In which she has a sequel to 'In which she has no words to describe anything athe friggin' moment...
So yesterday. WTF, yo?
Pre-show!drama:
The day started out a bit iffy from the get go. I wasn't even positive I was going to the concert until almost noon, when (on my lunchbreak) I was able to call the venue box office and actually buy my ticket. (For future reference, waiting until the day of the event to secure your spot is not a good idea. Just so you know.) Luckily, they had an available seat that was much better than the few Ticketmaster had left, so I wasn't completely shafted up in the nosebleeds.
A few hours later, I get out of work, run home, change (of course, into my Couch Potato shirt), hop on the computer to flail around in anticipatory glee for a bit, and then jump in the car to head down to Melbourne. For the most part, the ride was pretty uneventful. Sure, my car has a tendency to ride a little rough (I mean, I drive the shit out of that thing!), but I'm pretty used to it by now; plus, I had plenty of Al CDs to keep me occupied.
When I get to about 30 minutes from the venue (over an hour from both my apartment and my dad's house), I hear the most horrifying thing possible. This terrible, godawful flapping sound. I had a flat. On top of that, it's less than an hour unti the start of the concert. (D'oh!)
Of course, it wasn't until I pulled over and got out of the car that I realized just how bad it was. Not only was the tire completely deflated, but the thing was fucking shredded. Blown to bits. Bonfire fuel.
Unfortuneately, this tard has never experienced any kind of serious auto-emergency before, so I had no idea how to change a tire, get help, etc., especially considering the fact that I was so far from home. So, I did the only thing I could think of: CALL LARRY.
Luckily, I had talked to her only about 20 minutes before that, and she had mentioned that they were already there at the venue. I didn't really know what I was expecting her to do, since she wasn't right there, but her being the closest thing I have to a best friend I didnt really have much choice. Thank God she understands that I'm the kind of person to absolutely freak out in those kind of situations, because a few minutes later she was saying that they were hopping back in the car to come and get me.
Being the person I am, this still leaves me a total wreck, so while I'm waiting for them to come to my rescue, I call my dad and dry-cry to him. He starts saying that I should call FHP, or Road Rangers, or even 911 if I have to. Of course, I refuse to do anything of the sort, because I don't want resources wasted on me and my trivial problems when chances are there's someone out there in a much worse position that actually does need help. (I should mention here that, even if I was splayed out on a sidewalk somewhere profusely bleeding out of every possible orifice known to science that I'd still refuse any kind of help. That's just me. I guess I don't think very highly of myself.)
Anyway, since I won't make the call, my step-mom on the other end decides she'll do it for me, so now I've got at least a dozen or so people headed in my direction, and/or paranoid that I'm gonna get side-swiped by an 18-wheeler or something. Great, right?
Luckily, the guy who was driving Larry and everyone else around is an even worse driver than me (read goes faster than the queen of fast), so they get there in about 10 minutes, long before any creepy/scary public servants do. A few minutes later, they've taken off the last bit of what used to be my right-front tire, put on the spare, and have decided to drop my car off at the nearest exit (the less I drive on it, the better) and take me the rest of the way to the show.
Then there was some seriously crazy shit going on in the car and I don't even know what happened.
Actual!show fangirling:
Luckily, after many delays, we still manage to make it to the venue before the show started, so nothing was missed. (Except for me swinging by the merch table, but this is easily remedied by online shopping!) I must say, after listening to Weird Al since I was at least seven (*thinks* OMG, that's like, fifteen years!), the man stills knows how to rock it. (Err, polka it?)
Needless to say, all the video clips/ALTV segments were excellent, particularly the "interviews" with Kevin Federline (you know you're on the rock bottom of the music industry food chain when Weird Al calls you, not only "effing delusional", but a giant douche bag), Keith Richards (o.O?), Paul McCartney (who has apparently been spending waaaay too much time with Keith), and Celine Dion ("I could smell the cooking of my mother"). Also, during the intro montage, there were clips from Evil Dead (though sadly, this time it was just one of the laughing animal heads; no Bruce), Freaks (you know you're too into old-timey circus culture when you go to a concert and say "OMG, it's Schlitze the Pinhead!"), and (this one killed me!) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (it was Dropo!).
