Everyone’s favorite parody musician will once again hit the road, as “Weird Al” Yankovic, has announced dates for an extensive tour of North America in 2018. Yankovic has recently wrapped up one of his biggest tours ever and will return in 2018 with his 70+ city “The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour.” Longtime friend and comedian Emo Phillips, will perform before “Weird Al” takes stage.
Shows will take place in venues with a more intimate feel, and create a little different atmosphere than normal “Weird Al” shows. Yankovic has stated that he and his band will perform original material, rarities, and deep cuts. “Weird Al” will perform songs he and his band haven’t played in years, and songs they have never before played live. He also stated that he and his band have been rehearsing around 60 songs for the trek, and each show on the tour will have a different set list. Unfortunately, there won’t be any costume changes or running and jumping around by “Weird Al,” as he and the band will sit on stools, and jam out songs for around 90 minutes.
“Weird Al,” has released 14 studio albums. Four of those fourteen albums reached gold status, while six others reached platinum certifications, including 1984’s “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D. He has also won four Grammy awards in his career including Best Concept Music Video for the song “Fat,” in 1989. He has sold over 12 million albums, and has appeared in numerous television shows and on the big screen.
The tour will kick off on Feb. 27, at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie. New York will see several other stops on the tour throughout the state, including March 1 at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown; March 13 at the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts in Buffalo; March 14 at the State Theatre in Ithaca; March 17 at The Paramount in Huntington; and March 23 at The Apollo Theater in New York.
During a recent interview with Nerdist, “Weird Al” commented on the upcoming tour, his longevity, Emo Phillips and what he hopes fans take away from the tour. “Weird Al” was also asked about his stamina, he replied:
I’ve definitely had time to relax, reconnect with my family, even take a shower! But yeah, when I’m on the road, it’s pretty exhausting–I get a real workout every night. This upcoming tour shouldn’t be too taxing though. We’re just going to walk out on stage, sit down on stools and play a bunch of songs. No running and jumping around, or changing into thirty different costumes. It’ll be a little rougher on my vocal cords, because I won’t have any video breaks during the show. But the whole vibe of this next tour is going to be pretty laid back. It’s the “Let’s Not Work Up Too Much of a Sweat” tour.
What he’s looking forward to the most about the tour:
The band and I are really just looking forward to a change of pace. I’ve been putting on fat suits and riding Segways around the stage, and I just wanted to do something totally different this time out. I don’t think I’ll be making a habit of this: this is quite possibly a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It’ll also be really fun for me to play some of the songs that I was always proud of, but somehow slipped through the cracks. There are only so many songs I can perform in my live show, and the parodies are the audience-pleasers, so we have to focus on those, and as a result, a lot of my original material never makes the cut. But this is not an audience-pleasing show. It’s probably going to be an audience-baffling show. As I’ve said before, there’s a subset of my fan base that’s going to go absolutely nuts for this tour, but it might not be for everybody.
If he was nervous touring a different type of show for the first time around:
Well, I wasn’t really nervous until you just brought it up! Yeah, I always get a little nervous right before a tour, and particularly when I’m doing something new. And this tour is extremely different from every other tour I’ve done. I guess I just have to go into it with a good attitude. I know it’s not going to be perfect… it’s not supposed to be perfect. All my other shows were rigidly planned down to the second, and on this tour, we’re literally doing a different set list every night. I’m going to talk a lot more on stage. See, this is really going against my nature and stepping out of my comfort zone. I’m the kind of guy that likes to have everything super-planned out and over-rehearsed and always know exactly what I’m going to do and say. On this tour, I’m just going to walk out on stage and see what happens. It could suck; it could be amazing. That’s a little terrifying to think about… so… I’m going to stop thinking about it.
On what he hopes fans will bring home from seeing this show:
Primarily, lots of MERCH. That would be good. Besides that… this tour is geared specifically for the long-time hardcore fans, so I just hope that some of them get their minds blown by hearing some obscure old favorite songs that they never dreamed they’d ever get a chance to hear live. And we’re really pulling out the deep cuts for this show. We’re rehearsing 50 or 60 songs, most of which we’ve either never played live before, or haven’t played in decades. It’s a lot of work. I’d also like to think that, since this show will be comprised almost entirely of my original songs, it might shine a light on the fact that I’ve done some decent non-parody material over the last three decades. But hey, I’m not kidding myself – I know that to 95% of the general population, I’ll always just be the “Eat It” guy.
How it feels to tour with his longtime friend Emo Phillips:
I’m really looking forward to that. Emo’s one of my oldest friends, and I think he’s seriously one of the funniest guys in the world. I’ve never traveled with a support act before. For a long time, promoters would hire local comedians to open the show. We never knew anything about them before we got there. Some were good, some were not so good, and some were totally inappropriate. And then, when our show length passed the two-hour mark, we decided to eschew the opening act entirely and make it an “Evening With Al.” But we’re going to try not to bust anybody’s bladder on this tour: Emo’s doing about 30 minutes, and I’m doing about 90. It’ll be really fun; I always have a good time with him, and it’ll be a blast riding a bus with him for 15 weeks. I just hope he doesn’t snore, or perform daily ritual sacrifices or anything. Eh, whatever, I’m sure I’d get used to it.
