04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

2018 - Now with opening act Emo Philips!

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bizarreblair
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Re: 04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

Post by bizarreblair »

Muppetboy09 wrote:From what I'm seeing online, looks like Dr. Demento made an appearance last night!
Not only Dr. D...he was sharing an opera box with Suzanne & Nina! Glad I got to see this one! Hope Al & his family have fun in Chicago!
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Re: 04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

Post by Yankomaniac »

Every time they do two sets in one city, one or the other is always sooo much better. Tonight's will be the much better one.
What a racket they're makin', Jack, they keep me up at night playin' their electric guitars!!
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Re: 04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

Post by Elvis »

Muppetboy09 wrote: Beat on the Brat
:drool:

Oh man. I was hoping this would be part of the regular rotation of songs. But when it became obvious it wasn’t I was holding out for a show I was at. Makes sense he would do it when Dr. Demento was there though.

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Re: 04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

Post by bizarreblair »

Yankomaniac wrote:Every time they do two sets in one city, one or the other is always sooo much better. Tonight's will be the much better one.
Don't jinx it!! (But I'm hoping so, too.) Last night's show was great, but included fewer "never before this tour" songs than I would hope for. Still, with "Beat on the Brat", Dr. Demento, etc. - so glad I was there! Looking forward to another fun night!
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Re: 04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

Post by ThisGuyMarty »

Anyone got the setlist for tonight?
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Re: 04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

Post by TwineBallorBust »

Hi! New to the board and to seeing Al live, too. Last night was my first show, tonight my second.

Other than the medley literally every song was different. 0 songs in common with last night besides medley. Don't think there were any tour premieres though. Saga Begins replaced by Yoda to close. Cover was last train by the monkees. Other songs played off the top of my head: Hog, One More Minute, Santa Went Crazy, Nature Trail, You Don't Love, My Own Eyes, Young Dumb Ugly, Sue Ya, Bob, Albuquerque... forgetting some of course. In an uber to the train station now, will prob say more about the show soon! UHF. Opened with Melanie. Horoscope. Off the top of my head I know Closet with Vanna, Mime, Ground Zero were NOT played as well as, again, anything performed last night. Hope that satisfies inquiring minds for now!!

Edit: frump, velvet elvis, your age, midnight star were played and looking at the setlist.fm page for songs done this tour as a reference I'm almost positive that's all
And a bass solo of course
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Re: 04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

Post by bizarreblair »

Melanie
Bob
Velvet Elvis
Nature Trail To Hell
The Night Santa Went Crazy
Midnight Star
I'll Sue Ya
One More Minute
Let Me Be Your Hog
My Own Eyes
Your Horoscope For Today
When I Was Your Age
UHF
Mr. Frump In The Iron Lung
Young, Dumb And Ugly
You Don't Love Me Anymore
Albuquerque
(Bass Solo)
Unplugged Medley

Encore
Last Train To Clarksville (The Monkees)
Yoda
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Re: 04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

Post by Yankomaniac »

Right on. Great set. You should have just posted that in the 2018 setlist thread, has to go in there anyway. :)
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Re: 04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

Post by TwineBallorBust »

"YOU GOTTA BUY ONE IF YOU WANNA GET ONE FREE" - My two nights seeing Al

Some more detailed thoughts on the shows... This was my very first time seeing Al, and obviously it's a pretty unique start. It was so much fun, though. This tour is such an exciting, honestly kind of surreal concept -- when else am I going to get to see any artist do a set full of SO many songs that he hasn't touched in years, decades, or ever at all?? And doing not just largely different but entirely different sets both nights... that's incredible. High points for me personally?

- Fun Zone. I didn't know this one til the night before the show, but it was an easy one to learn, and right away I hoped they did it. And they did! Surprised it's not being done a bit more on the tour, but that makes me feel all the luckier for having gotten it, I suppose. Incredibly fun song and a great opener to really prime you for the mood of a Weird Al show, hype up diehards for a night full of obscure things they'd rarely if ever get otherwise, and set the stage perfectly.

- Twine Ball!!! I had my own Twine Ball or Bust sign, and a Bernie Sanders mask to match - bought online just for the show. I was really hoping to get this one and figured it'd be later in the set if he did play it, so getting it right away was such a treat! One of my absolute favorites. He led into it perfectly (I was excited as soon as he said "This is a song about America" - I knew it had to mean this one!), built it up so well, it sounded very clear, and I'm a big fan of the song. Love the "You can't see out of the side of the car, because the windows are completely covered..." part - that line and "long and winding interstate" crack me up. Before this tour even started, I was looking at setlist.fm stats for a couple favorites, and I was a bit surprised this one hadn't been touched in so long... so given that, knowing that I was at a rare show that got it, on the first tour to touch this song since around the time I was born, how exciting! And I love how the homey, sentimental feeling of it is played totally straight for this specific, esoteric roadside attraction.

