It's all about my FAVE artist, baby!
Chapter 30: St. Louis 2004 concert review and photos
Poodle Hat Tour, August 21, 2004, Old Glory Amphitheater, Six Flags St. Louis
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It's all about my FAVE artist, baby!Chapter 30: St. Louis 2004 concert review and photos Poodle Hat Tour, August 21, 2004, Old Glory Amphitheater, Six Flags St. Louis |
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My PromiseThis concert was announced in March or April. Right then, I knew I would finally be able to fulfill my promise to take my nephew, Jacob, to his first Weird Al concert! The Fates were smiling on me. This concert was on a Saturday. That meant I could take a long weekend and see my sister and her family AND fulfill my promise to Jacob – all in one fell swoop. I haven't seen my sister and her family since Christmas. Can’t beat that with a stick! The concert was also very close to Jacob's and my birthday. We are both September babies, so this turned into one big early birthday present for both of us. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US! During Touring With Scissors, I wanted to take Jacob, a budding Weird Al fan, to a concert. My sister, Beth, vetoed that because Jacob was only 4 at the time. Her point???? Anyhoo... I made Beth promise me that I could take Jacob to his first Al concert when he was old enough. Beth, a huge fan in her own right, made sure that Jacob was an Al fan. She plays Al’s CDs in the car all the time. It’s like the Catholic Church – get them young and you have them for life! It’s the responsibility of us older fans to cultivate the next generation of Al fans, ya know! I got an email from Beth during RWS saying that Jacob could sing Pentiums. I was such a proud Auntie, let me tell you! Jacob now says that his favorite singer is Al Yankovic. He sang Yoda to my mother. I made him promise that he’d sing it to me when I see him in August. June 2004: Jacob was in Washington DC in June and swears up, down, and sideways that he saw Al there. I don’t know if this is actually true, but he believes it, and so do I! I sort of wonder what Jacob thinks of Al’s songs. He likes Yoda, but I don’t know if he is aware of the Star Wars movies -- never mind The Kinks’ song Lola! I’ll ask him when I see him. August 15, 2004: Weird Al had an 'All Al' show on XM radio today. The XM headquarters are in DC. I wonder if Al was in DC to tape this show? I wonder if Jacob actually did see Al that day? The plot thickens.......
Tickets went on sale on May 20. Of course, I stalked MetroTix to get the best seats possible. I ended up buying 15 tickets for this show! How, you ask? Here goes... I originally got 5 tickets for my sister, my nephew, 2 friends, and me. Great seats, too -- 3rd row!  Once my sister's students found out she got tickets, they wanted some good seats, too. So, I ordered 10 more. This has officially become more than a concert -- it's now the social event of the season!!!! Luckily, the tickets were free, though there was a $6 'convenience charge' each! Lovely. TicketBastards' excessive charges are rubbing off on other ticket outlets. Anyhoo... If the tickets were $35 each, I couldn't afford to do this. So, I can rest easily knowing I will treat my sister and nephew to a nice, close-up view of Al and the guys! The concert is the last weekend of summer vacation for Beth and her students. School starts the next Monday. Talk about going out with a bang!!!!! Back To Top
I flew into St. Louis and took the 2-hour shuttle to my sister's house. I hadn't seen any of them since Christmas, so I was really looking forward to it. When I got to Beth's house, I was shocked to see how much Noah, my 2 1/2 year old nephew, has grown! He's speaking in full sentences and tearing around the house like a maniac. Plus, he's just so cute! I gave Jacob the tape I made of Weird Al's XM Kids show that aired on August 14, 2004. He can't listen to it because there isn't one single cassette player in the whole house. Can you believe that?!? I popped RWS into the CD player and was tickled to death to find out Jacob knows practically every word to Albuquerque!!!! He didn't know the 'hermaphrodite' line -- I didn't step up to explain it. Jacob spent the whole weekend weaving lines from Al's songs into everyday conversation or just spontaneously starting to sing Al songs. I was so impressed! When we went out to dinner, Beth had a lot of Al CDs in the car. Jacob requested that we replay Horoscope over and over and over again. I sure hoped that we would see that song performed live the next day. We all determined what our signs were and which one of Al's predictions were ours:
When each person's sign was mentioned, we'd point at that person and yell the song at them. Jacob started reading the horoscopes in the newspaper because of this song. He asked for the horoscopes out of that day's St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Here's what our 'real' horoscopes said:
Beth recited the entire fast-paced 'Now you may find it inconceivable or at the very least a bit unlikely' lines. Boy, was I impressed. Now I am convinced its nature over nurture -- this kind of obsession must be genetic! We just can't help ourselves. Between my arrival and leaving for dinner. Beth, Jacob, Noah, and I played basketball, tetherball, and wiffle ball. It was fun. I joked that Jacob was going to be inducted into the short Jewish Basketball Player Hall of Fame. Beth laughed. We had a great dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Beth's husband, David, joined us when he got off from work. Back To Top
We got up early Saturday morning so we could get there as soon as the park opened. But first, we went to get some bagels at the Chesapeake Bagel Company. Beth knows everyone who works there and they all know her. One of the girls, Erin, asked me what we were going to do that day and I said we were going to see Weird Al. She asked why????? I told her that it was a good show and that this was my 29th concert. The more I explained, the more pained she looked. I told Beth about this. She said Erin was a great girl who was studying to be a social worker, so I should give her a break. I grumbled a little bit then gave her a break. I should be used to this by now! It took us about 2 hours to get to the park. There was a big marquee by the highway advertising the concert. We cheered when we saw it.  The concert was supposed to start at 6PM but it was pushed to 7:30 because we wouldn't be able to see the video screens until the sun went down. The park closed at 8PM, so I just knew it would be a very short show. Durn! Beth, Jacob, and I went on a lot of rides. Well, not too many rides, actually. I am a total weenie so all the roller coasters were out. If you read my King's Dominion and Hershey Park concert reviews, you'd know that I am very happy to sit on a bench holding everyone's stuff while they go on mind-bending rides. The first ride was called Shazaam! It was fun and we all agreed that it went a lot faster than we thought. It was fun. I sat on the outside and Beth and Jacob squished me the whole time! We also went on the antique car ride. Jacob drove like a maniac! He's been watching me drive too much, I guess! But, it was fun. After we got off the ride, Jacob got a shark painted on the back of his hand. Wouldn't ya know it? I lost a roll of film somewhere along the way! I am such a loser! It was pics of Beth, Jacob, and me on various rides. Of course, I couldn't lose a roll of film with concert pics on it -- i have millions of those. But NO, I had to lose the roll with practically all the day's family photos on it! STUPID! I'm SO STUPID!!!!!! ***kicks self*** We also went on the Scooby Doo ride. It was a water ride through a haunted forest and you could shoot at targets. Beth beat the pants off me 31,000 to 16,500. She beats me in every game we've ever played together. Seriously! I have never beaten her in anything. I am not the world's most competitive person, but losing all the time is no fun either.
Jacob went on a ride that allowed him to jump on a trampoline and do bungee flips.
Beth, Jacob, and I went our separate ways for a while and they went on a virtual reality ride.  Beth and Jacob teased me mercilessly about being a weenie. But, I'm used to that, too. After a while, I felt bad because Jacob wanted me to go on a ride with him. We ended up choosing the Tidal Wave, a log flume with a small drop but a BIG splash. We got totally soaked. Well, not totally -- you can see small dry spots on my shirt and I was dry below the knees. Other than that, we both took a bath.
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Remember all those students I bought tickets for? Well, they were all there along with various brothers, sisters, moms, dads, and grandmothers. I ran into them quite unexpectedly. While I was waiting to meet Beth and Jacob, some kid asked me if I was Mrs. W's sister. Surprised, I said, "Yes, are you Kyle?" It was Brian who asked me but Kyle was right there. You should have seen the look of surprise on all their faces. It was so cute! But, I'm not surprised that they recognized me as Beth's sister -- we look so much alike you could pick us out of a stadium full of people. So, I met Kyle, Brain, and Ryan. There were hugs all around. We stood and chatted for a while until Kyle's mom and grandmother arrived, then they went off to go on some rides until the show started. Right after they left, Beth and Jacob arrived, just missing them. That's when Jacob quilted me into going on the Tidal Wave. While Beth and Jacob went on The Joker, a ride you couldn't pay me enough to go on, Beth ran into Lynda and John, a fellow gifted education teacher and her boyfriend. It's a small world after all. We had extra tickets, so Beth invited them to see the show with us. We ended up using 13 of the 15 reserved seat tickets. Still not sure if Kyle found people who wanted to sit in the 5th row next to him for free. (Are you kidding me!?!?!?!) Back To Top