The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour Dates:
Feb. 27 – Bardavon 1869 Opera House – Poughkeepsie, NY
March 1 – Tarrytown Music Hall – Tarrytown, NY
March 2 – Foxwoods Resort Casino – Ledyard, CT
March 3 – The Music Hall – Portsmouth, NH
March 4 – Wilbur Theatre – Boston, MA
March 7 – Place Des Arts – Montreal, QC
March 9 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON
March 10 – 20 Monroe Live – Grand Rapids, MI
March 11 – Michigan Theater – Ann Arbor, MI
March 13 – University At Buffalo Center for the Arts – Buffalo, NY
March 14 – State Theatre – Ithaca, NY
March 16 – Caesars Atlantic City – Circus Maximus – Atlantic City, NJ
March 17 – The Paramount – Huntington, NY
March 18 – American Music Theatre – Lancaster, PA
March 20 – Music Center at Strathmore – Bethesda, MD
March 23 – Apollo Theater – New York, NY
March 24 – Palace Theatre – Greensburg, PA
March 25 – Playhouse Square – Ohio Theatre – Cleveland OH
March 26 – Lexington Opera House – Lexington, KY
March 28 – Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts – Louisville, KY
March 30 – Virginia Theatre – Champaign, IL
March 31 – Hoyt Sherman Place – Des Moines, IA
April 2 – Mayo Civic Center Presentation Hall – Rochester – MN
April 3 – Pantages Theatre – Minneapolis, MN
April 4 – Pantages Theatre – Minneapolis, MN
April 6 – Vic Theatre – Chicago, IL
April 7 – Vic Theatre – Chicago, IL
April 10 – Pabst Theater – Milwaukee, WI
April 12 – Honeywell Center – Wabash, IN
April 13 – Walker Theater – Chattanooga, TN
April 14 – Miller Theater – Augusta, GA
April 15 – Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA
April 17 – War Memorial – Nashville, TN
April 19 – Gillioz Theatre – Springfield, MO
April 20 – S.E.Belcher Jr Chapel and Performance Center – Longview, TX
April 21 – Paramount Theatre – Austin, TX
April 22 – Wagner Noel Performance Arts Center – Midland, TX
April 24 – tafford Centre for Performing Arts Theatre – Stafford, TX
April 25 – Tobin Center for the Performing Arts – San Antonio, TX
April 27 – The Majestic Theatre – Dallas, TX
April 28 – Orpheum Theater – Wichita, KS
April 29 – Folly Theater – Kansas City, MO
May 1 – Paramount Theatre – Denver, CO
May 3 – Avalon Theatre – Grand Junction, CO
May 4 – Tuacahn Ampitheatre at Tuacahn Center for the Arts – Ivins, UT
May 5 – Fox Tucson Theatre – Tuscon, AZ
May 6 – Lensic Performing Arts Center – Senta Fe, NM
May 8 – Meza Arts Center- Ikeda Theatre – Mesa, AZ
May 9 – McCallum Theatre for the Performing Arts – Palm Desert, CA
May 11 – The Theatre at Ace Hotel – Los Angeles, CA
May 12 – Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay – San Diego, CA
May 15 – Crest Theatre – Sacramento, CA
May 17 – Golden State Theatre – Monterey, CA
May 18 – Turlock Community Theatre – Turlock, CA
May 19 – Fox Theatre – Oakland, CA
May 20 – Uptown Theatre – Napa, CA
May 22 – Cascade Theatre – Redding, CA
May 24 – McDonald Theatre – Eugene, OR
May 25 – Revolution Hall – Portland, OR
May 26 – Revolution Hall – Portland, OR
May 27 – Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox – Spokane, WA
May 29 – Moore Theatre – Seattle, WA
May 31 – Grey Eagle Resort & Casino – Calgary, AB
June 1 – Casino Regina – Show Lounge – Regina, SK
June 2 – River Cree Casino and Resort Entertainment Centre – Enoch, AB
June 3 – Esplanade Theatre – Medicine Hat, AB
June 5 – Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts – Winnipeg, MB
June 6 – Fargo Theatre – Fargo, ND
June 8 – Columbia, MO – Jesse Auditorium – Columbia, MO
June 9 – Surf Ballroom – Clear Lake, IA
June 10 – Meyer Theatre – Green Bay, WI
Twiddle has graced the Red Rocks stage twice in support of String Cheese Incident (2015) and the Disco Biscuits(2016). Their 2017 show with moe. was cancelled after moe. announced a hiatus while bassist Rob Derhak underwent treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer.
