I'm not quite sure how young I was when I first heard "Weird Al" Yankovic on the radio. His songs were in frequent rotation on Dr. Demento's radio show, which I started listening to in middle school. The show was on from 10PM to midnight on Sunday night, which was late for a school night! I'd often fall asleep before the top ten countdown.

Monday, while checking a university webpage for unrelated reasons, I discovered that Weird Al was playing my university's mainstage on Wednesday. I don't own any of his recent albums, so I mused on Facebook "Weird Al Yankovic is playing a show in Buffalo this Wednesday. Should I get back in touch with my younger self and attend?" Responses included "OMG why are you even asking?", "YESSSSS", and "Absolutely." Respondents included a selection of all four of my major Facebook lists: family, high school friends, university friends, and Marine buddies.

With the advice going overwhelmingly in favor, I shopped online for tickets. Those villains at Ticketmaster wanted about 20% of the total in fees, so I cycled over to the campus box office. Exercise plus saving money is just about a family tradition.

The show started at 7 PM. There was an opening act of Star Wars cosplayers from the 501st Imperial Stormtrooper Legion, Excelsior Battalion. (New York is the "Excelsior State", so the 501st's NY group named themselves that.) Hil couldn't get out of work as soon as she'd hoped, so we arrived just in time to find our seats. We were only waiting about five minutes before Weird Al came out.

He opened his show with one of his traditions, a polka medley of recent music hits. I came to the realization that I have no idea what the kids are listening to these days, as I simply did not recognize most of the songs he was parodying.

The rest of the show was more to my taste. It was a mix of his classics, along with new ones from an album he just released. He has to face the same problem of all long-running performers, striking a balance between old and new pieces, and I think he did a good job with that.

I had a good time, and I think Hil did too. What else can one ask of a concert?

Posted by: Boviate at 01:19 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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