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AndyWan Kenobi
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- Feb 27, 2003
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Hi everyone,
I didn't know what thread to post this in, so I just thought I'd start a new one. Anyway, yesterday over in the hot tubs (I think), I mentioned that my wife Joyce and I were going to see Weird Al at his Iowa City concert. We were really excited aboutt it, since he was performing in the auditorium where we've done many choir/orchestra concerts, which adjoins the music building where we spend a lot of our time. So it really felt like Weird Al was on our turf, and that was cool. Joyce, as I mentioned yesterday, even ran into Al and his wife taking a walk with their baby by the river, and offered to take their picture (since Al's wife was taking his picture near some of the sculpture's on that part of the campus). Anyway, that's the recap.
So, the new stuff. We were supposd to meet friends at Red Lobster for dinner, but it was way crowded when we got there--we didn't consider the fact that it was a Friday during Lent, so lots of people might want fish. We ended up at Chili's where, despite some problems in our order, things were just fine. We got to the concert a good half-hour early, and hung out for a while until all of our party was there. Then we went in and checked out the merchandise (I didn't buy anything, since I already had a shirt from this tour from the Oklahoma City show). We went to our seats, which I thought were going to be in the fourth row. It turns out, though, that they took out the first two rows for this show, so we were actually in the second row! I was right in the center, and it was awesome!
Al's tour manager came out and announced that he had "good news and better news"--the "good news" was that the opening act flaked out on them, so there wouldn't be an opening act.
The "better news" was that it would just be an evening with Al. Well, Al and the band came out 15 minutes later, and the show got off to a great start. It was so exciting to be so close to the stage--the closest I'd been before was fifth row. It's such a different experience being so close, because Al is so great about paying attention to his fans in the first few rows. I don't want to give too much away, for those of you who might see him later on this tour. I have a hard time posting lots of "spoilers" for this kind of thing. But he covered many many of his songs, old and new, and did some concert-exclusive material. The show itself was hilarious as always. Man, it must take so much energy for them to put on this show night after night. Al and the band were really in top form last night. During "Wanna B UR Lover," Al came out into the audience and was hitting on all the ladies... Our friend Julianne had Al serenading her on the line "My love for you'd like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in," and Joyce was the direct recipient of the line "There just aren't enough 'O's in 'smooth' to describe how smooth I am..." There were a bunch of girls in the row ahead of us who got a lot of attention as well. There were so many parts of the show that were just gut-bustingly funny! Even though I knew all the songs by heart and had seen the concert gags a few times, it all felt fresh--cracked me up the whole time. I got a couple of souvenirs from the show--there was a roll of masking tape on the floor that was given to me as "the official concert tape" by our friends who were with us. Then the guy in the row behind me asked me if I wanted the cup he had caught that Al threw during the "Smells Like Nirvana" number. Of course, I said yes and thanked him.
So, after a nice two-hour show (with encore), we headed out. We didn't have backstage passes, but we were jealous of the people who did. The three friends who were with us went home, but Joyce and I stayed to hang out at the buses to see if Al and the band would come out to meet and greet us--they do this sometimes. Well, Steve Jay from the band came out for a while to mingle with the fans. Then the organizers of the concert sent us inside to meet Al! We all lined up and went backstage--we've been there plenty of times before concerts, but it was somehow different. We stood in line, and Al's tour manager came out and said that it had been a really long week of concerts, but Al would come out and meet us. He said that they wanted to do it quickly so that Al could get some sleep, (and get back to his family, presumably), so we would have to be single-file, only get one autograph apiece, not stop to pose for pictures (we could take pictures, but not hold up the line to pose for them), and not stop and tell Al a bunch of stories. He said he likes the stories, but they just really needed to keep the line moving. Everyone seemed pretty okay with that.
So we waited in the line for a while longer. There were these really nice high-school (or college, I couldn't tell) girls ahead of us who were really excited to be there--they'd met Al before (as had I), but they were the kind of fans he knows by first name. They'd driven from Omaha Nebraska. We chatted with them for a while--one of them had baked Al cookies and brought a toy for his baby. Isn't that sweet? So anyway, we waited a little while longer, and Al came out in this great red and black leather jacket with Simpsons patches all over it. Only a few people would look totally awesome in a jacket like that, and Al is one of them. He was so personable and gracious as he met and greeted the fans--the girls in front of us got hugs and all. The girl right in front of me in line complimented Al on the great show. He said "Thanks--it was fun, and nobody got hurt, that's the important part." So I said "I did, a little." And Al said "You did? I'm sorry." Then he said "Did you really?" I replied "Well, I got a little wet" (from the cup-throwing). He said "I blame myself." And I said "So do I." It was fun. Then he noticed what I wanted him to autograph--the cup from the show, with the "official concert tape" I had been given as a label. It made him laugh. I thanked him for the great concert, and then it was Joyce's turn. She got his autograph as well, and made a comment about the "DaVinci man pose" she saw him doing earlier for his picture. He seemed surprised that she had seen this, and said "Yeah, that's the 'Vitruvian Man.'" We both thanked him again, and told him to have a great night. Then we left, completely elated. I tell ya, I love Weird Al so much! He is such a creative man, an amazing performer, and still such a down-to-earth person. He is humble and friendly with his fans, and you can tell that he really enjoys what he does for a living. It's inspiring, really.
Anyway, we had an absolutely amazing time. If any of you get the chance to see him on this tour, I'd highly recommend it. Go AL!