- Dog Eat Dog. I actually didn't know this song in the slightest before the show; when he introduced it as "if David Byrne were a pencil-pusher", I was hooked. Hilarious concept and I've been loving this song over the past day or so. I'm happy it's gotten a bit of play over the years, it's one of his more unique concepts, the comedy relies on both the style parody and the lyrics themselves, and they come together really nicely. Of course I couldn't make all that out live but I was still entertained by the concept, and when he was pretending to be running up the corporate ladder while seated in his chair, the lights flashing on opposite sides to mirror him... it was a really goofy, funny effect that had me laughing.

- Why Does This Always Happen To Me?, one I'd heard of years ago but never actually heard. I figured that while some of the songs I didn't know would be hard to get into as a result, as at most shows, there would also be ones that it'd be nice to have never heard before, because all the jokes would be fresh -- and this song completely fell into that category. When the concept of the song sunk in and I remembered having heard about it a while back I loved it, and the final verse... stabbing a guy in his face so his knife becomes marginally duller... smurfin' hilarious.

- Don't Download This Song!!! One of my all-time favorites! I thought it'd been done once or maaaybe two times before this tour, but apparently it hadn't been performed a single time? I love this song. "Morpheus or Grokster or Limewire or Kazaa...." is legendary, and this is probably one of the least likely to get played after this tour, since some of the references are dated and since it's more political/topical than he usually gets. Of course I was taken out of the zone a bit because, despite a very respectful crowd in general, this was the one point at which some people around me chose to film for a bit too long - but still. So cool to be able to say I've heard this one live, and my excitement when he talked about a "charity" song for the recording industry was through the roof.

- I REMEMBER LARRY!!! Oh man, on the way to the venue this was one of the last ones I listened to. I specifically thought "This would be a great live song -- I mean, I'm not even hoping to get it, because I won't, but this would be so fun live." I had this album as a kid, so this was one of the very first ones I ever knew, and it's got so much energy... man, I was rocking out hard in my seat. Amazing. Probably the highest point of the night.

- "I woke up this morning........ and I went back to bed" and "My brothers and sisters all hated me, 'cause I was an only child" are never not funny.

- The Saga Begins! When he said he'd close with a deep cut I actually expected it, making a song that'd usually be unsurprising a total shock. This is another one I listened to earlier in the day but, given the tour, figured I wouldn't get. Of course I love this song and the disco ball lighting everything up was beautiful.

I had so, so much fun the first night and was happy I went (even the songs I'm not naming here that aren't huge personal favorites, like Craigslist or CNR, were still fun) -- and was happy I had a second ticket, figuring he'd mix up a good amount of the setlist. I did not figure that, medley notwithstanding, he'd mix up literally the entire thing! And this setlist was even better, without question. Like I was totally satisfied with the first one -- Larry! Download! Twine Ball! Fun Zone! -- but this one stood out even more.

I also went into the second night with a bit of extra perspective: "Airline Amy" was another one I'd never heard before that night, but listening to it, it hit me that while the words I could make out weren't as funny as some other Al songs... it was still a sheer novelty song. And that made me realize that in addition to Al being a comedy artist, a parody artist, and a strong musician, at times a lot of his songs are just sheer smurfin' novelty. And like, how many bona fide novelty artists are there out there today? And how many good ones that aren't forced that you can see live? I've developed a soft spot for some novelty music over the past few months (thanks to "Christmas Don't Be Late" playing at my work a couple times), so this gave me another kind of angle to hear the second show from. Which, spoiler, enhanced "Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung" immensely.

- Bob was a more fun and especially more well-written song than I remembered, having not heard it in a very long time. I'm also surprised to look now and see that it hadn't been played live in a decade; for some reason I thought it was from a bit earlier in his career and definitely had thought it was a live staple.

- NATURE TRAIL TO HELL!!!!!! :onfire: Granted I somehow mistook the first few seconds of the opening for "Everything You Know Is Wrong" (!) and had to settle down from THAT shock... but Everything You Know aside, this is like the #1 song I hoped to get this night. This is another one that even a year or so ago, before this tour was announced, I looked up on setlist.fm and was like... man, not since the 80s? I love this one! I was disappointed by that! So God, seeing him dust this one off... Obviously it was great in itself, I connected hard with the lyrics and did little hand motions off to the side to some of the imagery :killed: (I was in a corner so I wasn't all up in anyone's business), the red lighting all over the stage, the novelty of it... The false end got me even though I know the song well, and overall it was a great blend of, like, fun and silly subject matter but also a smurfin' fun, energetic, intense rock song that I got really, really into. Listening to this song now, and knowing I'll always be able to say I saw that one live, and being able to say that when before this tour it hadn't been played live since over a decade before I was born... I feel so, so lucky that I got to see this revival of one of my favorite songs!

