As for the new format, I absolutely love it. I'd seen several shows before these and I knew these would be different. I was just as excited for these as any of the others. Besides the obvious, one thing that I noticed was that Al and the guys really seemed to be enjoying themselves. I'm sure they always do, and I had seats in the second row for one of the Mandatory Tour shows so I've seen just how much of a goofball Steve can be, but for some reason they just seemed more...I don't know...maybe content is the word? Like they were actually soaking up what was happening instead of just putting on a show. And Al being able to talk to the audience and tell "an amusing anecdote" to go along with the song was something we've never been able to see before. Great stuff. If this is the format from now on, I would still sign up for every show I possibly could.
Since this was mentioned above, I'll pick my own brain a bit. Back in my junior high chorus, we had what was called "The Great Novelty Song Kit" which included Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh and Purple People Eater, and a few others. Knowing those songs existed somehow brought me to Dr. Demento, which in turn introduced me to Al. I discovered him somewhere around Alapalooza and Off the Deep End. The Jurassic Park video sticks out in my head as very early. I kind of lost track of him for a while during and after college, around the Poodle Hat and Straight Outta Lynwood days. I don't remember what exactly happened to bring my attention back around, I thought it was The Saga Begins but that timeline doesn't make sense. Hmmm. Anyway, my first show was part of the Alpocalypse tour. I've been a close follower ever since. So much so that when I got a new puppy last summer, his name is Alfred.
) I love the full production shows, but I think I like this format even more!