I didn't know what thread to post this in, so I just thought I'd start a new one. Anyway, yesterday over in the hot tubs (I think), I mentioned that my wife Joyce and I were going to see Weird Al at his Iowa City concert. We were really excited aboutt it, since he was performing in the auditorium where we've done many choir/orchestra concerts, which adjoins the music building where we spend a lot of our time. So it really felt like Weird Al was on our turf, and that was cool. Joyce, as I mentioned yesterday, even ran into Al and his wife taking a walk with their baby by the river, and offered to take their picture (since Al's wife was taking his picture near some of the sculpture's on that part of the campus). Anyway, that's the recap.
So, the new stuff. We were supposd to meet friends at Red Lobster for dinner, but it was way crowded when we got there--we didn't consider the fact that it was a Friday during Lent, so lots of people might want fish. We ended up at Chili's where, despite some problems in our order, things were just fine. We got to the concert a good half-hour early, and hung out for a while until all of our party was there. Then we went in and checked out the merchandise (I didn't buy anything, since I already had a shirt from this tour from the Oklahoma City show). We went to our seats, which I thought were going to be in the fourth row. It turns out, though, that they took out the first two rows for this show, so we were actually in the second row! I was right in the center, and it was awesome!
Al's tour manager came out and announced that he had "good news and better news"--the "good news" was that the opening act flaked out on them, so there wouldn't be an opening act.
The "better news" was that it would just be an evening with Al. Well, Al and the band came out 15 minutes later, and the show got off to a great start. It was so exciting to be so close to the stage--the closest I'd been before was fifth row. It's such a different experience being so close, because Al is so great about paying attention to his fans in the first few rows. I don't want to give too much away, for those of you who might see him later on this tour. I have a hard time posting lots of "spoilers" for this kind of thing. But he covered many many of his songs, old and new, and did some concert-exclusive material. The show itself was hilarious as always. Man, it must take so much energy for them to put on this show night after night. Al and the band were really in top form last night. During "Wanna B UR Lover," Al came out into the audience and was hitting on all the ladies... Our friend Julianne had Al serenading her on the line "My love for you'd like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in," and Joyce was the direct recipient of the line "There just aren't enough 'O's in 'smooth' to describe how smooth I am..." There were a bunch of girls in the row ahead of us who got a lot of attention as well. There were so many parts of the show that were just gut-bustingly funny! Even though I knew all the songs by heart and had seen the concert gags a few times, it all felt fresh--cracked me up the whole time. I got a couple of souvenirs from the show--there was a roll of masking tape on the floor that was given to me as "the official concert tape" by our friends who were with us. Then the guy in the row behind me asked me if I wanted the cup he had caught that Al threw during the "Smells Like Nirvana" number. Of course, I said yes and thanked him.So, after a nice two-hour show (with encore), we headed out. We didn't have backstage passes, but we were jealous of the people who did. The three friends who were with us went home, but Joyce and I stayed to hang out at the buses to see if Al and the band would come out to meet and greet us--they do this sometimes. Well, Steve Jay from the band came out for a while to mingle with the fans. Then the organizers of the concert sent us inside to meet Al! We all lined up and went backstage--we've been there plenty of times before concerts, but it was somehow different. We stood in line, and Al's tour manager came out and said that it had been a really long week of concerts, but Al would come out and meet us. He said that they wanted to do it quickly so that Al could get some sleep, (and get back to his family, presumably), so we would have to be single-file, only get one autograph apiece, not stop to pose for pictures (we could take pictures, but not hold up the line to pose for them), and not stop and tell Al a bunch of stories. He said he likes the stories, but they just really needed to keep the line moving. Everyone seemed pretty okay with that.
So we waited in the line for a while longer. There were these really nice high-school (or college, I couldn't tell) girls ahead of us who were really excited to be there--they'd met Al before (as had I), but they were the kind of fans he knows by first name. They'd driven from Omaha Nebraska. We chatted with them for a while--one of them had baked Al cookies and brought a toy for his baby. Isn't that sweet? So anyway, we waited a little while longer, and Al came out in this great red and black leather jacket with Simpsons patches all over it. Only a few people would look totally awesome in a jacket like that, and Al is one of them. He was so personable and gracious as he met and greeted the fans--the girls in front of us got hugs and all. The girl right in front of me in line complimented Al on the great show. He said "Thanks--it was fun, and nobody got hurt, that's the important part." So I said "I did, a little." And Al said "You did? I'm sorry." Then he said "Did you really?" I replied "Well, I got a little wet" (from the cup-throwing). He said "I blame myself." And I said "So do I." It was fun. Then he noticed what I wanted him to autograph--the cup from the show, with the "official concert tape" I had been given as a label. It made him laugh. I thanked him for the great concert, and then it was Joyce's turn. She got his autograph as well, and made a comment about the "DaVinci man pose" she saw him doing earlier for his picture. He seemed surprised that she had seen this, and said "Yeah, that's the 'Vitruvian Man.'" We both thanked him again, and told him to have a great night. Then we left, completely elated. I tell ya, I love Weird Al so much! He is such a creative man, an amazing performer, and still such a down-to-earth person. He is humble and friendly with his fans, and you can tell that he really enjoys what he does for a living. It's inspiring, really.
Anyway, we had an absolutely amazing time. If any of you get the chance to see him on this tour, I'd highly recommend it. Go AL!
