band launched into a strange, a cappella gibberish chant apparently common in their live shows and dubbed by fans as the Alien Chant. It was fascinating.
Smells Like Nirvana
Costume change: the Kurt Cobain costume from the video, with the same left-handed, mint-green Strat. Two cheerleaders (like in the video) stood in the back of the stage and did a choreographed dance. During the gargling solo Al took a gulp from a cup of water and did it himself, punctuating it by throwing the rest of the water onto those of us up front.
Amish Paradise
Costume change: the Amish get-up from the video. Accompanied by footage from the video.
White & Nerdy
Costume change: this time, not the video costume, but rather the leather "letterman" jacket from the album cover. Al rapped the first verse while riding around the stage on a Segway.
Fat
Costume change: yes, the fatsuit!!
encore:
We All Have Cell Phones (So Come On, Let's Get Real)
When Al and the band returned to the stage, Al said, "I think I know what you all want to hear...", then began playing an extended, full-band version of the song he made up during his Al TV fake interview with Michael Stipe. I'm proud to say I led the crowd in taking out our phones and waving them in the air like lighters.
Albuquerque
I dreamed that they would play this, but never expected it... no, not all 12 minutes. Well, they did, and it really rocked. It hadn't occurred to me before how good a song this is for audience participation, too. The band really owned it, and it was a perfect way to end the concert... although the white confetti that fell at the end helped.

So that's it, almost every detail. Go see him if he comes to your town. If not on this tour, then the next. You owe it to yourself.