How can this not be a good one? It’s Weird Al. The 8 year old in me was a happy guy!
His first album came out in 1983 and he’s still out there being “Bigger & Weirder” as the tour name suggests. It’s a fun production and family friendly, goofy, concert event.
I have actually seen him once before in March of 2018, and that was a sweet tour too! For that one, he only played his originals and it was a mostly acoustic show as I recall. He has SO many originals (non-parodies, but still comedy) that when I was thinking of the potential 30 songs he could play that night, he surprised with me fond memories of probably 20 different songs I hadn’t recalled until show night! So fun. But back to July 15, 2026…
Puddles the clown opened the show. You may recognize him from the 2017 season of America’s Got Talent. He was amusing I supposed but a bit too long for me. Lots of singing, a little bit of comedy, and an obsession with Kevin Costner videos that played in the background. It’s an ongoing gag. But, we were there for Weird Al!
When Weird Al came out, to a mostly filled arena, he started with Tacky while outside of the theater, going through the hallways and lobby, before entering. Cameras captured it all on the screens for us to see until he arrived. This entrance was after a short video of a giant Weird Al stomping all over a city Godzilla style, if Godzilla was just a goofy, happy, klutz.
Mission Statement was 2nd (didn’t know that one), and Polkamania followed. The polkas are always a fun time with snippets of popular songs you know played to polka music, but no lyric changes. So, still a parody, but only musically? While I’ve been listening since the 80s (though not all his stuff and not the current stuff either), he played a couple more I didn’t know until Smells Like Nirvana. This was the first big costume change for the band, recreating the iconic parody video on stage (complete with janitor!). Dare to be Stupid (another costume change) was next before a medley of parodies.
What was great was that during costume changes, they played a bunch of clips from his old skits, videos from TV shows where he was mentioned or starred in, and various other tidbits. Before Smells like Nirvana, the they showed a scene from the move Weird: The Al Yankovic Story which stars Daniel Radcliffe (yes Harry Potter) in a hilarious yet fictional version of Al’s life story. My favorite throughout the night though was him inserting himself in the movie “Whiplash.” Great movie, but hilarious with Weird Al.
The next ‘big’ costume change was for Fat which started with the dialog scene from his music video. A couple movie and TV theme songs he wrote were played, and then a non-parody cover of The Letter which is a song from the 60s by the Box Tops. I knew the song but did have to cheat and look up the artist.
Huge hits White and Nerdy and of course Amish Paradise closed the main set. The encore was all about Star Ward with The Saga Begins and Yoda. So many little stage gags throughout the night from Al, the band, and other people who would come on stage for various reason.
One of the best gags for me was the medley during the Ode to a Superhero song (parody of Billy Joel’s Piano Man). An older dude was just standing next to Weird Al looking angry. We didn’t know why he was standing there until a harmonica portion of the song. This dude was the harmonica holder raising it to Al’s mouth and lowering when not needed. Kinda hilarious. Other songs during the medley were Eat It, Fat, Like a Surgeon, Canadian Idiot, and many more.
The band and singers he has with him really complete the sound, and being able to play so many different styles, genres, and eras of music is pretty impressive. Nice to see musicianship taking place, even during a goofy show like this.
My only complaint, if I must, was that in all his video clips throughout the night, there was only one from his epic 80s move UHF. He used the Conan the Librarian scene. Good times. More UHF next time though!
Weird Al continues to entertain a range of fans. There were kids at the show, as well as an older crowd with everything in between.
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