A Review of the August 10th, 1997 Bad Hair Tour Concert in Spokane, WA.
The night started out with my friend and I going down to the park at 5:30pm to get good seats. When we arrived, we found many Al fans waiting in line ahead of us, but not so many that we couldn't see the front of the line from our place in it. When we were let in, we were actually able to get one of the best seating areas in the park. The opening act was slightly entertaining, but he put the whole show behind schedule when he broke the main mic stand near the end of his show. The Al roadies seemed to take their sweet time finding a suitable replacement so the concert could get underway, 45-50 minutes later than I expected. But the wait was worth it! The crowd got excited when the "Welcome to Fun Zone" song started blasting. Al came out afterward to start off the "Fun Zone" with an excellent "Since You've Been Gone," quickly followed with "Gump." "Gump" was even more fun than the music video because actual clips from Forrest Gump on the video screen behind the band in synch with the music. During the lyrics "he went to the White House, showed LBJ his butt," the scene was played when Forrest drops his drawers and moons the prez. The video screen was again put to good use in the next song, "Alternative Polka." The real music videos of the songs in the polka medley we shown at the appropriate time. They were also shown with excellent editing and timing, with the corresponding videos being sped up or slowed down accordingly(accordioningly?) so the singers looked like they were singing to Al and the band's rendition. Introducing the next number, "One More Minute," a song to which I can personally relate, Al was talking about different kinds of pain. Deciding to show us by example, he hacked into his arm with a meat cleaver, bleeding all over the stage. During the song, Al came out into the crowd, giving delighted fans sweaty scarves and a pair of boxer shorts. Next up was "Like a Surgeon," done in the style of Madonna's Truth or Dare tour. It was great, Al in his scrubs, and Rubén in his cone bra. And the chain saw and strobe lights to top it off at the end. Neat. After that came "Melanie." It's never been a favorite of mine, but I still like it and the live version was also entertaining. The next song was "Headline News," which was sung while the "re-enactment" parts of the video were playing. Great song, and the crowd, for some odd reason, ;-) went wild when they saw the Bobbit impersonator grabbing the packages of hot dogs in the fridge. Heh heh. Next up was a song which will unfortunately probably never see the light of say again, unless Al decides to ever release it on an album. It was a great parody of the "Friends" theme song "I'll Be There For You." The parody was meant to be the theme song for "Home Improvement," called "I'll Repair For You." I loved it! Al then told us he was going to sing us a traveling folk song or something like that. Some John Denverish sounding background music started playing. Rubén encouraged the crowd to clap to the beat, but Al wouldn't have it. After a few menacing glances the keyboardist, Al gave up on us and we ended up with the ever popular, ever legendary "Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota." (Which no one seemed to mind) Some schmuck reviewer in town didn't like it saying something to the effect of "it went on about 4 verses too long," but I and all other true Al fans wouldn't have it any other way. A true Al classic all the way. And then came "Jurassic Park," with parts of the hilarious clay-mation music video playing on the screen. For the next piece of entertainment came the huge medley, consisting of: "Laundry Day" (Come Out And Play), "Chicken Pot Pie" (Live And Let Die), "Spam", "My Bologna", "Alimony", "Syndicated Inc.", "Another One Rides The Bus", "Gee I'm A Nerd" (Free As A Bird), "Achy Breaky Song", "Phony Calls", "Cavity Search", "Green Eggs & Ham", and "Eat It". I loved the "Laundry Day" part, which showed Al's skill with his instrument of choice.(The accordion of course!) Up next was "Smells Like Nirvana." Always a great song, and with the local "cheerleaders" dancing on stage the crowd loved it too. And then came "Bedrock Anthem," complete with strobe lights and Fred Flinstone costume. Yet another great song. Next up was the immensely popular "Amish Paradise." I don't care if Coolio did get mad at Al for doing this song, I still love it. On the video wall, they played parts of the video with the song. (Who doesn't love Florence Henderson?) The costumes were good as well. After a video segment and quick costume change,(which I am sure had to be hectic backstage) Al came out in the big suit and sung "Fat" It was great. The costume looked great too. Right after the number, Al went around the stage, yelling out the names of his awesome band members to the crowd. Just when everyone thought it was done(well, I didn't think it was done because I had already been to the same concert last year) Al came out, accordion in hand, and thus began the performance of the legendary classic "Yoda." The whole band seemed to be having fun for their last number and the crowd really got into it. I got as close to the stage as I could, but finding it VERY crowded, I backed out a little ways as the end of the song was drawing near. Why would I do such a thing might you ask? Well, it was so I could perform the Yoda Chant, complete with the arm and leg motions which go with it. A few people standing nearby got a kick out of it because I was doing it too. Anyway, the concert ended. The security was making everyone leave who didn't have a backstage pass. But being that I wasn't able to stay late enough to get any autographs at the last concert, I wasn't about to miss this opportunity. Since the concert was held outside in a park, my friend and I just hung out towards the back of the concert area so we wouldn't get booted out. As the backstage pass people were about gone, we made our way back up to the front. We waited and waited for Al to appear again. He finally showed up and one of the two other die hard Al fans who were waiting called out his name. YES!!! Al came over to the fence and we met him and got autographs. We also asked to see if any other band members were hanging around. Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz was still there, so we met him too. My friend, being a drummer, asked Jon about the equipment he was using during the show. I had talked to Bermuda before, but not in person, so I was glad when he remembered me from my email messages. We also got to meet Steve Jay, another really nice guy. He seemed pleased that some of us fans do appreciate the other band members as well. We were only able to get those three autographs, as Jim West and Rubén Valtierra had already mad their ways to the hotel. All in all, it was a great night. One of the most hilarious things though were the instrumental solos, especially Steve's one note solo. I hope to see the Al and the band again for their next tour, whenever the new album comes out.
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