- The Night Santa Went Crazy!!! I'll admit that when he mentioned a Christmas song, I was hoping for Ground Zero - but I ended up being happy he played this, instead. I've known this song since I was maybe five or six years old; it feels like a staple Al song to me and really a staple song in general, since I've known it before I really "knew songs" or listened to music. And hearing it live... God, this song had me in stitches in a way it hasn't since I was a little kid. I don't know when the last time I actually laughed at this song was before last night, but I was honestly cracking up in my seat. It's such a smurfin' absurd premise, it's so absurd that someone actually a) wrote a song like this, b) wrote it in as much graphic detail as he did ("You can't hardly walk around the North Pole without stepping in reindeer guts"), and c) it gets more absurd as it goes along, even! The National Guard and the FBI, Santa Claus smurfin' dying, the movie rights... It's hilarious, the song just kept going and going - like, before you even have time to process the concept itself, because the underlying idea behind the song is still so absurd to begin with and could carry the song all the way, he could keep it simplistic, but instead it just keeps going and gets even more ridiculous. The Extra Gory lyrics got a huuuge response from the crowd, of course. And God, like, if I could go back in time and tell six-year-old me he'd get to see this song live... like, how would he even react to that? I've known this song for almost all of my life, since back when I still believed in Santa. And last night I saw it in a new light and appreciated what a hilarious, bizarre entity of a song it is.

- The string of fantastic, fantastic gets continued with a SERIOUSLY obscure one I'm amazed he's even pulling out on this tour with such frequency, one I hadn't known til Thursday night but looked up then and loved immediately... MIDNIGHT STAR!!! Another one that hadn't been done in >30 years before this tour... and I'm a lot less surprised this one hasn't been done. I've known this song for a far, far shorter amount of time than I imagine most people here have, but I was still SO hyped to see it because this here, man, this is the definition of a hidden gem or a deep cut. This is suuuch a rare, vintage song but it's absolutely satisfying novelty, just a charming little quirky ode to those dumb Weekly World News type things everyone sees.. great, very fitting subject matter for a song from an artist like Al, and musically I honestly unironically love this song? Like the 80s feeling of it seriously lands with me, the vocals in the chorus are nice, yet in the verses they're juuust goofy enough for it to still be a novelty song and, I don't know, if this song is one I'd known longer it would 100% be the top one I'd want to see him bring out on this tour. This song to me is exactly what this tour should be about and like, actually getting to see this deep cut from his second album done live in 2018... amazing. I LOVED it, absolutely loved it, and feel so lucky to have gotten it, because I am lucky, because this tour is such a fortunate thing.

- Let Me Be Your Hog was built up hilariously. I figured that song would add no value to a show but sure enough he managed to make it.

- Your Horoscope For Today -- another favorite when I was around 10 or so years old, very fun energy live, very catchy. I actually found this one more entertaining in the chorus than anything, since that's what drove home what a fun concept for a song it is. And I'm surprised he doesn't pull this one out with the band.

- When I Was Your Age!!! How has this one never been performed before tonight? I fully plan on quoting this song to my kids if I have them (unlikely) or my siblings' kids if they have them (more likely) just to confuse them, and the guitar in this song is actually pretty smurfin' great, so I shut my eyes, grooved along with it, it was awesome. Has been a favorite for a whiiile and getting it live was very pleasing.

- UHF!! Massive response from the crowd on this one. I admittedly haven't seen the movie in full (I've been meaning to), but I'm still a huge fan of the song -- and am amazed to see this is yet another one that's NEVER gotten a true performance during a show before this tour?? I figured while watching it that it must have at least been done a handful of times when the movie came out. Wow. Love this one, was hoping he'd do it, and again feel so fortunate to have gotten it live. Just a solid, solid song musically and one I'd really been hoping for, and a total rarity.

I'm in a bit of a rush now since, spoiler, I ended up buying a ticket to tonight's Milwaukee show and my friend will be here to pick me up soon. :P

- lmao, Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung. THIS is another thing this tour is absolutely made for, THIS is sheer smurfin' novelty, and just... when else in my life will I ever get to see anything like THIS performed at a concert? How on Earth is this song a thing I've actually seen at a concert? Just... amazing.

