With a low-key show, 'Weird Al' sells out Greensburg's Palace Theatre
"Weird Al" Yankovic's fans have been warned in advance.
Before the comedian, musician and king of hilarious parodies that poke fun at modern culture embarked on his current tour, he issued a disclaimer on his website:
"Please note: this is a scaled-down tour in smaller, more intimate theaters, with limited production (no costumes, props, or video screens) and Al's set list will be comprised almost entirely of his original (non-parody) songs."
What? No "Amish Paradise," one of his earliest hits that drove his odd-but-amusing brand of entertainment, frequently with his accordion in tow?
No "Eat It," his parody of Michael Jackson's wildly popular dance number, "Beat It"?
Nope, according to Yankovic, who brings his "The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour" to Greensburg's Palace Theatre on March 24. Even though fans aren't quite sure what to expect from the creative entertainer who has had them laughing for more than 30 years, the Palace show is a sellout, according to promoters.
"This is a much different tour," Yankovic says. "I did the Mandatory World Tour and that was the full-on production tour with the costumes and props and the video screens. ... On this tour, it's something that we've never really ever done before. It's very scaled-down, and not only that, but the set-list is very different. We're not playing the hits — we're playing all the deep cuts and all the original songs and that's one of the things that excites me about this particular tour.
"In all my other shows, because it's such a highly produced show, one song by de facto has to go into the next song because the costumes are waiting backstage. It's like a Broadway musical and we have to do it the exact same way every night. Now that there's no extraneous production, we can literally do a different show every night, and that's exactly what we intend to do. We've learned over four hours of material and every single show will be different."
Joining Yancovic on the road will be longtime bandmates John "Bermuda" Schwartz on drums, guitarist Jim West and bassist Steve Jay, all who were recruited between 1980 and 1982. Rounding out the group is keyboardist Rubén Valtierra, a band member since 1992 who's still considered the new guy in the band.
The preparation for this unique presentation of the Yankovic catalog comes on the heels of the release of last year's "Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of 'Weird Al' Yankovic," a career-spanning box set of all 14 of his albums that also includes a rarities album and a 120-page book of archival photos.
"It was nice to be able to revisit those old songs. I listen to the music a lot while I'm recording it and up until the point that it comes out, then I put it away and don't listen to it anymore," he says. "So this was an opportunity to go back and listen to a lot of these songs for the first time in a long time."
Opening the show will be Yankovic's longtime friend, comedian Emo Philips. His "Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour" is scheduled to run through June.
Yankovic's parodies
Here is a "top 20 list" of some of "Weird Al's" finest parodies, followed by the names of the original songs and the artists who made them popular:
"Achy Breaky Song" — "Achy Breaky Heart" (Billy Ray Cyrus)
"Addicted To Spuds" — "Addicted To Love" (Robert Palmer)
"Alimony" — "Mony Mony" (Billy Idol)
"Amish Paradise" — "Gangsta's Paradise" (Coolio)
"The Brady Bunch" — "The Safety Dance" (Men Without Hats)
"Do I Creep You Out" — "Do I Make You Proud" (Taylor Hicks)
"Fat" — "Bad" (Michael Jackson)
"I Lost On Jeopardy" — "Jeopardy" (The Greg Kihn Band)
"I Love Rocky Road" — "I Love Rock 'n Roll" (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)
"I Think I'm A Clone Now" — "I Think We're Alone Now" (Tiffany)
"Jurassic Park" — "MacArthur Park" (Richard Harris)
"Like A Surgeon" — "Like A Virgin" (Madonna)
"Living With A Hernia" — "Living In America" (James Brown)
"My Bologna" — "My Sharona" (The Knack)
"Party in the CIA" — "Party in the U.S.A." (Miley Cyrus)
"Perform This Way" — "Born This Way" (Lady Gaga)
"She Drives Like Crazy" — "She Drives Me Crazy" (Fine Young Cannibals)
"Smells Like Nirvana" — "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Nirvana)
"TMZ" — "You Belong With Me" (Taylor Swift)
"Yoda" — "Lola" (The Kinks)
Recent work
"Weird Al" Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time. His most recent release, "Mandatory Fun" (2014), was the first comedy album in history to debut at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200.
In November 2017, Legacy Recordings released "Squeeze Box: The Complete Recordings of "Weird Al" Yankovic," including all 14 of his studio albums re-mastered for vinyl and CD format, plus a rarities album and 120-page book of photos from the archives, all housed in a replica of his signature accordion.
On top of that, Yankovic has:
• Directed music videos for other artists (Hanson, The Black Crowes, Ben Folds)
• Written children's books ("When I Grow Up; My New Teacher and Me!")
• Done voiceover work on a number of animated shows including "Milo Murphy's Law," "Adventure Time," "Gravity Falls," "BoJack Horseman" and "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy."
'Polka-Fied' Medleys
Here is a chronological listing of some of Weird Al's polka medleys on his albums. The medleys contained polka versions of the songs listed and often several other songs:
"POLKAS ON 45" (1984)
"Smoke On The Water" (Deep Purple)
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (Iron Butterfly)
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" (The Rolling Stones)
"HOOKED ON POLKAS" (1985)
"Sharp Dressed Man" (ZZ Top)
"What's Love Got To Do With It?" (Tina Turner)
"We're Not Gonna Take It" (Twisted Sister)
"POLKA PARTY!" (1986)
"Nasty" (Janet Jackson)
"Rock Me Amadeus" (Falco)
"Papa Don't Preach" (Madonna)
"HOT ROCKS POLKA" (1989)
"Brown Sugar" (The Rolling Stones)
"Under My Thumb" (The Rolling Stones)
"Ruby Tuesday" (The Rolling Stones)
"POLKA YOUR EYES OUT" (1992)
"Love Shack" (The B-52s)
"Miss You Much" (Janet Jackson)
"Ice Ice Baby" (Vanilla Ice)
"BOHEMIAN POLKA" (1993)
"Bohemian Rhapsody" (Queen)
"THE ALTERNATIVE POLKA" (1996)
"All I Wanna Do" (Sheryl Crow)
"You Oughta Know" (Alanis Morissette)
"I'll Stick Around" (Foo Fighters)
"POLKA POWER!" (1999)
"Wannabe" (Spice Girls)
"Everybody" (Backstreet Boys)
"Walkin' On the Sun" (Smash Mouth)
"ANGRY WHITE BOY POLKA" (2003)
"Last Nite" (The Strokes)
"Down With the Sickness" (Disturbed)
"Renegades of Funk" (Rage Against the Machine)
"POLKARAMA!" (2006)
"The Chicken Dance"
"Let's Get It Started" (The Black Eyed Peas)
"Gold Digger" (Kanye West)
"POLKA FACE" (2011)
"Poker Face" (Lady Gaga)
"Womanizer" (Britney Spears)
"Right Round" (Flo Rida)
"NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL POLKA!" (2014)
"Too Fat Polka" (Arthur Godfrey)
"Wrecking Ball" (Miley Cyrus)
"Gangnam Style" (Psy)
Candy Williams is a Tribune-Review contributing writer. Dave Gil de Rubio also contributed to this report.
