In 2014, “Weird Al” Yankovic’s album Mandatory Fun — his 14th — became his first No. 1 record. Despite the fact that he’s been releasing albums since the ’80s, the album’s success is a testament to how popular Al’s become in the past decade, and it shows how his popularity crosses generational lines. In 2022, Daniel Radcliffe played Weird Al in the Emmy-winning Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, adding to Al’s appeal.
On Sept. 16 at MegaCorp Pavilion, Al played to a sold-out outdoor audience, including a lot of kids and people who wore printed shirts and tin foil hats. It was a rather wholesome, family-friendly show (with the exception of a music video clip of “WAP” during “Polkamania!”).
Puddles Pity Party, aka Mike Geier, kicked off the night. Dressed as a kind of demented clown, he performed songs about pumpkin spice (“Let’s Give Them Pumpkin to Talk About”), and an emotional two-song tribute to Kevin Costner with scenes from Costner’s Waterworld playing on the screen. Puddles ended on a rousing cover of “My Heart Will Go On” with more Costner clips. (We should note that Costner is alive and well.) Puddles returned later to duet “Happy Together” with Al.
The song “Fun Zone” from the movie UHF played right before Al appeared on screen; he was backstage at the venue. Performing “Tacky” (a parody of “Happy”) and mimicking the music video, he danced through the corridors. In the background, Cincinnati’s own Eric Nally, lead singer of Foxy Shazam (pre-order their new album Box of Magic!), appeared on-screen holding a pie. Puddles held a pie and Al grabbed it and handed it to Nally. He tried to throw it at Puddles, but instead pied his face. Finally, Al made it to the stage and greeted his band, replete with three female all-stars: Scheila Gonzalez (sax), Payton Velligan (guitar) and Monique Donnelly.
For more than two hours, Al performed ‘80s and ‘90s hits like “Eat It” (based on “Beat It”), “Fat” (he wore a fat suit) and the Nirvana-approved “Smells like Nirvana” in which Al dressed like Kurt Cobain and headbanged while the song’s music video played on the screen. Occasionally, Al broke out his signature accordion for songs like “Everything You Know Is Wrong.” During “One More Minute,” he walked through the audience and sat on a couple of people’s laps.
Al and the band went through several elaborate costume changes, including dressing as Devo for “Dare to Be Stupid” and wearing pocket protectors and glasses for “White & Nerdy.” Each time the group left the stage, clips of Al from The Weird Al Show, his animated appearances, a long scene from his film and scenes in which he inserted himself interviewing celebrities played on the screen to entertain the audience.
He performed a medley featuring an array of his hits: “Party in the CIA,” “My Bologna,” “Ricky,” “I Love Rocky Road,” “Eat It” and the educational “Word Crimes.” The frenetic pace caused Al to change clothing in real time, going from wearing a Men in Black suit to wearing a maple leaf jacket for “Canadian Idiot.” The amount of time, detail and energy Al and his band put into each show was incredible.
However, about an hour in, the shtick started to get old and the visual stimulation felt like too much. We were only halfway through the set and hit a lull with kid-friendly songs “Captain Underpants Theme Song,” the “38-sec” song “It’s My World (and We’re All Living in It)” and “Skipper Dan.”
But the momentum picked up after Al performed “eBay” (Backstreet Boys parody), “White & Nerdy” (Al on a Segway!) and a Whiplash interlude. For the final song, Al and the band came out dressed as Amish people for “Amish Paradise,” which got the audience waving their hands in the air. Al asked the audience: “Do you want some more?” He pretended he was done, but a few minutes later, he came back for a three-song encore. Everyone on stage was now dressed as Star Wars characters. But first, he performed “We All Have Cell Phones” and encouraged the audience to light up their phones and wave them. Then came the two-song Star Wars finale: “The Saga Begins” (parody of “American Pie”) and “Yoda” (based on “Lola”). Once again, Al broke out his accordion, and he and the band choreographed some moves. He offered a call-and-response from the audience, who gleefully sang along. “I love you! Goodnight,” Al said while confetti sprayed everywhere.
Al has been releasing albums and performing for more than 40 years, and somehow his music isn’t trite and still feels fresh (well, maybe not the fat suit). Through his parodies, a new generation has discovered the originals. Weird Al’s music isn’t political. It’s just fun and silly, and maybe that escapism is something people need right now.