Can you believe its been about 36 plus years since Weird Al Yankovic released his first record “Weird Al” Yankovic?” His beginnings go way before even that as a 16-year-old high school freshman when he was first discovered by Southern Californian comedy DJ Dr. DeMento. Fast forward to 2019 and Weird Al still has a dedicated fan base and brings a show that is fit for all ages. This was no more evident than his performance at Artpark in Lewiston, NY this past Tuesday. Even though this was his 4th appearance in 5 years in the Western New York area, the well over 4,000 had great weather for his first performance veer in Lewiston.
The show started with a 41-piece symphony warming up the crowd with 3 numbers before Weird Al and his band joined them on stage at 7:41pm. Of the next hour and half plus, Yankovic delivered a memorable night of music in his odd but funny way. You can say the only way that Weird Al can. Staring off with “Funzone” then went right into a melody of some of his earliest hits in “I Lost on Jeopardy/ I Love Rocky Road/Like a Surgeon.” Yankovic went into the crowd twice and walked around the entire pit area singing to various crowd members and wearing one individuals baseball hat at one time.
Yankovic didn’t start his costume changes until about 2/3rd s through his set where he donned the outfit for “Smells Like Nirvana.” This was take off of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” This was a favorite of late singer Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. His band also takes part in the costume changes and did so for the next few numbers which included “Amish Paradise” and “White & Nerdy” to name a few. It should mentioned that this was the first tour without the Michael Jackson parodies “Eat It” and “Fat” due to the recent documentary “Leaving Neverland.” He filled the space with the Devo parody “Dare to Be Stupid” and “Harvey the Wonder Hamster.” In between changes they filled the space with funny videos and clips from TV shows that Yankovic took part in or was mentioned.
It was a fun show for people of all who attended this past Tuesday. Yankovic still has the goods as by the smiles that were on peoples faces not only throughout the show, but after it.
Setlist:
Funzone
I Lost on Jeopardy/ I Love Rocky Road/Like a Surgeon
The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota
World Crimes
One More Minute
Drum solo
Jurassic Park
Don’t Download This Song
Weasel Stomping Day
Tacky
Bass solo
Harvey the Wonder Hamster
Jackson Park Express
Smells Like Nirvana
Dare to be Stupid
White & Nerdy
Amish Paradise
Outro Jam
Encore:
The Saga Begins
Yoda
We would like to thank Dave Wedekindt and Maria Hays from Artpark for the credentials to review the show.
