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Title: "Weird Al" Yankovic Live! - The Alpocalypse Tour
Read MoreDirector: Wayne Isham Producers: Brian Volk-Weiss, Dana Marshall, Jay Chapman, Jay Levey, Jim Sharon Format: Color, Widescreen, NTSC Studio: Comedy Central Blu-ray Release Date: October 4, 2011 Run Time: 86 minutes Setlist: Polka Face, TMZ, Smells Like Nirvana, Skipper Dan, Party in the CIA, CNA, Let Me Be Your Hog, Canadian Idiot, Wanna B Ur Lovr, Medley (a bunch of songs), Amish Paradise, Craigslist, Perform This Way, White & Nerdy, Fat, The Saga Begins, Yoda Retail Price: $22.98 (Bluray)/$19.98 (DVD) I've been listening to Weird Al since Dare to Be Stupid and I can tell you that Weird Al writes two kind of songs: the parody and tribute songs. I like his tribute stuff, which is almost all original music and idea. For instance, "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" is kind of a rip off of Harry Chapin's 30,000 Pounds of Bananas.
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I was pretty excited to receive "Weird Al" Yankovic Live!: The Alpocalypse Tour DVD for review this week. The DVD/Bluray was released last Tuesday.
To be perfectly honest, I already knew that Weird Al put on a pretty amazing live show, having bought his Weird Al Yankovic: Live from 1998.
Comparing this new Alpocalypse to this old Live DVD, his show performance had vastly improved! The band is tighter than ever and Weird Al perfected his stage presence with relevant costume changes throughout his set. I believe the DVD presentation might have edited out all the unnecessary and awkward silence between all the costume changes (because they look almost instant when viewing the show).
And speaking of editing, the program director did a great job cutting and choosing between the five or six camera angles, delivering a pretty good experience. Sure, most of the closeups and shots are of Weird Al, because let's face it, he is the star here.
The title, The Alpocalypse Tour, is misleading because that would suggest that most of the songs done live are from his latest album, Alpocalypse. As you know, I wasn't a fan of the new album because most of the songs he parodied on the new album are unknown to me (simply because I don't listen to popular radio so the songs and the jokes are lost on me.) However, this live show did an excellent job mixing in some "newer" songs and a whole lot of classic Weird Al hits like, "Amish Paradise", "White & Nerdy", "Fat", "The Saga Begins", and "Yoda"!
Highlight from his performance is "Smells Like Nirvana", obviously a parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", mostly thanks to the two anarchist cheerleaders and the awesome live gurgling! The fat suit in "Fat" was pretty amazing too.
As for the extras, from past experiences, I was expecting this to be a pretty bare-bones release, but there are three extra live songs "Frank's 2000-inch TV", "You Don't Love Me Anymore" and "You Make Me". No idea why they were left off the program, it was probably because it needed to fit under 90 minutes for a Comedy Central special. There is also two bonus videos for "Polka Face" and "Perform This Way" (the big hit video featuring Al's face on a woman's body).
If you're an old or new Weird Al fan, this should be on your buy list. The tight closeups and intimate shots will make you think like you're there. I attend a lot of live shows and simply put, Weird Al put on some of the best show I've ever seen. This DVD capture Weird Al on the top of his game.
"Weird Al" Yankovic Live!: The Alpocalypse Tour was released last Tuesday via Comedy Central. I recommend taking advantage of the Bluray version since I believe the show was shot originally in HD. If you don't have a bluray player - they're cheap now!
The Live DVD sounds awesome? See him in person!
To be perfectly honest, I already knew that Weird Al put on a pretty amazing live show, having bought his Weird Al Yankovic: Live from 1998.
Comparing this new Alpocalypse to this old Live DVD, his show performance had vastly improved! The band is tighter than ever and Weird Al perfected his stage presence with relevant costume changes throughout his set. I believe the DVD presentation might have edited out all the unnecessary and awkward silence between all the costume changes (because they look almost instant when viewing the show).
And speaking of editing, the program director did a great job cutting and choosing between the five or six camera angles, delivering a pretty good experience. Sure, most of the closeups and shots are of Weird Al, because let's face it, he is the star here.
The title, The Alpocalypse Tour, is misleading because that would suggest that most of the songs done live are from his latest album, Alpocalypse. As you know, I wasn't a fan of the new album because most of the songs he parodied on the new album are unknown to me (simply because I don't listen to popular radio so the songs and the jokes are lost on me.) However, this live show did an excellent job mixing in some "newer" songs and a whole lot of classic Weird Al hits like, "Amish Paradise", "White & Nerdy", "Fat", "The Saga Begins", and "Yoda"!
Highlight from his performance is "Smells Like Nirvana", obviously a parody of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", mostly thanks to the two anarchist cheerleaders and the awesome live gurgling! The fat suit in "Fat" was pretty amazing too.
As for the extras, from past experiences, I was expecting this to be a pretty bare-bones release, but there are three extra live songs "Frank's 2000-inch TV", "You Don't Love Me Anymore" and "You Make Me". No idea why they were left off the program, it was probably because it needed to fit under 90 minutes for a Comedy Central special. There is also two bonus videos for "Polka Face" and "Perform This Way" (the big hit video featuring Al's face on a woman's body).
If you're an old or new Weird Al fan, this should be on your buy list. The tight closeups and intimate shots will make you think like you're there. I attend a lot of live shows and simply put, Weird Al put on some of the best show I've ever seen. This DVD capture Weird Al on the top of his game.
"Weird Al" Yankovic Live!: The Alpocalypse Tour was released last Tuesday via Comedy Central. I recommend taking advantage of the Bluray version since I believe the show was shot originally in HD. If you don't have a bluray player - they're cheap now!
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Weird Al in his fat suit for "Fat" |
The Live DVD sounds awesome? See him in person!
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Oct 8, 2011: Charlotte, NC - Ovens Auditorium
Oct 9, 2011: Durham, NC - Durham PAC Oct 11, 2011: Red Bank, NJ - Count Basie Theatre Oct 13, 2011: Allentown, PA - Allentown Symphony Hall Oct 14, 2011: New Bedford, MA - Zeiterion Arts Center Oct 15, 2011: Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre Oct 16, 2011: Concord, NH - Capitol Center for the Arts Oct 18, 2011: Albany, NY - Palace Theatre Oct 19, 2011: Washington, DC - Warner Theatre Oct 21, 2011: Morristown, NJ - Mayo Performing Center |
Oct 22, 2011: Huntington, NY - Paramount Theatre Oct 23, 2011: New York, NY - Beacon Theatre Nov 2, 2011: San Luis Obispo, CA - Christopher Cohan Nov 4, 2011: Santa Cruz, CA - Santa Cruz Civic Nov 5, 2011: Reno, NV - Grand Theatre Nov 6, 2011: Oakland, CA - Fox Theatre Oakland Nov 7, 2011: Santa Rosa, CA - Wells Fargo Center Nov 9, 2011:Modesto, CA - Gallo Center for the Arts Nov 11, 2011: Anaheim, CA - City National Grove Nov 12, 2011: Los Angeles, CA - Pantages Theatre |
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