Awesome topic!
1) A first-time Weird Al concert is like...You've been waiting months, no, YEARS for this, and now it's finally here. You couldn't even sleep last night because you were so excited for this moment right here. The entire day seemed to move by so slowly until now. You're here in this place, surrounded by hundreds of fellow Weird Al fans, who are just as excited as you are, but there's no way that's possible, because this is your first Weird Al concert and you are more excited about this than you have ever been for anything in your entire life. You're shaking from the anticipation as you find your seat and possibly chat with those around you, and maybe consider going to get some merch since you arrived so early. You sit in your assigned seat some more, listening to the music by other artists they play before the show over the speakers, but mostly just texting and tweeting your friends like mad about how friggin excited you are. Finally, it's 7:55, and you can't hardly wait any longer. You're sitting there, counting down the seconds until the concert is about to start. A few minutes later, Fun Zone shoots out of the speakers, and you're somehow even more exhilarated than before. At about 1:14 into the song, the lights go down all the way.....people all around you cheer and you do too. You are prepared for those 16 "HEY"s at the end of the song and pump your fist along. Your insides feel all tingly. The opening video clips come on and finally introduce Al. This is it. This is the moment you've been waiting for your entire life. And suddenly...there he is. He has a smug grin on his face, and maybe one eyebrow raised. He's got the accordion in his hands, pumping out NOW That's What I Call Polka!, and you can't help but have the widest smile on your face. There are tears coming out of your eyeballs - it's so beautiful.
2) You should DEFINITELY get a Twitter account if you don't have one already, and have your real first name on it somewhere. Tweet your own tweets and reply to Al's tweets in the months before the concert, and tweet to him the day of! He does read his @replies, and he has surprised people in the past by knowing who they are (and greeting them by name!) just from Twitter: the ones I know of being Alexis and myself. So tweet tweet tweet!!
Also, if you want to pick out a special Weird Al Concert Outfit, you should start gathering up your items now! I've gone as different song costumes in the past like the end outfit from You're Pitiful (my personal favorite, and definitely an outfit to throw yourself into the Extrovert Pool!), and I've worn my trusty Yankochicken(TM) Hat almost every time. I feel like it's fun to dress up for the concerts, but you don't have to!
(I mean, when else are you going to get the opportunity to wear a Spongebob shirt with fishnets and a tutu?)
Above all else, you can expect to enjoy yourself, and if you tweet to Al afterwards, you can expect that he'll read it and know how much you enjoyed yourself too.
3) Usually, from my experience, if you try to stay in the seating area after people have mostly gone out, security will ask you if you have a pass or not. I've never had one, so I've always been honest and left and stood by the bus instead. One time, at a concert fellow yankochick Elleanna and I went to in Texas, a guy with a backstage pass gave his to us after he was done. If there's one thing that will test your friendship with a fellow yankochick, it's deciding which of you gets a backstage pass. I ended up letting her have it, because I AM A GOOD FRIEND, DANG IT. Al didn't come out after VIP people that time either. Every other time, he'll do tour bus meets, depending on who's there and where they're supposed to be the next night. Knowing the kind of person Al is, he might feel a bit more guilted into coming out for tour bus meet and greets for the people who didn't have $265 to spend just to be guaranteed to see him after the show. I don't know what kind of venue Hard Rock Live Orlando is, but as long as the buses aren't behind locked gates and they didn't park the bus in a way that would have people standing in the middle of the street, you should definitely try your luck at the buses after the show! Especially if you see a bunch of people already standing there - that's usually a good sign. If it's only a handful of people, he may or may not come out (just from my experiences), but if you've been tweeting him and he sees you on the way to the bus, he might say a personal goodbye to you (just from my experience
)!
If/when you DO see him at the bus after the show, he will be nice to you no matter what. If you're shy and awkward with him, he will always do his best to help you out and talk you through talking to him! I've seen people break down into tears when meeting him, and he's comforted them and hugged them and helped them calm down. I know the security standing right behind you is freaking you out and making you feel like you don't have very long with your one chance with Al before they start pushing you along, but as long as you focus on Al (and ask for a hug - it's worth it!!), you will be fine I promise! Depending on the venue/security, they may or may not let you take a picture with him, though, but from my experience, nowadays they'll usually let you at least take a selfie with him, unless the security is more buttholey than usual.
People have even taken some of their fanart to give to Al....!
If you have an iPhone/Android/some other type of smartphone rather than just a camera/video camera, they can't really take that away from you - you're best off taking sneaky pix & videos on a smartphone.
I think the band is mostly okay with pictures like that now anyway. We all have cell phones, so come on, let's get real.
THANKYOUGODTHANKYOUGODTHANKYOUGOD!!ohandthankyouAlforcomingtoOrlandoeventhoughIknowyouhavenocontroloverwhereyouplaaay!
But one word of wisdom I have is to come prepared (waterbottles are always good), and bring a camera!
