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Chapter 22: King's Dominion concert review and photos

Poodle Hat Tour, July 13, 2003, Paramount's King's Dominion

• Long Time Gone
• Before the Concert
• The Concert
• Backstage

Well, I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since Weird Al’s last CD and just over 3 years since the very last RWS concert in Bethlehem, PA, on November 4, 2000. Time flies when you are having fun.

I was soooo excited about the new CD and tour. Once again, I turned into a laser-focused fan who checked the web page every day for new tour dates and other Al-related news!

True to my RWS habits, I got on the Internet and tried to get the best tickets possible for the King’s Dominion show. I ended up with 3rd row seats!!!! Woo woo!

I invited my friends Kelly and Paul to the concert. Neither of them has been to an Al concert. Of all my friends, I think they are the ones who “get” Al and will enjoy the show the most.

Kelly and Paul are the # 10 and #11 newbies I have taken to a Weird Al concert. My motto from last tour still stands: Ridding the world of Weird Al virgins one person at time!!!!!!

Unfortunately, Paul couldn’t make it, so I had an extra ticket. Luckily, Chrissy, a friend from the RWS tour, would be there, so I decided to give the extra ticket to her.

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Before the Concert

We planned on spending the day at the park prior to the show. So, Kelly and I drove to the park together. We took sandwich stuff so we could eat outside the park. Once we got there and started preparing lunch, I realized I forgot to pack a knife. So, enterprising women that we are, we ended up using a tube of lipstick to spread the PB&J.

I am afraid of most amusement park rides, so I warned Kelly early and often that I would hold her purse while she rode the roller coasters. But, she did talk me into going on the Spongebob Squarepants 3-D ride. (A 3-D ride seems apropos for a Weird Al concert, don’t you think?) It turned out to be fun. I cackled my head off!

Chrissy arrived about 3PM. What this girl went through to get to this concert is amazing! She took a bus to as close to the park as she could then took a taxi the rest of the way. Chrissy, YOU ROCK!!! (No, Tara Lyn rocks!! What a cool gal! – Chrissy)

Chrissy and I warmed a bench while Kelly went on the wilder rides. But, we all went on the Avalanche. It’s not a roller coaster; it’s more like a sorta-coaster. Basically, it’s like riding in a bobsled – more sharp turns than steep hills. Chrissy bravely went by herself. Kelly and I rode together. After it was over and I realized I didn’t die, I think I actually liked it.

Then, Kelly deferred to us and we all went on the bumper cars. Now this is more my speed.

Chrissy wanted to go on the log flume as the last ride of the day before the concert, so we split up for a while.

Kelly and Chrissy didn’t know I had a little secret: 3 BACKSTAGE PASSES! Somewhere along the way, I casually mentioned that we would be staying later than everyone else that night. I was very pleased to learn that Chrissy has never been backstage before. She talked to Al a couple of times during his surprise meet and greets, but never had a backstage pass. YAY!!!! She’s such a great person and a huge Al fan, I was glad to do it for her!

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The Concert

The opening act, The Gaskets, won a comedy contest for the privilege of opening for Al. They were enthusiastic and are probably full of potential, but their set was way too long. Every second they were on the stage was one second Al and the guys weren’t on stage.

Because this show was at a theme park, it was probably going to be a shorter show than usual, but still… it’s the principle of the thing!!!!!

Even though we had 3rd row seats, we were still about 20 feet from the stage. I was bummed! There was a fence about 15 feet from the stage, then the first row. I just knew my pictures were going to suck.

I couldn’t wait to see which songs from Poodle Hat Al would perform. I had, with great restraint, ignored alt.music.weird-al for weeks just because I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist reading the concert reviews and look at people’s photos. I wanted this show to be a total surprise!

There was a good mix of new and old. Al and the guys performed Wanna B Ur Lovr, Trash Day, Couch Potato, and Complicated Song in their entirety. These songs were totally new to me: new costumes for Al and the guys, and the first time I had heard them performed live! I enjoyed the old stuff too, but I paid special attention to the new stuff so I could absorb all the details I could. Al came out into the audience once during Wanna B Ur Lovr. He had to jump the fence to get to the audience.

That white leisure suit is a total riot. And, Al slimed appropriately from one side of the stage to another and then out into the audience. He looked right at some lucky girl and asked if she minded if he chewed on her butt. I couldn’t see her reaction but I hope she said YES!

