Weird Al Yankovic:

Nerdy But Immensely Talented, Too!

Story & Photos

By John Voket

WATERBURY — Remember that nerdy kid from band camp? Yeah, he fought hard to play an accordion solo in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, and he nailed it better than any French Horn or viola player ever could.

Despite the fact that Lynwood, Calif., native Alfred Matthew Yankovic a/k/a “Weird Al” grew up to develop a career a little off center from what is considered the mainstream music industry, it appears he is still nailing it better than virtually any other contemporary artist in his genre.

…and it’s not simply because he is about the only contemporary artist in his genre.

In a career spanning nearly three decades, Weird Al has been recognized for his rousing, witty music and videos with nine Grammy nominations and three statuettes. Along the way he has also made history by selling more comedy recordings than any other artist, ever — with 28 Gold and Platinum albums, as well as seven Gold and Platinum-certified home videos to date.

You might think that with this kind of fame and 17 albums under his belt since his 1983 self-titled debut, the guy might want to take it easy. But five or six nights a week through mid-October, you will find Weird Al out on the road, plying his parodies and comedic material to audiences laced with hard-core fans singing along at state fairs and in sold-out auditoriums across North America.

One of his recent stops was at Waterbury’s Palace Theater on May 30.

I have had the pleasure of seeing Weird Al a half-dozen times since the mid-‘80s, and his sets just keep getting better and better. Boasting a new and improved video and lighting setup, Al provided a nearly three-hour multimedia extravaganza which was short on chatter but long on what Al does best: playing to the crowd.

With jaunty carnival music blaring, his backing band whose members have remained loyal to their boss since his humble beginnings, hit the stage just a few minutes past their schedule 7:30 pm start time. Launching into the latest version of “Polkarama,” Al pumped the accordion expertly weaving several instrumental polka versions of well known rock and pop songs together.

His first dead-on parody was “Canadian Idiot,” a take on Green Day’s “American Idiot” with plenty of cultural references to the Great White North. He followed up with “You’re Pitiful,” a whining and self-depreciating take on James Blunt’s lilting love song, “You’re Beautiful,” during which Al kept removing a succession of nine or ten different shirts until he had stripped down to a SpongeBob SquarePants tee, much to the delight of the many youngsters in the audience who howled their approval.

The many full costume changes were bridged with film clips, mostly from his “Al TV” interviews with a litany of celebs from Paul McCartney and Keith Richards to Celine Dion, Eminem, Justin Timberlake, and a fresh-faced Avril Lavigne to name a few.

One of my more recent favorite bits came on early with a lothario Al crooning “Wanna B Ur Lovr” from his 2003 Grammy-winning album Poodle Hat. After about a verse, Al came down into the audience to “get friendly,” sitting on laps and gyrating his butt in the faces of surprisingly appreciative fans.

Up next was a medley set incorporating snippets from a number of his more popular tunes including the perfectly articulated Eminem parody “Couch Potato,” rapped to the tune of “Lose Yourself.” Other notable medley clips included a Gilligan’s Island inspired “I’m in Love with The Skipper,” to the beat of T-Pain’s “I’m in Love With A Stripper”; his Bedrock anthem tribute to The Flintstones; the yiddish-laced “Pretty Fly for a Rabbi”; and one of his earliest classic parodies, “Eat It,” grafted to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”

One of Al’s many moments of brilliance came when he sang a piece from the 11-minute long “Trapped in the Drive-Thru,” his nod to R. Kelly’s “Trapped in the Closet.” While the animated version of Al’s video played out on the screens above the stage, he managed to sing along live, never missing a beat or a word as his narrative about an uneventful trip for a burger and fries reached its climactic height.

While I greatly appreciate almost all of Weird Al’s videos, this full length version which is still among the most-played on YouTube, is a must see if you haven’t already. After another costume change, Al and his band returned in full Star Wars regalia to deliver both of his tributes to that franchise: “The Saga Begins” and “Yoda,” to the music of “American Pie” and the Kinks classic, “Lola,” respectively.

This led into full length versions of what are arguably his biggest and most well-known “hits.” Complete with grungy wigs and a rubber guitar, Al lampooned Kurt Cobain splendidly with “Smells Like Nirvana,” donned his best wooden shoes for “Amish Paradise,” thrilled the audience with his latest million-seller “White and Nerdy,” and wrapped up the tasty musical smorgasbord waddling around as his own 300-pound alter-ego to the song “Fat.”

I imagine many of the true Weird Al fans who attended the Waterbury show recently came to hear one or two favorites. But as a musician myself, I was thrilled at how well Al and his band (Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz on drums, bassist Steve Jay, Jim West on guitars and keyboardist Rubén Valtierra) kept the show moving with precise re-creations of all the original songs upon which Al worked his wordsmith magic.

Between the band’s expert musicianship and Al’s exceptional vocal stylings – he’s actually a fantastic singer with a three-octave range – the audience witnessed an almost unrivalled combination of rock concert and comedy show all “rapped” up nicely by this crafty nerd straight outta’ Lynwood.