Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, Ltd.

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I’ve heard for a long time that “Weird Al” Yankovic and his live band are great in concert, but I finally got a chance to see them for myself at The Majestic in San Antonio on July 18. My wife, Jen, is a big fan of Weird Al, and she jumped at the opportunity to see him live. Ironically, we just missed him when we moved to Lubbock three years ago, and we’ve just now moved to San Antonio. Overall I was not disappointed in the show. Although the band was small, (just four guys with Al), they not only showed themselves to be excellent musicians, but also great performers; in many ways, this is more my type of musical theatre than some people talking to each other in stilted, unnatural language and then breaking into song at inopportune times.

To allow for the changes in costumes between songs (and there were many), a three projector screens showed various Al-related clips; many were from “Al TV,” with fake interviews featuring Eminem, Madonna, Celine Dion, and others.  These breaks between the music just added to the whole show, and many times the video on the screens was used to lead into live songs.  For example, the opening to the “Fat” music video was played before Al came out in the fat suit to do the song.

One of my favorite moments of the show was the encore.  The keybordist came out in a robe and played Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, followed by a chorus line of Storm Troopers and a Boba Fett.  Naturally, we expected Al to go into one of his Star Wars-related songs, but instead he did a song about cell phones (which we had previously heard in a mock interview with Snoop Dogg).  Then he did both “The Saga Begins” (to the tune of “American Pie” by Don McLean) and “Yoda” (“Lola” by the Kinks).

My only issue with this concert had nothing to do with the band.  I haven’t been to many concerts with actual seating, so I don’t know if this is normal, but throughout the concert no one stood up, except for a period at the end.  As a matter of fact, when Jen and I, plus a couple of big Al fans next to us, didn’t sit down in between “The Saga Begins” and “Yoda,” a woman from the behind us actually yelled, “Sit down!”  Now, I spent most of this concert sitting down precisely because I didn’t want to block the view of those behind me, given that no one else was standing, but I felt that this was unnatural concert behavior. Jen also felt the same way.  So, I have a quick note for people in San Antonio and elsewhere that go to concerts with seating: sitting down in a concert should be a choice you make, and if you can’t see, stand up or move.  If you can’t move, stand up.  Music concerts like this are not meant to be “sit back and listen” affairs.  I kinda felt bad for Al and his band, because if you just looked at the audience, it didn’t look like the show was going that well even though it was awesome.

Regardless of that, Jen and I had a great time, and we definitely want to see “Weird Al” Yankovic and his band again.  By the way, here’s a quick video I took of the “Cell Phone” encore, which was taken on my cell phone.  Remember, “Everyone has a cell phone…”

Amarillo Zoo

Originally uploaded by starflyer3000

I found this sign at the Amarillo Zoo. Its purpose is, of course, to let people know that there isn’t any handicap parking in this particular lot; the handicap spots are a little further down, closer to the entrance (as one would expect). Just the fact that this sign exists, however, made me laugh.