- ALBUQUERQUE!! I did a muuuch longer post on Facebook about the shows (it was more of a complete summary), and since I'm now seeeriously pressed for time and a 12-minute song had a bit to write, I'll just paste:
Al then did another ironic lead-in, saying that now that he was feeling mellow from the previous song, he wanted to continue that, he wanted to keep the show at a quiet pace, keep it flowing along nice and slowl....followed, of course, by MASSIVE smurfin' DRUM BEATS roaring into one of the most obnoxious smurfin' songs ever written, something I knew had to be coming, "ALBUQUERQUE". (https://youtu.be/1765UzjAQxI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) No way you do two straight shows at the same place on this tour and don't play it ONCE, right? His smurfin' obnoxious, sprawling, 12-minute masterpiece that I've known since I was VERY young and considered it one of the most epic, glorious pieces of art ever. Obviously, this was a great song to get on a number of levels -- again big excitement from the crowd as soon as he started it, being able to see the guy's freaking facial expressions while he delivers all this obnoxious stuff in the most over-the-top voices that at times make the album seem subtle... All the sheer borderline-nostalgia of having known this song since before I ever even really KNEW songs, respect for the sheer endurance it takes for him to deliver such a giant, screaming mess as this for 12 straight minutes without smurfin' it up... The classic ditties of "If you'd like to make a call..." and "I had my tray table up..."... singing along with everyone on the "Aaaaalbuquerque!!"s, the call-and-response at the end... "A part-time job at the Sizzler! I even made employee of the month after I put out that grease fire with my face!"... Hearing the sauerkraut bit at the beginning of the song and knowing how it comes back around... How smurfin' obnoxious the song is was in itself hilarious, now that I (having not actually listened to this song once in a couple years; I intentionally didn't listen to it leading up to the show, wanting to see how much I'd remember) recognize that that's the point. Like the screams about fighting with the snorkel-thief, the chainsaw, the smurfin' noises he makes when the weasels are all over his face... there were some kids next to me who I could tell were NOT such big fans of this song and seemed to not understand what was even going on, and that just added to the hilarity to me, honestly. Like imagining them, or someone else who doesn't really know this song, hearing it for the first time and it's just so smurfin' over-the-top and only gets more and more so... As a kid I just took that at face value for the lolrandom factor, but now I appreciate it on the level of recognizing how intentional it is. This song is so smurfin' dumb and annoying from the very beginning, and then when he gets into pantomiming weasels scratching his face until it bleeds, it's like "...what the smurf even IS this?" It's a masterpiece. Of course the length itself is also part of the comedy (I never even noticed the "To cut a long story short" line, let alone its irony, until people laughed at it here) -- and to that end Al drew the "You got any X donuts?" segment out basically as long as humanly possible... and hilariously, at the end - when he loses his train of thought - he smurfin' WENT BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SONG. I figured that, once he hit the sauerkraut part, he'd jump back to the end - which he did - but the sheer possibility of him going through it all again (which I'd have loved) was glorious, and so was the hilarity of even pretending to do so. Going with all this, I bet I'd love this song even more at a future show (I have to imagnie it'll get played again at some tour or another) since I also get now how the smurfin' random pointlessness of it is, just like the length and the obnoxiousness, the point. This song's entire purpose is basically to make you question on every level why the smurf it even exists, especially if you're suddenly hearing it live, with lots of fun singalong moments, too. And the sheer smurfin' energy and focus it has to take the guy do to this song for like 15 minutes straight - and to DO it, to do it RIGHT, to not only remember every single word but to deliver ALL of them on the level they deserve - is seriously, seriously admirable.

- - -

I appreciated ABQ SO much more live, is the idea.

Overall, this pair of shows was just excellent. Greaaat comedy, great music, some total high points in terms of songs I've known for ages, for a couple days, or am only just getting to know now. I had SO much fun and am seriously in love with the concept for this tour, things like Nature Trail or Ground Zero or Larry or Midnight Star being brought out, seeing all the excitement for them in the earliest threads on here drives home even further to me how just amazing it is that fans are getting to witness all these utterly untouched songs. I love love love it, it's like Weird Al's even more extreme version of Springsteen's "Devils & Dust" tour. Just an absolute ocean of untapped material to where even as he stops introducing new songs to the tour or whatever, every single night is almost like the first night of the tour because so, so much of this is more or less uncharted waters. This tour is an absolute gift for people who are invested in him, an absolute gift for anyone who has that one song they figured he'd never touch again -- or those multiple songs. I would definitely type more words here and wish I could but am off to another show now!!! And am sure it won't be my last, assuming there's another tour after this! He's gone from "that guy I liked a lot when I was 6, then liked a lot again when I was 12" to someone I'm appreciating more and hope to see again.
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Re: 04/06-04/07/18: The Vic Theater, Chicago, IL

Post by hungerfan »

Awesome write up of the shows you saw! 27th is almost here!!! :)

BTW, that last line makes me question life. How is it that everyone is not more like me and many others here on the forum? "That guy I liked a lot when I was 9, then liked a lot again when I was 12, then even more when I was 16, oh and even more once I hit 18. Did I mention by 21 he was still the most listened to artists on my playlist?! Oh now I am 44 and my spotify playlist has more of his songs than all the other songs combined." :)
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