the only one missing was the ever classic 'Red Snapper' segment. *weeps*
Let's see if I can remember which songs he did (in no partcular order, since I have terrible memory)... Well, obviously he did a load of material from Straight Ouuta Lynwood. Almost all of it, infact, (except, of course, my favorite track: 'Virus Alert'). The show started with 'Polkarama!', which I pretty much knew it would, one, because if I recall correctly, he almost always opens with a polka, and two, because the first words of it are "let's get it started'. Of course, being the title track (and his first Top Ten hit since, like, 'The Saga Begins') 'White & Nerdy' had to be done. The audience reaction when he rode out on stage on a Segway was insane. Almost as crazy as the shouts of glee whenever they showed a clip on the vid-wall of Donny Osmond's fantastic dance moves! 'Canadian Idiot', while not one of my favorite songs, was highly enjoyable, particularly when, during one of the bridges, he threw in a reference to SCTV's Great White North. 'I'll Sue Ya' was pretty good, mostly for his insane!laugh towards the end, but also because he got so into it that he lost his wig halfway through the song and had to hold it to the top of his head. 'Weasel Stomping Day' made it in, though not in the form of an actual performance; they showed the clip from Robot Chicken, during one of the costume changes. 'Close But No Cigar' was also present, which makes me glad since it's one of my favorite tracks off the new album. 'Confessions Part III', 'Do I Creep You Out' (how scary is it that Al in a wig looks more like Taylor Hicks than Taylor Hicks does?), and 'Trapped In The Drive-Thru' all apeared, too, during the requesite medley (which also included 'Couch Potato', 'A Complicated Song', 'Ode To A Superhero', 'Ebay', 'Pretty Fly For A Rabbi', 'Gump' (YAY!), 'Bedrock Anthem' (another one of my all-time faves), and a few other I can't recall.
Songs he played all the way through included 'You're Pitiful' (during which he stripped!), 'Wanna B Ur Lovr' (which, aside from being a riot and a half to see live, since he works his way all around the audience, made me think of Mylar the entire time (omg, how lame am I?)), 'Why Does This Always Happen To Me?' (love it!), 'It's All About The Pentiums' (which I maintain even now, is the single most video of his where Al is at his hottest wtf, did I seriously just say that?!, due mainly to the Silver Suit of DOOME!), 'Amish Paradise' (btw, notice how more people remember this song than Coolio's original), 'Smells Like Nirvana' (classic!), and 'Eat It' (the man pulls off the red leather jacket better than Michael did!). (Again, I'm sure there were other songs done, I just can't recall them at the moment.)
During the show I got a little thrown off, though. For years, he's ended each show with Ruben coming out dressed as Emperor Palpatine, after which he does something coolly ominous on his keyboards, which is followed by the rest of the guys coming out in full Jedi robes, playing 'The Saga Begins', followed by 'Yoda', the 'Yoda Chant', and a last round of 'Yoda'. Well, last night they did this only about an hour into the show.
At first I started thinking "WTF, it can't be over like that! There's so many classics he hasn't even touched yet!" Then I realized, "Holy shit. It's only half-time, and they've got something even bigger planned for a finale. *squee* "
Anyhoo, the show starts winding down (only in the sense that the end is near; if anything they're playing with even more energy and passion than when they started), and they cut playing while they run the intro video for 'Fat'. (The fact that so many people in the audience all shot their fists up at the right moment made me extremely proud.) So out he comes in THE SUIT, does his thing, and as the song is ending names off the band members as is usually done at the end of a concert. So people started leaving. Dumbasses.
A few minutes later, the band comes back out in the standard Hawaiian shirts, and as a sort of joke!encore, plays 'Everybody's Got Cellphones, So Let's Get Real'. (and yes, everybody took out their phones for this one (myself included)). It was awesome.
But! Notice I said joke!encore. They weren't done! Oh, nowhere near it! Not long after they wrapped up 'Cellphones', Al gets into one of his "moods", and the band busts out with this crazyfast guitar riff that I instant recognized. You know what it was?
ALBUQUERQUE!!ftw!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's right! The show he only does live once per tour because it's so damn long (12+ minutes)! Apparently they decided to mix it up this year, and are doing this all throughout the tour. But OMG, ALBUQUERQUE! *dies* It is THE NUMBER ONE song on my favorites list of his! I &hearts it like whoa!
Granted, there were some truly classic moments he did last time I saw him that were missing from this show, (like 'One More Minute' (wtf, no boxers!toss?!), 'Melanie', 'Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies' (seriously, because UHF is one of my favorite movies), and 'Your Horoscope For Today' (another one of my faves), not to mention 'Jerry Springer', 'Jurassic Park', 'Lasagna', and 'My Bologna'.
