Show Review: "Weird Al" Yankovic @ The San Diego County Fair

I'm writing this review through a steady sheet of tears- City Beat's Last Blog on Earth banished me from their "blog roll." And all over my repeated ridicule of their never ending cheer leading for their cover bands battle of the bands(see below). Alas, alas. None the less, I will do my best to forge on, dear readers, because I must.

I'm not afraid to admit that Weird Al is a personal hero. His tongue in cheek song parodies introduced me to many, many classic rock jams before I ever heard the original. My Bologna? I love Rocky Road? Eat it? Damn. True, I haven't kept up with his more recent albums. Sure, I've grooved to Amish Paradise & Ridin' Nerdy as much as the next guy, but I don't know the non-singles. Entering last night's concert, I was a little concerned that my unfamiliarity with his more recent material might leave me excluded from the festive atmosphere.

As it turned out, I needn't have worried. Weird Al is not just a consummate show man, he's an inclusive, giving performer, as much concerned with the mood of the audience as his own needs. The format of last nights two hour + performance was straight forward: song, song, interstitial video featuring either clip from Al TV/clips from other tv shows referencing weird al, costume change, song, song.

Seriously, the man changes costumes more often then Celine Dion. The humor was, of course, broad. Almost every song he performs is either about food or television. I caught myself wondering if he ever feels like branching out... The multi-generational crowd was ridiculously into him- singing and clapping along to Yoda and generally receiving every song with glee. I even spotted two guys dressed up in jedi robes.

I was also impressed with the capability of his back band, though given the ribbing that being Weird Al's back band must entail, I wasn't surprised that they remained anonymous throughout the show. Some of the songs got the full length treatment, others were strung together in the polka/medley format. I was expecting a perfunctory 45 minute "this is a county fair" performance, but this is was nothing more then a legacy claiming tour de force. If you haven't seen Weird Al- live- you owe it to yourself. Get out there and see him soon!