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Fun Fun Fun Fest review: “Weird Al” Yankovic
Funny thing about “Weird Al” Yankovic — after 30 years, more than 100 parody songs and 12 million albums sold, he’s outlasted a sizable number of the artists he’s lampooned. Coolio only wishes he had a career that long or relevant — and it’s still too early to call on James Blunt, but things aren’t looking good.
But if Yankovic had used comedy as a crutch or jokes as a smokescreen to hide a lack of musicianship, he’d have never made it this far. Friday night’s multimedia extravaganza — and “extravaganza” is the technical term for a show that lasts two hours and fifteen minutes, with over a dozen costume changes and two projection screens — demonstrated that Yankovic’s held on through countless shifts in the pop music climate on the back of both his genial wit and his tremendous musical ability. He kicked off the fifth Fun Fun Fun Fest in fine form, with a massively entertaining, perfectly executed run-through of his best parodies and originals that packed Waterloo Park with kids and adults who, if only briefly, were able to be kids again.
Yankovic took the stage at 7:45 clad in his iconic Hawaiian shirt, accordion in hand, to kick things off with a covers medley of pop songs so ridiculous that they defy parody — really, “Poker Face” and “I Kissed A Girl” are ludicrous enough to be Weird Al songs already, so there’s little use in repurposing them. He briefly stepped off stage and the night’s general pace established itself — a song followed by a costume change, during which the functioning projection screens (one of three was out, a “33 and one-third percent reduction in fun,” said Yankovic) played clips both from the late, lamented “Al TV” specials and appearances of Yankovic throughout pop culture, ranging from Carson to “The Cleveland Show.”
It was a show that was military in its precision, with Yankovic the general holding court as he toggled between parodies and original songs — highlights among which included the deeply funny acoustic ballad “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” (“You slammed my face down on the barbecue grill/Now my scars are healing, but my heart never will”). The night’s earliest belly-laugh may have come from Yankovic brutally smashing the guitar at its conclusion. And the band was impressively tight — it takes an outfit that has its stuff together to pull off the shredding of “Smells Like Nirvana” or the rapid-fire shifts in style demanded by Yankovic’s medleys.
Some parodies work better on record than live — “White and Nerdy,” for instance, has such lightning-quick lyricism that it’s hard to process live. But the best moments — the White Stripes-aping, Charles Nelson Reilly torch song “CNR,” the appropriately Devo-homaging “Dare to be Stupid” (the most Devo we’ll have all weekend, sadly) and encore song “Yoda,” with a full batallion of stromtroopers on-stage — were enough to keep a cold audience singing along.
The rest of the night was a solid warm-up to the fest, Todd Barry’s adorably surly breed of comedy more focused on ruminating on the difficulty of delivering a set while the Apples in Stereo soundchecked than telling jokes. The opening act, Austin Queen tribute band Magnifico, had the balls it takes to ape one of the flashiest rock bands of all time — kind of literally, actually, with muttonchopped front man Zach Hall’s purple leotard leaving little to the imagination. The perfect pop of the Apples in Stereo was a nice lead-in, as well — but they drew a far smaller crowd than the instrumental Tesla Coil-aided explosion of noise manufactured by Austin’s own Arc Attack. Sure, certifiably catchy pop is all well and good, but sometimes you just want to see a guy get struck by lightning.
All in all, with Waterloo Park still in embryonic form — but, awesomely, already hooked up with a handful of arcade games set to free play, as well as the customary half-pipe — and crowds thin until Yankovic went on, the night had the air of a relaxed, good-vibes-all-around primer for the madness to come. But it was a solid, memorable kickoff — with a Weird Al Yankvoic show that was perfectly, well, Weird Al Yankovic. Nobody else rocks a fat suit like that.
Set list
Medley (including “Poker Face,” “Womanizer,” “So What,” “’Baby Baby Baby” and “I Kissed A Girl” and “Blame It”, among others)
Frank’s 2000-Inch TV
You Don’t Love Me Anymore
Smells Like Nirvana
Skipper Dan
You’re Pitiful
Dare To Be Stupid
CNR
Let Me Be Your Hog
Canadian Idiot
Wanna B Ur Lovr
Beverly Hillbillies
Medley (Featuring “Whatever You Like,” “Confessions Part III,” “Bedrock Anthem,” “Another One Rides the Bus,” “Ode to a Superhero,” “Trapped in the Drive Thru” and “Gump”)
Eat It
Craigslist
Amish Paradise
White and Nerdy
Fat
Encore
We All Have Cellphones
The Saga Begins
Yoda
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Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Fun Fun Fun Fest
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By michael whitten
November 6, 2010 5:20 PM | Link to this
I was at the the show and Weird Al was in true form as usual. Well worth it. I hate to date myself, but I became hooked on weird Al back in 1979.
By Robb. "Rocky" Trexler
November 9, 2010 5:13 PM | Link to this
I flew in from San Diego on Friday for my 27th “Weird Al” concert and back home Saturday! It was one of his best shows ever! I’m just ecstatic that he’s included “Dare to be Stupid” in his set list (one of my all-time favorites). A bonus for me was sitting with bandmember Steve Jay on the flight from Austin to Phoenix. He, like “Al” and the rest of the band, was friendly & great to chat with. Kudos to the organizers of all the activities at Waterloo Park. I look forward to another visit there in the future. Austin ROCKS!!