Dare to be sickly

May 30, 2018 9:02 AM

Have you seen the current Weird Al Yankovic concert tour? If so, please help me with the timing.

I've got tix for tomorrow night's show, but I'm spending tonight in the hospital recovering from surgery. I'm probably getting discharged tomorrow and will never have a better chance to finally hear Mr. Frump played live. But I'm not in great shape, I'm still getting played out from sitting in a chair too long so I want to manage my exposure.

If you've been to a show on the current tour, (Ridiculously Self-indulgent Ill-advised Vanity Tour 2018 only - it's apparently quite different from the usual tour), can you help me with the timing:

My ticket says 8 PM.
When and how long does the opening set from Emo Phillips take?
When does Al take the stage?
How long does the main show run?
Does the audience generally stand or stay seated? (I'm at the back of the lower level)
Anything else you can think of that might be relevant?

posted by Homeboy Trouble to Media & Arts (10 answers total)

Best answer: I saw him at the Apollo!

Emo started not long after 8, and went on for about 30-40 minutes. Don't skip him. He's hilarious.

Al and the band took the stage at 9, and played for about 90 minutes, with a very minimal encore break.

The audience was seated the entire time, save for standing and cheering at the end of the main set, and the end of the encore, though I was in the lower balcony. YMMV on that one. I didn't see anyone standing looking down into the Orchestra, though.

If you're in the back, you might be able to get up, walk to the back and stand up for a little while, if you need to, assuming you have an aisle seat.

Enjoy the show!
posted by SansPoint at 9:09 AM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I saw the show at the Apollo too! And I concur with what SansPoint had to say except that I sat in the upper balcony and everyone remained sitting aside from after the main set and before the encore.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 9:12 AM on May 30, 2018

I also saw the show at the Apollo and agree with everyone! There wasn't really any standing (and I found the seats in the Apollo uncomfortable and wished I could have stood).

And Emo Phillips was way funnier than I expected - if you're up to it I would catch his act too.
posted by Neely O'Hara at 9:24 AM on May 30, 2018

Easiest thing is to call and ask the venue-- they know the set times exactly and are almost always happy to share them. If you tell them you have a medical condition I can't imagine they'd withhold it from you.
posted by matrixclown at 9:25 AM on May 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

This is tangential to your question since I saw Weird Al on an earlier tour but! You might want to contact the theater and see if they have an accessible seating area. This might mean

- large chairs
- more comfortable chairs
- a place to sit near the back where you could move around
- something else

I am a house manager at a theater and one of the things that makes me happiest is helping people with accessibility challenges have a full, rich, theater experience to the best of our ability to bring it to them. Recovering from surgery is definitely something for which you could ask for reasonable accommodations, so at least consider that as something in your toolkit and get well soon.
posted by jessamyn at 9:25 AM on May 30, 2018 [17 favorites]

Another person chiming in from the Apollo. I concur with all, except I'm going to be the lone "meh" of dissent for Emo Phillips. I would try to find a few Youtube clips of him and get a taste to see if he's to your taste (I think I'm just not, but that's me). I mean, he wasn't awful, but if I had to choose between "go see Emo Phllips right after surgery" or "wait a little longer and skip Emo, but be more comfortable", I'd have gone with the latter.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:42 AM on May 30, 2018

I have seen Weird Al twice in concert, and lemme tell ya, it is well worth it! Absolutely stupendous.

As for the standing/sitting thing, for the Running with Scissors concert everyone seemed to stay seated, but the Tacky concert everyone stayed standing up, so it probably really depends upon the crowd. Def. just contact the venue and ask for accommodations.

AND HAVE FUN!!!! SO AWESOME IS HIS CONCERTS!!!
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 11:08 AM on May 30, 2018

We went to two shows, the first was in a high school auditorium and the crew had to do about 15 minutes of setup after Phillips wrapped up, so it was a bit over an hour past the start time when Al began (and he did play Mr. Frump). The second show was in a huge theater (not really the intimate venue promised, but whatever) and I think they were able to get going more quickly because it was about 45 minutes after the start time when Al began to play. At both the set was basically the same length, no intermission. FWIW, if you like UHF's absurdist humor, I think you'll like Phillips. And if you're into Al's non-parody songs, you're in for a treat. There were only 3-4 songs in common between the two shows, and both times I felt lucky to be there. Oh, and everyone remained seated except for applause at the end of the set and encore, both times.
posted by wnissen at 11:15 AM on May 30, 2018

On my leg of the tour, Phillips' set was pretty meh. There was an extended bit on violence towards his ex-wife that fell particularly flat.
posted by zamboni at 2:31 PM on May 30, 2018

Response by poster: Jessamyn probably has the most general best answer; in this case the venue (a casino) didn't have a box office contact besides referring you to Ticketmaster's toll free number which I assume is the same as howling into the nearest void. And I'm not a phone person.

In the end, I had a great time - decided to skip Emo because I tuckered myself out earlier by walking two blocks to fill a prescription and I just didn't have enough spoons to see the whole thing at the end of a long day. But as someone who grew up with all the old albums on cassette, it was a real treat.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:54 PM on May 31, 2018 [4 favorites]