All in all, it was an amazing experience, even if we didn't make eye contact this time. *wahmbulance* I can't wait until he tours again!
Post-show!drama:
So, after that wonder-filled time, it was sadly time to head home, so we all pile in the car, and head back to the exit where we parked my ride (it was in a Lowe's parking lot, btw). They drop me off and leave, I get in my car, start it up, and begin driving when I notice that the needle on my fuel gauge is at dead empty. O_O Once more, I begin to freak out. "Oh shit, what if my fuel line got damaged and I can't hold any gas!" "What if someone siphoned my tank!" "What if I get stranded out in the middle of BFE and can't get home, and a creepy trucker/hitcher comes along and rapes and/or kills me, and I end up missing work because I have to be in at six-effing-forty-five in the morning?!" "WTF?!" (Keep in mind, I was going to have to drive over 70 miles in the middle of the night to get home, and spare tires are only good for about 50 or so miles. Plus, I'm dead tired, and had no means of obtaining any form of caffeine.)
Luckily, after many frantic calls to my dad (during which I woke him up more than a few times) I grew a (quite small) pair of balls and made it home. Now the needle is working fine, without me doing anything to it. >.<
Thus saith the nerd.
[EDIT: Despite this already being one of my longest posts, something I saw on ubergeeks required I make an edit. Today is a day when two sci-fi fandoms collide, as May 25 is a geek holiday for both Douglas Adams fans (Towel Day) and Star Wars fans (Universal Day of the Jedi). May the Force be with all the hoopy froods I sass out there!]
Pre-show!drama:
The day started out a bit iffy from the get go. I wasn't even positive I was going to the concert until almost noon, when (on my lunchbreak) I was able to call the venue box office and actually buy my ticket. (For future reference, waiting until the day of the event to secure your spot is not a good idea. Just so you know.) Luckily, they had an available seat that was much better than the few Ticketmaster had left, so I wasn't completely shafted up in the nosebleeds.
A few hours later, I get out of work, run home, change (of course, into my Couch Potato shirt), hop on the computer to flail around in anticipatory glee for a bit, and then jump in the car to head down to Melbourne. For the most part, the ride was pretty uneventful. Sure, my car has a tendency to ride a little rough (I mean, I drive the shit out of that thing!), but I'm pretty used to it by now; plus, I had plenty of Al CDs to keep me occupied.
When I get to about 30 minutes from the venue (over an hour from both my apartment and my dad's house), I hear the most horrifying thing possible. This terrible, godawful flapping sound. I had a flat. On top of that, it's less than an hour unti the start of the concert. (D'oh!)
Of course, it wasn't until I pulled over and got out of the car that I realized just how bad it was. Not only was the tire completely deflated, but the thing was fucking shredded. Blown to bits. Bonfire fuel.
Unfortuneately, this tard has never experienced any kind of serious auto-emergency before, so I had no idea how to change a tire, get help, etc., especially considering the fact that I was so far from home. So, I did the only thing I could think of: CALL LARRY.
Luckily, I had talked to her only about 20 minutes before that, and she had mentioned that they were already there at the venue. I didn't really know what I was expecting her to do, since she wasn't right there, but her being the closest thing I have to a best friend I didnt really have much choice. Thank God she understands that I'm the kind of person to absolutely freak out in those kind of situations, because a few minutes later she was saying that they were hopping back in the car to come and get me.
Being the person I am, this still leaves me a total wreck, so while I'm waiting for them to come to my rescue, I call my dad and dry-cry to him. He starts saying that I should call FHP, or Road Rangers, or even 911 if I have to. Of course, I refuse to do anything of the sort, because I don't want resources wasted on me and my trivial problems when chances are there's someone out there in a much worse position that actually does need help. (I should mention here that, even if I was splayed out on a sidewalk somewhere profusely bleeding out of every possible orifice known to science that I'd still refuse any kind of help. That's just me. I guess I don't think very highly of myself.)
Anyway, since I won't make the call, my step-mom on the other end decides she'll do it for me, so now I've got at least a dozen or so people headed in my direction, and/or paranoid that I'm gonna get side-swiped by an 18-wheeler or something. Great, right?
Luckily, the guy who was driving Larry and everyone else around is an even worse driver than me (read goes faster than the queen of fast), so they get there in about 10 minutes, long before any creepy/scary public servants do. A few minutes later, they've taken off the last bit of what used to be my right-front tire, put on the spare, and have decided to drop my car off at the nearest exit (the less I drive on it, the better) and take me the rest of the way to the show.
