I love Weird Al
anyone else watching
I’m recording it on the ReplayTV. As soon as it is over, I’ll watch it.
(Commercials give me hives.)
Since eMpTyVee is a teen lifestyle channel now that no longer plays music, was there an Al-TV special for this album on some other channel?
I hope there’s a re-run! I love Al!!!
Thanks
Q
Kind of a small theater. I’m surprised the crowd is just sitting there. I guess they wanted it this way for the recording.
I’ve seen him in concert a few times, and it’s usually a pretty sedate crowd. Lots of parents with kids and fat old geeks. Neither are big groups for moshing.
It’s on again tonight. There’s a Jeff Dunham special and then the concert is back on. I’m planning to record that showing (or watch it live).
Thank you , Joey!
Quasi
Please, as a recovering ventriloquist myself, I have to ask you all…don’t laugh at the poor man. Ventriloquism is a terrible illness, and with your help and donations, we may be able to eliminate it in our lifetimes.
I non’d no if I nan, gaffa, nut I’ll dry. Us nunnies on’ny get oonen niggles, you know!
Q
Sorry too late, I’ve been laughing my fool ass off since him and Peanut took the Stand-Up Spotlight stage back in the late '80s.
Back to Weird Al now. Not bad, but it’s different for me now that I can’t recite every song word for word. Sure, I recognize where they come from, but I don’t know his words. I did like that they put the cheerleaders in slow motion during the Nirvana song. A nice homage to the original Smells Like Teen Spirit video. Also, I’m surprised at how well the video is synced up in the back.
The costume changes reminded me of something I’ve read about (here). I understand there’s a lot of downtime between songs at his shows. The entire band is changing. But boy can he sing clearly.
I am not trying to threadshit, I swear.
This is on right now. It is terribly unwatchable. This guy is not funny.
Full disclosure : The first cassette tape I ever bought with my own money was “Dare to be Stupid” by Weird Al.
Joe
I believe what is happening with Al is, he’s parodying songs which many of us don’t know, having moved out of the 80’s and 90’s, and what may have been funny such as (“I Lost On Jeopardy” ), isn’t funny to many of us any more.
Speaking as a 61 year old, who still considers himself a “classic rocker”, am I full of shit?
I love Weird Al, btw!
Quasi
You do have to be reasonably cognizant of current pop music, though I had never heard of a number of these songs before I heard Al’s parodies. The lyrics of his Lady Gaga parody Perform This Way are better than Gaga’s original. Hers are filled with strained rhymes and clunky phrasing.
You’ll notice that the drummer is wearing headphones. Mixed into his monitor mix is a click track from the video playback system. He keeps in perfect time to the click track, and as long as he doesn’t lose his place or drop a beat, perfect sync.
And nothing like that is going to happen. As you may have noticed, his band are highly seasoned pros, and (IMO) the most nimble band around. Who else goes from Polka to Rap to Country to Grunge in as many songs?
Yeah, it’s definitely a show rather than just a concert. The video screen is a vital part of the show, with video clips and bits from his Saturday Morning kids show and AL-TV between songs while he’s getting dressed.
I’m usually aware of what songs are being parodied by Weird Al nowadays, even if I don’t know them well. Sometimes I am surprised to learn what older songs of his are actually parodies. Usually happens when I hear an old song on the radio and I realize “hey there’s a Weird Al parody of this”.
It happens to me now. I didn’t realize “White and Nerdy” was not an original song from him at first. Most folks I know have heard White and Nerdy wayyyyyy more than Ridin’ Dirty.
At my work they have a pop station on so even though I’ve never heard most of those songs by WA until now, I’ve heard the originals a million times. Having said that, I wonder how many of the kids there have ever heard Michael Jackson’s Bad or Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit before. Hell, I wonder how many of the kids there have ever heard Smells Like Nirvana or Fat before that night?
I’m kinda surprised he didn’t do It’s All about the Pentiums which was kind of right in the middle and I think most everyone would remember. I’m 31 and that song was big just as I was at the end of listening to him on any kind of regular basis, but someone that’s in the 14-20 range would likely know it as well. Besides it’s a high energy song that would probably look great on stage. (Do they have rap in Canada?)
The ENTIRE 2 hour concert is getting released on Bluray this week. What you watched was a 40 minute commercial for it.
And when the band gets out of sync with the click track, they will break into an improve jam, or play a STRAIGHT cover like RadioRadio by Elvis Costello.
I’ve seen them live about 20 times. Always a great time!!!
Oh and they don’t perform Pentiums aznymore because its now all about the i7 Sandy Bridge Core