I know this review's been a long time coming seeming that the concert was back in October, but I've been really busy so without further delay I give you.

Lennard Promotions Presents
'Weird Al' Yankovic
Live at the Brisbane Concert Hall

14/10/2003

Well where do I start? My friend Michael and I are huge Al fans so a concert seemed to be the most obvious way to pay homage.  The whole day we'd been hearing interviews on the radio the line, a whole multimedia experience drilled in the back of my mind).  Reading up on other people's reviews I knew in a way what I should expect, huge screen, lights, smoke, your everyday rock concert supplies.  After a long afternoon wait we were soon dressed in our Hawaiian shirts and on our way into the hall.  We knew we had good seats (third row), but we didn't know they were that good.  We could see everything happening on stage, nothing was out of view.  After what felt like an hour wait the warm up act was sent on.  My apologies to the stand up comedian I didn't catch his name.  But that aside he was surprisingly good, although at times his jokes did seem to drag on he seemed to loosen up the crowd and we were now ready for the main event.  Another 15 minute wait later Al and the band were on to a cheer not matched the entire night.  The two huge projection screens came into play from the very beginning.  The opening performance of Angry White Boy Polka immediately got us used to the two massive screens, both playing the exerts from the respective film clips being parodied on stage.  Al happily completed his polka and we were set for the evening.  Before continuing with another song Al told us something he knew we were all thinking, "you don't want to hear endless polka songs, what you really want to hear is a disgusting song about the gruesome effects of leprosy".  And so the night continued with Party At The Leper Colony.  A quick costume change and Al was out in his best Avril Lavigne get up for A Complicated Song.  He also managed to mimic Avril's whole physical nature as well so the song was performed really well.

You'll have to excuse my memory of the entire song list.  I knew after the first five songs I had no hope of remembering the order for my review so I just relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the night.  The songs I do remember but in no specific order were, Fat, Home Delivery, Smells Like Nirvana, It's All About The Pentiums, Amish Paradise, Dog Eat Dog, Wanna Be your Lover, Yoda, The Saga Begins, Beverly Hill Billies, One More Minute, Your Horoscope for Today, Couch Potato and Trash Day just to name a few.  All of which featured elaborate costume changes, which most people expected but still found amazingly entertaining (Although I'm sure the fat suit has seen better days).  Michael and I also felt very blessed to have been spat on with the water in Al's cup during Smells Like Nirvana, I haven't bathed since (I'm kidding). 

During these elaborate costume changes we were all lucky enough to view some of the interviews from Al-TV all of which are completely hilarious and I wont even come close if I quote them so I'm not even going to try.  If you missed them on the Comedy Channel in Australia or TV1 in the US then I'm sorry but you'll have to view it by other means.  Here I am trying to rack my brain for something else to report but nothing is coming to mind. It's not that the concert was boring (far from it) it's just impossible to report on the intricacies of everything that makes the concert so enjoyable.  As Al and the band dramatically entered the stage in their best Star Wars and Jedi costumes we all (well at least the big fans) knew that the night had finally come to a close.  We all listened to Yoda and the Saga begins (some with tears in their eyes, most with lighters in hands) and cheered for what we knew was the second last time, the band continued with the fabled Yoda chant, Michael and I in awe for this was the first time we'd heard something spoken quickly enough to rival the bridge of Hardware Store.

The night came to a close and the band exited the stage, the crowd soon followed exiting the theatre.  One thing lingering on my mind, I'd read all these great reviews about people staying after the concerts and meeting Al but their didn't seem to be any signs of which going on so I sadly exited slightly disheartened but still walking away satisfied with my first 'Weird Al' Yankovic concert.

  I'm sure my friend Michael will (un) politely point out a few things that I missed but as for all you people who missed this tour, I'm afraid you're just going to have to wait until the next album is released and hence the next tour.  Hope you liked the review.  Sorry it's been so long coming, I hope I didn't disappoint, although I'm sure I did.