There was much confusion and a little bit of freaking out prior to the concert. I couldn't figure out how to pick up the backstage passes. I asked 5 different park employees and they were all wrong. Finally, Kyle figured out that they were at guest relations so we walked all the way across the park to the entrance. Kyle and his friends had been there for a while. I thought poor Kyle's head was going to explode, he was so anxious to get the passes. I told him to chill, breathe deeply, and I even rubbed his shoulders. Nothing worked. Well, 30 minutes before the show, the passes hadn't been delivered to guest relations. I was a little concerned myself. But, soon after Beth and I arrived, the passes showed up. The timing was cut so close that we didn't have enough time to get dinner before the show. But we tried. The lines were so long that we gave up. Hopefully, the show would be louder than our growling stomachs. A great thing did happen while we were waiting in line trying to get some food. Jacobs started singing the 'I want you to cut off my arms and legs with a chainsaw' line from Albuquerque! He had it down as if he wrote it himself. So, we get to the show about 10 minutes before it's supposed to start. While Beth and Jacob went to the bathroom, I bought Jacob a shirt with the anime Weird Al on it as a birthday surprise. When we got to our seats, Kyle, Brian, Ryan, and families are all there. Boy, were our seats GREAT!!!!! We had third row on the aisle. There was a bridge and steps over the barricade so Al could come down into the audience. Our seats were right at the last step. We couldn't be more perfectly situated. I "forced" Beth to sit on the aisle so she'd have the best chance of getting a scarf or boxers. Beth has this really amazing digital camera with a huge zoom. The irony was that the lens was soooo big that she was too close to get any good pics. Of all the luck!!!! But, don't worry, I took LOTS of photos. I was content to let Beth just experience the concert and leave the anal-retentive blogging to me. For a few minutes before the show started, Beth took pics of Kyle and his friends and Brian and his family as they sat in their seats. We also took pics of us crazies in the 3rd row.
At about 7:30, Skip came out on stage to make and announcement. He introduced himself as John Lisk. Who knew he had a real name? Anyway, he said we had to wait until the sun went down more before Al could 'rock us silly.' I guess that's a technical term, right? There was a security guard who sat right in front of us for the whole show. She was excited to see Al. Beth asked, "Glad you came to work today, aren't you?" Yes indeed, you better believe it! So finally, Fun Zone starts playing. I'm not sure Beth had ever heard this before -- a situation I must correct, and soon! The video screens were on the sides of the stage and not behind Al like usual. So, throughout the concert I'd point Jacob and Beth to the screens so they'd see some of the during-the-concert video clips. They saw all of the pre-show intro clips. I made sure that Jacob saw Barney get decapitated. (evil laugh!) Boy, when I said I was sure they wouldn't play a full show I didn't think they'd cut out six songs! Al went straight from Angry White Boy Polka to Complicated. My heart sank into my shoes. That meant Beth wouldn't see Dog Eat Dog and Jacob wouldn't see Horoscope. Thank goodness I didn't tell him any of the songs Al would perform ahead of time.
Al also left out One More Minute (no potential scarf or boxers for Beth), Trash Day, and Party At The Leper Colony. I know that Al had to conform to park rules and, given the opportunity, would have performed the whole show. But, since this was Beth and Jacob's only chance to see Al, I truly wanted them to see everything. Even with six songs taken out, the show was still rushed. Al just answered his ringing phone for Complicated. Jim didn't point it out to him. Despite that, it was a big hit with Jacob. When Al picked up his phone, I told Jacob this was the 'pizza song' -- one of his favorites. He really perked up then and sang most of the lyrics. I think he got a little bored during songs which he wasn't as familiar with or didn't just love to death. The roller coaster ride line got a lot of cheers, of course. I think my sister's favorite part of the show was the medley. Sometime during the medley, she leaned over to me and exclaimed, "He's playing the old stuff!" Why, yes, yes he was! Beth and I love all of Al's work, but we are very old school. Lasagna, Eat It, and Rocky XIII get us every time! (Excuse me, I'm getting all misty here..... **sob**)
Jacob even got into the act by singing Lasagna right along with us! (**sobbing continues**) Apparently, Al's love for Beth is like diarrhea, he just can't hold it in! Beth was the first person Al sang to after leaving the stage during WBUL. I was too close to take a picture of this -- I didn't want to blind Al! Beth then boggled my mind -- just as Al was going to move on, Beth mouthed "THANK YOU" to Al. How do you have the presence of mind to do that with Al right there?!?! Girl's got it going on! At the end of WBUL, when Al stops singing, he makes a silly face until the spotlight goes out. Well, the spotlight didn't go out as quickly as it usually does and he had to hold that face for almost 10 seconds until it went dark. Careful Al, your face will stick that way!
