MadMup.com

So I went to the concert in Indianapolis last night.

Yep.

And it was awesome! Totally worth the money and the 140-mile round trip!

Let me tell you a little about it...

First thing I did when I got there was stand in line for an Al T-shirt. I'll try to get a picture of it up at some point so you can see it in all its orangeness.

At 7:30 sharp, some guy named "Dave" came out and did some "stand-up comedy." He wasn't very good. Not at all, actually. It depresses me to see people perform who aren't very good. It makes me wonder why I'm not performing anywhere. After all, I'm not very good, so it should follow that I should be allowed to perform.

After he was done yammering, we had about a ten-minute break before Al and the band started. But once they started...oh, man!

The thing of it is, when you think of "Weird Al," you think of goofy songs. What you don't realize is that he and his band have evolved into an actual band, for crying out loud. To do what they do, they have to be able to play all sorts of styles, and they pull it off well.

Man, was it ever loud! I wasn't prepared for that, but it was a good thing, because that way people couldn't hear me singing along :) I wasn't the only one doing it, just so you know.

The crowd was an interesting mix of people older than me and a lot of kids. I would say the crowd was probably 65% male. They also seemed to be mostly new fans, as evidenced by the crowd's reaction to some of the older songs. I got the definite impression that some people were hearing some of those songs for the first time. But when the Eminem parody came up...oh, man.

I actually took pen and paper in with me to write down what songs he played. I know, I know - super geeky. Well, you get the benefit, dear readers, as I recreate the list for you now, along with my comments where applicable.

The UHF Theme - A music only song, good intro music.

Angry White Boy Polka

Party at the Leper Colony - He introduced it by saying "If there's one thing I know about the folks in Indianapolis, it's that they like to hear a good song about the ravages of a terrible infectious disease." It was one of the few times he said anything to us.

Your Horoscope for Today

A Complicated Song

Melanie - He actually messed up some words in this one! Instead of "You weren't impressed when I tattoed your name across my forehead" he sang "You weren't impressed when I tattoed my name across your forehead." It's funny that I caught that, but not really. It's just the sort of thing I would notice.

Dog Eat Dog - an odd choice I thought, but I've always liked it. The album it's from was his least-selling album Polka Party!. He almost stopped making albums after that one did so poorly because he thought people were done with him. He's done 6 more since then...

All About the Pentiums - one of my favorites.

Wanna B UR Lovr - I'm not a big fan of this song. It's odd, the crowd reaction to this one and "Leper Colony" was the biggest, yet they're my least favorite songs. Al did come down into the audience for this one, though. He got within, oh, 30 feet of me.

Trash Day

Medley:
Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies
Jerry Springer - I don't know how he can remember all those words and sing them so quickly!
Jurassic Park
Toppings Will Go On - I'm guessing at the title. It's not on any album. It's a spoof of Celine Dion's song from Titanic and it's about a pizza delivery boy...
eBay
Theme from Rocky XIII
Ode to a Superhero
Lasagna
Pretty Fly For a Rabbi
My Bologna - Al's first hit on the Dr. Demento show 20+ years ago. Back then it was just him on the accordion and one other guy pounding rhythm on the accordion case. They recorded it in the men's bathroom across from the studio Al was DJing in while in college.
Gump
Eat It
(end of Medley)

Smells Like Nirvana - a crowd favorite and one of Al's biggest hits. He even had the cheerleaders on stage!

Amish Paradise - another crowd favorite.

Couch Potato - the Eminem spoof that Eminem wouldn't let him release as a single. Jerk. A great ode to TV.

Fat - dressed, of course, in the famous Fat suit from the video.

The Encores:

The Saga Begins - arguably the best part about Star Wars Episode One.

Yoda/Yoda Chant - I had heard that he did this "Yoda Chant" in the middle of "Yoda" at concerts, but I wasn't prepared for the surreality of it. I can't even really describe it. Sorry.

And that's it. There were three big video screens, and while he was changing costumes they would show clips from Al TV and UHF and The Weird Al Show.

So much fun. Next time, you're coming with me.