‘Weird Al’ — You’re so vain (you probably think this feature’s about you)
Video might have killed the radio star, but it created pop culture’s king of polka and parody “Weird Al” Yankovic. Yankovic brings his ridiculously self-indulgent, illadvised vanity tour to the Esplanade in Medicine Hat Sunday at 8 p.m.
For decades, the four-time Grammy winner has delighted audiences everywhere with his brand of big production/high octane live shows and his unusual plethora of parody. This time around, “Weird Al” bares his MTV, Much Music and YouTubelaced soul for an intimate evening of original non-parody songs from his 14-album catalogue. But, is Canada ready for Yankovic’s latest self-indulgent and illadvised epic journey? “Canada has been great,” said Yankovic, earlier this week from a tour stop in Seattle.
“I’ve been touring Canada since the very beginning, since 1983. It’s always a good time. I had the most fun doing a bunch of Much Music specials back in the 1990s and I kind of felt like I was an honorary Canadian. I got to spend so much time in Toronto. I always love to come to Canada and we came to Medicine Hat once or twice before and that was always a fun time, so looking forward to it,” he added.
Yankovic almost single-handedly introduced generations to the pop culture parody in musical and video form. He’s a singersongwriter, a satirist, an actor and even a children’s author. He’s been referenced a gazillion times in the very mediums he embraced, devoured and conquered — and, he’s a mean lean accordionplaying machine. Like Justin Timberlake after him — he brought polka back. Yankovic wrote and starred in “UHF” and has had cameos in numerous television hits including “Robot Chicken,” “The Goldbergs” and “The Simpsons.” His parody hits have included “Amish Paradise,” “Eat It,” “Like A Surgeon,” and “White and Nerdy.” His original work, which will be featured on the current tour, includes the hit “One More Minute.”
“We’re kind of at the final stretch of the tour. We’ve got about two weeks left and then that’s it. It’s kind of bittersweet because usually I look forward to the end of a tour, but we’ve been having so much fun on this tour, we’re all actually a little depressed it’s ending,” he said.
Mr. “Weird Al” added the current tour is not as long as the last tour, which was 200 dates. “This one is 77, so in the grand scheme of things, it’s not one of our longer tours, but it’s still been a healthy length.”
According to Yankovic, the current tour has a different type of audience. Normally, he said, the goal is to reach as general an audience as possible. “There’s more families and it’s more multi-generational. This tour, certainly I think anybody can still appreciate and enjoy this tour, but I think this tour is a slightly older demographic I’m finding — just because we’re getting a lot of fans coming out of the woodwork that have been fans for 20 or 30 years and they’ve been waiting for me to do a show specifically like this.”
“Which is fun because the fans coming to the show tend to be the more enthusiastic, long-term fans. That’s interesting to see,” he said.
After “Weird Al” wraps up his current tour, he said there’s a few things in development, but he’s not at liberty to talk about it.
“A lot of my life after the end of this tour is a bit of a question mark. I know at some point later this year, they’re giving me my star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame,” he said. “There’s stuff in the pipeline.” Not only has the comedic genius delivered to the world the best medicine — laughter — he’s also commandeered the stage. Well, almost carjacked it. “I can’t speak for the entire live music scene. It certainly has done well for me. It’s my favourite part of what I do. I love to play live in front of people,” he said.
Playing live is the only time he can get immediate gratification and response, he added.
“That’s something that’s always charged me up and has given me what I need to keep going on,” he joked.
This tour, Yankovic said, was intentionally scaled back. “Prior to this, like every tour, was bigger and better and more people showing up. We wanted to turn it on its head for this tour. The whole touring scene for me has been quite healthy over the years and I look forward to doing it for as long as I’m physically capable,” he said.
Back in the days when music was distributed solely through physical media, Yankovic said, it was difficult to break into the worldwide markets.
“But now, because of the internet, I’ve got fan bases in parts of the world that barely even existed before,” he said.
“It’s nice to be able to infiltrate every little nook and cranny of the known universe,” he joked.
For an evening of synchronized swimming and interpretive dance, “Weird Al” might not be your first choice. But, for an unforgettable evening of non-stop laughs and some silly songs “Weird Al” will be ready, willing and eager to please.
Tickets start at $75 plus service charge and GST and are available at www.tixx.ca, by calling 403-5028777 or in person at the Esplanade box office or the Medicine Hat Mall customer service desk.