It took 46 years, 14 albums, five Grammy Awards, well over 1,000 live renditions of “Fat,” and way too many Hawaii shirts to even contemplate counting, but “Weird Al” Yankovic finally took the stage at Madison Square Garden on Saturday evening as part of his biggest tour ever. It was an overwhelming moment for the song parody icon who spent the vast majority of his career playing venues roughly a quarter the size of the famed New York City arena, and he took a break from the carefully choreographed show after just a few songs to soak it in.
“Often times really big moments in your life come and go so quickly that you can’t really enjoy them while you’re in them,” he said as he stared out at the capacity crowd, many of whom wore Hawaiian shirts or even curly-haired wigs and faux-mustaches. “Just 149 more [shows] and I’ll be all tied up with Billy Joel.”
When Joel played the first of those 150 MSG shows back in 1978, Yankovic was taking courses at California Polytechnic State University, spinning records on the campus radio station, and sending homemade parody songs to the Dr. Demento Radio Show. He made his professional debut the following year with the Knack parody “My Bologna.”
Not a single person on the planet, Yankovic included, thought this would be the start of a half-century career that would take him to Madison Square Garden in 2025. It’s one of the most wildly improbable sagas in the history of popular music. And even though there hasn’t been a new “Weird Al” album or song parody since 2014’s Mandatory Fun, his popularity has spiked thanks to the brilliant 2022 biopic spoof Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, and the simple fact that he’s been at this so long his original fans now come to the shows with their kids or even their grandkids.
Throughout the last decade, Yankovic played around with the format of his concerts by either ignoring his famous song parodies completely in favor of deep cuts (the 2018 and 2022/23 Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tours) or teaming up with local orchestras (the 2019 Strings Attached Tour). On the ongoing Bigger and Weirder tour, he’s gone back to the classic formula of beloved song parodies, costume changes, and video interludes. But he’s turned it into an arena-ready bonanza by supplementing his longtime five-piece band with four additional musicians, including Probyn Gregory, a multi-instrumentalist who spent about 25 years in Brian Wilson’s backing band.
The full potential of this expanded band was clear on opening numbers “Tacky,” “Mission Statement,” and “Polkamania!,” where Yankovic raced through tunes by Adele, Bruno Mars, Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X, and Taylor Swift in breakneck fashion. The show shifted into another gear when they recreated the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video in “Smells Like Nirvana,” complete with cheerleaders, and Gregory playing the part of the janitor. They followed it up by strapping on red energy domes and yellow hazmat suites for the Devo spoof “Dare To Be Stupid.”
Yankovic has way too many song parodies to fit into a single show, so he created a super medley that stuffed together bits of “Bedrock Anthem,” “I Love Rocky Road,” “Party in the CIA,” “It’s All About the Pentiums,” “My Bologna,” “Ode to a Superhero,” and “Eat It” all together. That last one was a mild surprise since he’s avoided his Michael Jackson parodies over the past few years due the revelations of Finding Neverland, and simple exhaustion after playing them every show going back to the Eighties.
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Yankovic and the band cleared the stage after the parody medley, and the beginning of the “Fat” video played on the screen. (It was a beautiful sight watching 15,000 or so people screaming out “Ding Dong, man, Ding Dong.”) Inevitably, Yankovic waddled back out in his famous “Fat” suit and bounced around the stage as he belted out the 1988 hit.
We should pause here and note that even though Yankovic has looked roughly 45 for the past quarter century, he’s now 65-years-old. But the strength of his voice is practically undiminished, and he showed not a hint of fatigue throughout the extended set even though he’s hitting 67 cities on this tour, often playing three or four consecutive nights without break. It’s a testament to a lifetime of clean living and his strict vegetarian diet that he’s able to do this.
The only real missteps of the night were his baffling decision to play the theme songs to both the 2017 Captain Underpants movie, and the 2016 Disney show Milo Murphy’s Law. These may have been gestures to the many kids in the audience, but they came off like live trailers to two deeply forgettable animated projects. (They also took up space where we could have heard something like “The Night Santa Went Crazy,” “Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies” or “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota.”)
On the Ill-Advised Vanity Tour, Yankovic always stuck in a random cover song that he delivered without any attempt at parody. He kept the tradition alive at MSG by playing Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al,” complete with a recreation of Chevy Chase’s horn choreography from the video.
The main set ended with gleeful renditions of “White & Nerdy” and “Amish Paradise” that had much of the crowd on their feet. They remained there after the encore break as the stage filled up with members of the band and crew dressed as Storm Troopers, Darth Vader, Sith Lords, Jedis, and Princess Leah. This could have only meant “The Saga Begins” and “Yoda” to close out the night.
If anyone happened to stumble into Madison Square Garden at this moment, they would have thought this was the world’s weirdest Star Wars fan convention. A mechanized R2D2 was even roving around the stage. But to the “Weird Al” fan community, this was a sacred encore ritual that goes back decades. It’s been staged at innumerable casinos, state fairs, indoor theaters, and outdoor amphitheaters throughout Yankovic’s live career. To finally witness it at the world’s most prestigious arena was absolutely glorious.
It was just one stop on a tour that will help him on the road through late September. (We urge everyone to arrive early to see opening act Puddles Pity Party, a singing clown with a strong YouTube following. His hysterical set culminates with a performance of the Gilligan’s Theme song set to the tune of “Stairway To Heaven” as images from the 1995 Kevin Costner box office clop Waterworld flash on the screen.)
Yankovic hasn’t announced any plans once the tour wraps, but let’s hope he eventually starts releasing new song parodies. We’ll never tire of hearing the oldies live in concert, but he’s really going to cede the entire space to randos on YouTube? We just have to imagine his Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, and Morgan Wallen spoofs in our heads?
It’s a frustrating situation for longtime fans, but maybe it’s a little greedy to want more from a man who has already given the pop culture world so much. And now that he’s sold out Madison Square Garden, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should consider finally placing his name on the ballot. It’s time. He’s earned it.
“Weird Al” Yankovic’s July 12 show at Madison Square Garden Set List:
Tacky
Mission Statement
Polkamania!
Everything You Know Is Wrong
One More Minute
Smells Like Nirvana
Dare to Be Stupid
Party in the CIA / It’s All About the Pentiums / Bedrock Anthem / My Bologna / Ricky / Ode to a Superhero / I Love Rocky Road / Eat It / Like a Surgeon / Word Crimes / Canadian Idiot
Fat
Captain Underpants Theme Song
Now You Know
You Can Call Me Al
It’s My World (and We’re All Living in It)
Skipper Dan
eBay
Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me
White & Nerdy
Amish Paradise
The Saga Begins
Yoda
From Rolling Stone US