The medley included a few verses of eBay and Ode to a Superhero. During Ode one of the road crew came out on stage and held the harmonica for Al as he was playing the accordion at the same time. In between the harmonica parts, the guy (who is a total hottie, BTW) looked at his watch and generally looked like he wanted to be somewhere, anywhere else.

During Fat, Al, Jim, and Steve laid down on the stage and waved their legs around. This was a new twist.

The encore included Saga and Yoda. Al and the guys updated the Yoda Chant. I wish I had been a fly on the wall the day they practiced the new chant!!!!!

Of course, I danced my head off and took as many pictures as possible. After the show, I realized I totally ignored Kelly and Chrissy during the show. I just get so wrapped up in it, it’s like I have blinders on.

Unfortunately, the show had to end, but at least we were going backstage!!!!!

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Backstage

Well, we almost didn’t make it backstage and it was TOTALLY MY FAULT! I did not know to pick up our backstage passes at Will Call. So, after the show, security started shoo-ing people without backstage passes away. I said politely but firmly that Bermuda was expecting me and that I was on the guest list. I expected to get booted out anyway, but they did believe me enough to check it out.

While someone was making sure I was not a terrorist, we started joking with security about how we’ve been kicked out of better places than this and that I bet I could outrun most of them. Anyway, I felt like I had to lighten the mood because most of them probably thought I was a big fat liar!

Well, someone found my name on the guest list and security decided not to haul us away in the paddy wagon. YAY!

We go backstage and it’s the strangest backstage area I had ever seen. It looked like a cross between a kitchen and a warehouse. And, it was HOT back there. Oh my, was it hot!

Al came out first and started talking to the fans, signing autographs, and getting photos taken.

Then Bermuda came out and introduced himself to some of the other fans first. Kelly, Chrissy and I were sitting at another table. Bermuda came over to where we were and I gave him a GREAT BIG HUG. I had to make up for lost time. I introduced Chrissy (Tanaquil), whom Bermuda recognized from the newsgroup.

Then I introduced Kelly to Bermuda and told Bermuda that this was Kelly’s first Al concert. Kelly said that she was really impressed with the musicianship and the entire show. Bermuda was pleased and I was just bursting with pride!

Bermuda and I chatted for a while trying to catch up on what’s been going on since the last tour. And we all got our pictures taken with him.

Jim appeared backstage and I introduced Chrissy and Kelly and, of course, got photos taken.

I think it was after we saw Jim that Kelly, Chrissy, and I got to talk to Weird Al. I still am so star-struck by Al that I have yet to have any sort of conversation with him. I do remember telling Al that I was so happy for him and his new family. He smiled and said thank you. I got Al’s autograph on my Poodle Hat CD and got my picture taken. Unfortunately, my picture with Al didn’t come out. GRRRRR!

Kelly met Al and told him how much she enjoyed the show. Chrissy met Al, too, and there was a lot of picture taking.

I do remember one really funny event: The other fans huddled around Al and continued talking to him. At one point, about 5 or 6 of them started fanning Al with paper plates – that’s how hot it was backstage!!!!! There were a lot of “now those are real FANS” jokes. It was spontaneous and really cute!

Soon, Chrissy had to leave. She had to catch a taxi back to the bus station. Kelly and I felt bad that she was doing this alone late at night.

All the other fans left, and basically it was just Jim, Kelly, Bermuda, and me talking. Jim gave us a tour of the new band bus.

Steve and Rubén were on the bus watching South Park. Rubén showed us the photo of Al and Jimmy Fallon who opened for Al at a previous night's concert. After seeing the bus, Kelly stayed on the bus to talk to Jim and I went outside to talk to Bermuda some more.

Al got on the tour bus while Kelly was still there. He said, “I’ll miss you!” And gave Kelly a big hug. That’s about the time Skip kicked us out.

It was so late that the park was closed and all the lights were off. Security was yelling at us because “we were making a lot of people work late.” We got a ride to our car with security, who were none to happy with us, to say the least.

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The Next day

The next day, I called King's Dominion. They still had our backstage passes and they mailed them to me! I sent Kelly and Chrissy their passes along with some photos from the concert.

Life is good!

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