Al continued down our aisle, singing to other women and playing around with our friend the security guard. She was standing right near Al when he turned around to return to the stage. He put his arms around her and sang right to her. Does she realize how rare an in-concert Yanko-hug is? Al also climbed into the second or third row on the other side of the aisle to sing to some other girl who just did not deserve it as much as Beth did! I decided since this was my (**sob**) last show (**sob**) of the tour, I thought I'd try to get some good pics of Bermuda. My tactic this time was to try to get pics of him between songs while the video clips were playing and during the Yoda Chant when he was sitting relatively still. Got a couple of good shots -- a very low percentage of the number of photos I took.
There was one thing that seemed new to me this show -- it looked like Bermuda was wearing a black and white patterned tie over his white Pentiums shirt. I think it was his WBUL scarf, but I am not sure. Of course, I tried to get a pic of this and it didn't come out. During Nirvana, Al had a cup of water to gargle and two cups on stage which he kicked into the audience. When Al forgot the lyrics, Beth and I accepted the challenge and filled in the words at the top of our lungs!!! Did Al notice? Oh well. Whatever. Nevermind!
It didn't look like the first 3 rows were really into the show in the beginning, but by the time Al sang Amish Paradise, the entire audience was having a really good time! Beth and I basically waved our arms above our heads the whole time. I looked back and, at one point, the entire audience was waving their arms. I was soooo cool! I have to say that this audience **almost** beat out the Kansas City 2000 crowd for its enthusiasm, but not quite. I do have to say that Missouri LOVES Weird Al! The entire audience also really got into Couch Potato too! We were all pumping our fists like the true rap fans that we are. Once again, I looked back and saw a sea of angry fists. Power to the People! Jacob really liked Al in his Fat suit. When Al introduced the band prior to the encore, Beth and I were on our feet screaming and yelling. So was the rest of the audience. The encore was cool. The audience did not sit down during the entire thing. That was SOOOO cool! I love it when the audience really gets into it. During Yoda, two things happened. First of all, Al pointed the mic out into the audience so we could sing. He then pointed it at someone in the first few rows and yelled, "Sing! You're ruining it for everyone!" While this was still funny, for the first time, the front few rows weren't sitting there like lumps. Also, the best and greatest part was when Jacob stood up between Beth and me and sang every blinkin' word to Yoda!!!! Talk about family bonding! It was a great family moment which I will never forget. Well, the show ended, as it does every time. DURN! But, I was excited to see Jacob, Kyle, Ryan, and Brian meet Al and the guys. For some reason, we got 4 backstage passes instead of 3 (not that I'm complaining!!), so we were able to bring Brian's little sister with us.  Al didn't come out immediately, but Jon, Jim, Ruben, and the cheerleaders were there. The first person I saw was Ruben. I got a hug from him and introduced him to my sister.  Back To Top
I got a hug from Jon and gave him a birthday present. I made him the candied pecans that make for him for practically every show I go to, and a book on British pop culture. However, this time, there was an unexpected hitch -- when security searched my bags, they took away the pecans. There's a 'no food' rule in the park. Beth and I argued our points: they were a birthday present, they were for the band performing in the park that day, we DID have backstage passes. No, really! Nothing could sway them, so they took the pecans and threw them into a big pile of other confiscated food. That was about $20 worth of pecans they just chucked away. Jeeez! It occurred to me after the show (when it wouldn't do me any durn good) that I could have pretended to take the pecans back to my car then put them under my shirt and sneak them in. I guess I need to work on my stealth moves, huh? That was a TOTAL BUMMER because I knew Jon would like the pecans even if he didn't like the book. Jon said thank you and put the present on the tour bus to open later. Jon likes London a lot. And, I'm hoping that he's as into pop cultrue as Al is. I actually don't know if he's an avid reader or not. I sure hope he enjoys the book because I think a book is the best gift you can give. (Warning: inner geek manifestation!) At the very least, I think he'll read the chapter on the Beatles. So, Jon, even if you didn't like it, I meant well and it came from the heart!!! Back To Top
Then I introduced my sister to Jon. Beth told Jon that she was a gifted education teacher and she teaches a course on humor -- what's funny, why it is funny, etc. She uses Al's songs and videos as a major component of the course. She went on to say that she does this to make sure there is a next generation of Al fans. That's not for the kids, that's for US OLD FOLKS, so Al will keep on keeping on. We are very self-serving that way! (evil laugh!) When Jon signed Jacob's hat, he joked that the hat was dirty. Jacob laughed and said it was supposed to look that way.
Also got a hug from Jim and he signed my Coconut Hat CD. This was the second of Jim's CDs that I had signed -- the original one he signed in 2000 at the Valdosta show was stolen out of my car. I introduced Beth to Jim as well. He said he could tell that Beth was my sister. Yeah, we get that a lot.
