Years before the internet and smartphones gave everyone a platform, parody culture was the domain of a small handful of entertainers who took the craft as seriously as the pop culture artists and actors they mocked. The undisputed champion of this world was none other than “Weird Al” Yankovic, whose groundbreaking talent set the bar high with his ability to put out a parody song seemingly the instant its inspiration hit the world. In the process of being in a league of his own and also grabbing the attention of generations of nerds and kids, Weird Al solidified his status as a pop culture icon of sorts and a comedic genius. These days, the spry as hell 65-year-old is doing a victory lap with his Bigger & Weirder Tour. On Thursday, August 14, Weird Al played the second of two sold-out shows at Edgefield just outside Portland, Oregon.
Perhaps this writer was naive in thinking the Weird Al crowd would be a party atmosphere. After all, he may be the least serious artist in the best kind of way, and adults and children alike have long basked in his mischievous music. Perhaps those of us who grew up listening to albums Bad Hair Day and Running With Scissors might get to dance along and laugh loudly at seeing our comedic hero in the flesh. Instead, the crowd at Edgefield was almost entirely seated. Even when Weird Al emerged from backstage singing “Tacky” – his exuberant parody of Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” most of the crowd stayed on their butts, and those who did stand were chided by those who couldn’t be bothered to get up. When he paraded through the audience during the morbidly funny Elvis-esque tune “One More Time,” few could be bothered to literally rise to the occasion.
It may have been the lack of energy from the audience or the fact that much of what makes Weird Al’s songs so funny are the music videos. Even though he relied on screens to preface many songs – maybe a little too much while letting them serve as interludes while the band changed costumes – the hilarity of the parody didn’t always translate onstage. The bright spots came in the form of the most recognizable songs in his repertoire that were also the most theatrical. He dressed like Kurt Cobain for the grungy silliness of “Smells Like Nirvana,” gurgling and kazooing the verses before the band went into full-on Devo mode on the frenetic “Dare To Be Stupid.”
The strongest moment of the show came during a greatest hits medley that featured rollicking snippets of songs like “My Bologna,” “I Love Rocky Road,” “Eat It,” and “Like a Surgeon,” all performed as if in front of a Broadway audience with Weird Al wildly serenading. “Word Crimes” and “Canadian Idiot” were standouts, making for some of the funniest tunes of the night and keeping the momentum going strong into “Fat” (performed in a fat suit, of course). This run of hits stirred up the fans almost enough to make it feel as festive as the music. To showcase the chops of his top-notch band, Weird Al even played a spot-on cover of George Harrison’s “What Is Life?” Slightly newer songs like the “Captain Underpants Theme Song” and “Skipper Dan” fell flat. Other favorites like “eBay,” “White & Nerdy,” and “Amish Paradise” all made appearances and showed that, even if the lyrics and musical references feel a bit dated, their appeal has hardly diminished.
When Weird Al first hit the scene over forty years ago – a journey hilariously documented in the 2022 sort-of-biopic-sort-of-self-parody film – he was subversive and edgy despite keeping his comedy mostly clean. In the present day, he’s earned his status as a pop culture icon and is mostly surfing the wave of nostalgia that has captured the attention and wallets of much of our society. At Edgefield, Weird Al’s performance – while highly entertaining at certain points – seemed to thrive more on the need of the audience to relive their childhood memories than it did on giving them something new and exciting. To his credit, Weird Al appeared to genuinely enjoy performing these songs, even if the audience didn’t always reciprocate his enjoyment.
