Review: Weird Al Wows Los Angeles with 41 Piece Orchestra + More!

Reviews

Last updated: 12 Aug 2019, 18:48:22
Published: 12 Aug 2019, 18:48:22
Written by: Asal Shah
Photography by: Jeff Hahne
Categories: Reviews Tagged: “Weird Al” Yankovic Strings Attached “Weird Al” Yankovic at Greek Theatre

Weird Al Yankovic still reigns as the king of parodies, and during his show in Los Angeles at The Greek Theater on August 10th, he had the audience to prove it. From Jack Black and Andy Samberg to Jane Lynch, the comedians were in attendance to take notes from the master.

On the Strings Attached tour, Weird Al is accompanied by a local 41-piece orchestra in each city he visits. The orchestra warms his faithful fans up with a 30-minute opening set of orchestra-only renditions, 3/4 songs are John Williams numbers, and the other is the "Mission Impossible" theme.

After a 20 minute intermission, the orchestra found their way back onto the stage, and then Weird Al's OG band made their entrances one-by-one before the comical icon ran out in his staple Hawaiian tee get-up and luscious, flowing curls.

He wasted no time going right into a medley of "I Lost on Jeopardy," "I Love Rocky Road" and "Like a Surgeon." The first full song that Yanokomanics were blessed with was "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota."

The setlist was filled to the brim with hits from every corner of Weird Al's long and fruitful career. His last full studio album release was 2014's Mandatory Fun - from this album he weaved in "Word Crimes," Tacky" and "Jackson Park Express."

During "Tacky," Yankovic jumped down from his throne to circle around the pit seats, where I got a chance to get close enough to the performer to confirm that he smells incredible and not, well, weird!

He also worked in some deep cuts like "Harvey the Wonder Hamster," which got its live debut at the start of this tour.

There was never a dull moment during the night, not even when he went "acoustic" on "You Don't Love Me Anymore," where he fooled us into thinking he would pluck his guitar but instead, just smashed it to pieces at the end of the song. You could say I was impressed.

The last four songs were when things really started to accelerate. These tracks were saved for some of his most known hits to date starting with "Smells Like Nirvana" then "Dare to Be Stupid," "White & Nerdy" and "Amish Paradise." Each song had a costume change and the appropriate props to go along with the set.

The costume changes each took a minute but to fill in the gaps, we got treated to clips of every time Weird Al has been referenced in pop culture and TV, from snippets of his cameos on The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and Friends, to a Funny or Die's mock commercial of a fictional Weird Al biopic featuring Aaron Paul and Olivia Wilde.

Watch it here:

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After "Amish Paradise," the show was supposedly over, but the fans wouldn't leave without a grand finale. The encore was a Star Wars extravaganza as Storm Troopers marched on stage with Al in his Jedi getup, performing "The Saga Begins."

The last song finally had Yankovic shredding on his accordion for a heartfelt performance of "Yoga."

Check the setlist from the thrilling night here!