After that, Steve came off the bus and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. I introduced him to my sister and he stayed for a few pictures.  Then Al came out. Skip had his usual instructions: No life stories, one photo, one autograph. Al and the guys had a long trip to Cincinnati that night.
Jacob was so excited about shaking hands with Al, that he promised never to wash that hand again and asked Beth to take a picture of his hand.  Jacob got Al, Jon, and Ruben's autographs, and he also one of the road crew's autograph as well. Before Ruben went back into the band bus and the cheerleaders left, Al, Ruben, Jim, and the cheerleaders posed together for a group photo.
All of the people who went backstage were with Beth and me, except one. One of the park employees was backstage as well. He had a picture of Al riding one of the roller coasters and asked Al to sign it for him.
After we left Al and the guys, a security guard walked us all the way across the park to the parking lot where Kyle's mom and grandmother, and Brian's Dad were waiting. Along the way, Jacob threw away his backstage pass. I was horrified and asked him why he did that. He asked me why he'd want to keep it when he had Al's signature on his shirt? LOL. It's all a matter of perspective, I guess. While we were walking, all the kids swore that they'd wear their concert jerseys to the first day of school the next Monday. When we got outside the gate, the security guard took a couple of pictures of the whole gang! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!
Once we got in the car, I remembered that I never did take a picture of the marquee, so I made Beth stop the car while I took a quick picture. I think I had to walk about a quarter of a mile across a grassy field to get close to the sign. When I got back into the car, my shoes were totally soaked and covered with grass clippings. Flashback to the St. Louis 2000 ConcertSometime during the concert, I remembered how much fun Beth had at the St. Louis 2000 concert -- she even got to meet Al which was a total fluke! I also remembered that I took a picture of her enjoying the show. I decided to try to take the same kind of pic during this show:
Come to think of it, we had 3rd row seats on the aisle for the 2000 show. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself! The next day, I was awakened by the pitter patter (ahem, clumping) of little feet overhead. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't. As I was getting out of bed, Beth knocked to tell me that breakfast was ready. So Beth, David, Jacob, Noah, and I had pancakes, bacon, and OJ. After breakfast, I was talking to Beth in her bedroom when the gruesome twosome (Jacob and Noah) came in and started wrestling on the bed. It was so cute, I just had to take pictures!
Beth decided that the boys needed to run around and blow off some steam, so we went to the park. It was a beautiful day with a nice breeze.
Kyle's Concert ReviewWhen I heard the news that Weird Al was coming to St. Louis, I decided that I had to get "Yankotized" on more time this tour. So, I told Mrs. W that I HAD to go, and I asked her to ask her sister to get me five tickets. Being the coolest teacher in the world, she asked the coolest sibling in the world (Tara Lyn) to get me the tickets. And of course, she did. Six Flags was great but, my two friends and I could not wait for the concert. So, we rode rides, and drank soda, and just had a jolly good time, until my mom called me and said to meet at the van for lunch. It was about 3:00 and we were going to resume our plans and go to Mr.. Freeze (the ride we were heading to before my mom called). We later found out that if we would have gone to Freeze as planned before, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE THE SAME TIME AS AL!!!!!!!! So, we have blamed my mom for this ever since (I LOVE YOU MOM!!!). After a fun day at the park, the main event was drawing near. Now, we had to get our backstage passes but the boneheads at Six Flags had NO CLUE about ANYTHING!!! Now we finally got the passes, and my younger brother and I headed to hit one last ride. The line , though, was too long so we had to just head to the concert. But it was worth. WE WERE GOING TO SEE WEIRD AL!!!! So were getting all excited and they come out and say that they will have to start late, but we'll do it for Al was our motivation. Finally..... Fun Zone came on. At the end of Fun Zone, here comes Al. (sob) He was actually here... Weird Al. He started playing his accordion and we were screaming at the top of our lungs. I was a little disappointed that they had to cut some songs (stupid Six Flags people) but it was still a great show. The show was over, and we put on our passes. WE WERE GOING TO MEET WEIRD AL! I was not able to meet him at the last concert I went to (it was 11 days after his parents died) so I was super excited to meet him this time. We got to meet the band and the cheerleaders (I could write an entire review on them) but then AL!!! He took a picture with the cheerleaders and then signed Jacob's hat and my little brother's shirt. Then he signed my Poodle Hat CD and then took pictures. We didn't get a chance to talk to him, because they were on their way to Cincinnati so he signed then went back into the bus. It was so fun, I just can't wait to see him again! Back To Top
It took a while, but a concert review finally appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. (Despite my best efforts, the three pictures below are still rather large. Please be patient while they load.)
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