Weird Al Concert!

Yesterday we confirmed our nominations for Parents of the Year by taking Spencer and Josh to the Weird Al concert up on campus.

Yes, we are that cool.

We had been building up the suspense by keeping the concert a secret.  The boys knew we were going somewhere and I had been giving them hints all week.  When we were in the car and on our way to dinner we broke the news.

They were less than thrilled.

In fact, I think the general consensus from the back seat was "Aaawwwwwww" with accompanying frowns and scowls.

However, we expected this, because this ain't our first rodeo.  We quickly started talking up Weird Al, reminding them of all the songs they knew, and telling them how fun it was going to be.  By the time we got to Noodles & Company they were excited.  Josh kept jumping around and Spencer kept wandering off, oblivious to oncoming traffic.

It must be said that Noodles & Company was also pretty exciting because 1) they have one of those Coke Freestyle machines and 2) we let the boys buy cookies for dessert (something that never happens).  It also must be said that my Japanese pan noodles were a bit more blackened than I like, but I didn't bother complaining about it.  I obviously should have, since I'm still complaining about it 24 hours later.

We got to the Elliot Hall of Music and found our seats.  We had a good 15 minutes to kill before the show, so we took a few pictures.

I'm not sure why, but these boys seem to be incapable of smiling naturally while taking pictures. (See previous post.)

The obligatory selfie. (And spousey, I suppose.)

I think Spence is a bit self-conscious about his smile because of the most recent tooth he lost.  (Can you believe how big he is?  Ten in December!!)

This is what happens when you tell these two to just act natural.  I guess they are...

Josh was pretty excited.  He kept asking every 30 seconds if it was time to start the show.  Spencer just sat back and did... nothing.  It takes a lot to get Spencer to actually act excited.  (Actually, it just takes a computer...)

By 8:00 the show started.

By 8:01 Josh was sobbing in my arms.

Being the wonderfully prepared mother that I am, I totally forgot to bring ear plugs for the boys.  The noise, coupled with all the flashing lights that start off any concert, completely freaked poor Joshie out.  I felt so bad!  Finally we decided to try wadding up some paper and sticking that in his ears.  It wasn't great, but it worked and after about 15 minutes he had calmed down and started to enjoy the show.

Now, lest you think you're too good for Al or that his concerts aren't, I don't know, real, let me tell you this: Weird Al knows how to put on a show.  That man was born to entertain.  From minute one he was out on stage, singing and dancing his heart out.

Oh, and playing his accordion, of course.

There were two really large screens in the background that would show images and stuff during the songs.  Between the songs, while Al was changing costumes (Which he did.  A lot.  Seriously, Gaga has nothing on him.) there were funny skits that he had done or snippets from shows that mentioned him.  There were a TON of shows that mentioned him, actually, and I suspect that for every one we saw there were 3-4 more we didn't get to see.  If you think about it, Weird Al has been around for a good 30 years and has pretty much made himself prolific.

It was fun to watch the audience during the concert.  At any given point a good 50% of the audience was singing along, word for word.  And during his most popular songs everyone was singing; you just couldn't help it!

Here he is during "Amish Paradise".  Classic.

It was a really fun show, and great for a first concert for kids.  I loved that I didn't have to worry about the lyrics or how people behaved on stage.  Okay, there was one song where Al tried to act all seductive and sexy, but Weird Al trying to act sexy is waaaaay different than most other rock stars trying to act sexy.  Just sayin'.

About halfway through the concert Josh started claiming that he was sleepy and wanted to go home.  I told him too bad.  Then he wanted a snack.  Too bad again.  Then he complained that he couldn't fall asleep because it was too noisy.  I told him he could just go to be early the next night.  Then he claimed he wasn't tired anymore and left me alone. (Perhaps 7 is just a tad too young for concerts, even concerts as cool as Weird Al.)

Weird Al played a lot of his most recent songs, but he also did great montages of his classics; we're talkin' "Eat It", "Lasagna", "My Bologna", "Fat" and the like.  It was a pretty great set.  (Only songs missing?  The Christmas classics "The Night Santa Went Crazy" and "Christmas at Ground Zero", but seeing as how it's October we can forgive him for this oversight.)

The concert finally ended, only of course it didn't really end, we had to clap and cheer for an encore.  And encore he did!  He ended with "The Saga Begins" and "Yoda".  Everyone stood and sang the entire time, while Darth Vader and his storm troopers stood and swayed in the background.  It was pretty funny.

I just have to say that Weird Al is 52 years old, but you would never know it.  Good heavens, that man danced his heart out all over that stage, even while wearing large and probably very hot costumes.  He's a man who loves his job, that's for sure.

Since everyone was standing Lance kindly (and strongly) held Josh the whole time.

Spencer stood on his chair and I stood next to him so he could grab me when he started to wobble.

I really enjoyed the show.  More than I thought I would.  I mean, I was never a huge fan of Weird Al - that was more my brothers' thing.  And when Lance first mentioned going to this concert I was a little skeptical about spending money for it, especially on the kids. But getting to spend time with my big boys?  And that look on Spencer's face in the picture above?

Totally worth every penny.

p.s.  Lest you feel super jealous about my evening, I've put together a short montage of some of the performance. I wish I had done more, especially during more of the songs I like, but during the songs I like I was too busy singing along and enjoying myself. :)