Everybody Shut Up

How appropriate;
Weird Al's encore - The Saga Begins

It's official. I am white and nerdy. There is no denying my Jedi status, so I feel I have to share. I may not have committed any word crimes (hopefully), but I can't get away from being tacky. We all have cell phones, so let's get real. Yeah...

There will never be another concert quite like the one I attended last night. Weird Al Yankovic waltzed through the front doors of Centennial Hall in London, Ontario and drove all his weird fans mad over the next two+ hours. From his entrance singing Tacky, to classic tunes like Eat It, Amish Paradise and Smells Like Nirvana, Weird Al regaled young and old with his quirky brand of ridiculous wit. I don't think my children will ever be the same...

I have been to plenty of concerts over the years, but nothing compared to Al and the band's quick costume changes between almost every song. He sported a purple octopus costume with tie dye/rainbow legwarmers and an upside down ice cream cone hat dripping into his trademark frizzy hair while singing 'Perform this Way'. This was in addition to a suit and tie, a white jacket covered in red maple leaves (Canadian Idiot), a flame suit, devo-esque yellow plastic suits, a fat suit, a Jedi costume, an Amish outfit and of course an aluminum foil hat. The costume budget alone must be huge for the Mandatory Fun tour!

Don't forget the aluminum foil

It wasn't all about the creative costumes though. To give Al and the boys in the band time to change, a video show entertained the audience in between songs. The lights would dim and the screen at the back of the stage came to life. Snippets of Weird Al videos, interviews, cameo appearances on shows ranging from Jeopardy to the Simpsons and more blasted our cortexs with crazy content which only Weird Al could conjure up. One such mocked up interview with Michael Stipe saw Al and Michael collaborating. And Weird Al brought it back in his encore when he sang the song they created (or at least the lyric "We all have cellphones... ") and the audience duly co-operated by pulling out their cellphones and waving them in the air for the torch song. Oh yeah, I was right there baby. I'm real.

Hilarious does not quite capture the experience, but awesome isn't the right word either. It was weird, wacky and completely Al. Mandatory Fun was expected and I'm pretty sure the audience would agree that was what we got. Polka on Mr. Yankovic. There is a new generation of fans at my house.

BNL

   I am going to go way back here. Long, long ago in a lifetime mostly forgotten I was a young girl out with friends for an evening of music and fun. I was in Richmond Hill at the Mill Pond and a new local band was playing at the weekly free concerts that regularly played adult contemporary, blues, classical or whatever else they thought might interest the masses. I did not attend any of those other concerts, but this particular one featured a band by the name of Bare Naked Ladies. They would gain fame, fortune and even questionable notoriety for their band's title from local levels of government in the years to come. On this particular night, I reveled in their whimsy, energy and overall spunky fun that they exhibited on stage. That was almost twenty years ago, if I recollect, as I remember spying a girl from high school that I recognized, but had not befriended just yet. We have since had many adventures together, including a trip across the continent last summer and most recently our trip to Toronto. We have even seen BNL together  at other concerts (Molson Amphitheater God knows when - my 20s?). Always lots of fun and energy. Always a good night out.

   So anyways, last night I had the pleasure of seeing the Ladies again. I have had many transformations of me since seeing them the first time so many years ago, but to be fair, so have they. I was interested to see how they would sound and look with the recent departure of Steven Page from the band. I have had a chance to listen to their recent album All in Good Time and have enjoyed it. "You Run Away" is the first single as their reincarnation  of a four-piece band and it is heartfelt. I am touched. It seems to be the catharsis for some of the growing pains they have gone through. They have had a very difficult period of time thrown at them on many levels, but you get the feel that they will survive, altered, but still moving forward. 

   For myself, the concert was enjoyable. I got to go out for that rare evening away from children. A good friend and I set the mood with dinner  and drinks, then scurried down the street to collect our tickets. We slid into our seats with Joel Plaskett singing away on stage accompanied by Peter Elkas. He won a Juno last night, so was in fine spirit. He left the stage to applause and after a brief intermission the Ladies emerged. They played songs old and new with a style that seems to be emerging to find its new face. While I pined for the old-familiar bounce that used to be a mainstay of their sets, I realized that the days of Steven Page were done. His vocals were missed, as some notes were just not on, but the crowd seemed to enjoy the show none-the-less. During "Pinch Me" underwear littered the stage to the joy of many. Laughter filled the JLC and smiles reigned supreme. As we left, we reflected that they were still a great and fun-loving band, but that the years to come would probably see a transformation of their music and energy. Keep on rocking Ladies! You do yourself proud.