Then there was some seriously crazy shit going on in the car and I don't even know what happened.
Actual!show fangirling:
Luckily, after many delays, we still manage to make it to the venue before the show started, so nothing was missed. (Except for me swinging by the merch table, but this is easily remedied by online shopping!) I must say, after listening to Weird Al since I was at least seven (*thinks* OMG, that's like, fifteen years!), the man stills knows how to rock it. (Err, polka it?)
Needless to say, all the video clips/ALTV segments were excellent, particularly the "interviews" with Kevin Federline (you know you're on the rock bottom of the music industry food chain when Weird Al calls you, not only "effing delusional", but a giant douche bag), Keith Richards (o.O?), Paul McCartney (who has apparently been spending waaaay too much time with Keith), and Celine Dion ("I could smell the cooking of my mother"). Also, during the intro montage, there were clips from Evil Dead (though sadly, this time it was just one of the laughing animal heads; no Bruce), Freaks (you know you're too into old-timey circus culture when you go to a concert and say "OMG, it's Schlitze the Pinhead!"), and (this one killed me!) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (it was Dropo!).
the only one missing was the ever classic 'Red Snapper' segment. *weeps*
Let's see if I can remember which songs he did (in no partcular order, since I have terrible memory)... Well, obviously he did a load of material from Straight Ouuta Lynwood. Almost all of it, infact, (except, of course, my favorite track: 'Virus Alert'). The show started with 'Polkarama!', which I pretty much knew it would, one, because if I recall correctly, he almost always opens with a polka, and two, because the first words of it are "let's get it started'. Of course, being the title track (and his first Top Ten hit since, like, 'The Saga Begins') 'White & Nerdy' had to be done. The audience reaction when he rode out on stage on a Segway was insane. Almost as crazy as the shouts of glee whenever they showed a clip on the vid-wall of Donny Osmond's fantastic dance moves! 'Canadian Idiot', while not one of my favorite songs, was highly enjoyable, particularly when, during one of the bridges, he threw in a reference to SCTV's Great White North. 'I'll Sue Ya' was pretty good, mostly for his insane!laugh towards the end, but also because he got so into it that he lost his wig halfway through the song and had to hold it to the top of his head. 'Weasel Stomping Day' made it in, though not in the form of an actual performance; they showed the clip from Robot Chicken, during one of the costume changes. 'Close But No Cigar' was also present, which makes me glad since it's one of my favorite tracks off the new album. 'Confessions Part III', 'Do I Creep You Out' (how scary is it that Al in a wig looks more like Taylor Hicks than Taylor Hicks does?), and 'Trapped In The Drive-Thru' all apeared, too, during the requesite medley (which also included 'Couch Potato', 'A Complicated Song', 'Ode To A Superhero', 'Ebay', 'Pretty Fly For A Rabbi', 'Gump' (YAY!), 'Bedrock Anthem' (another one of my all-time faves), and a few other I can't recall.
Songs he played all the way through included 'You're Pitiful' (during which he stripped!), 'Wanna B Ur Lovr' (which, aside from being a riot and a half to see live, since he works his way all around the audience, made me think of Mylar the entire time (omg, how lame am I?)), 'Why Does This Always Happen To Me?' (love it!), 'It's All About The Pentiums' (which I maintain even now, is the single most video of his where Al is at his hottest wtf, did I seriously just say that?!, due mainly to the Silver Suit of DOOME!), 'Amish Paradise' (btw, notice how more people remember this song than Coolio's original), 'Smells Like Nirvana' (classic!), and 'Eat It' (the man pulls off the red leather jacket better than Michael did!). (Again, I'm sure there were other songs done, I just can't recall them at the moment.)
During the show I got a little thrown off, though. For years, he's ended each show with Ruben coming out dressed as Emperor Palpatine, after which he does something coolly ominous on his keyboards, which is followed by the rest of the guys coming out in full Jedi robes, playing 'The Saga Begins', followed by 'Yoda', the 'Yoda Chant', and a last round of 'Yoda'. Well, last night they did this only about an hour into the show.
At first I started thinking "WTF, it can't be over like that! There's so many classics he hasn't even touched yet!" Then I realized, "Holy shit. It's only half-time, and they've got something even bigger planned for a finale. *squee* "
Anyhoo, the show starts winding down (only in the sense that the end is near; if anything they're playing with even more energy and passion than when they started), and they cut playing while they run the intro video for 'Fat'. (The fact that so many people in the audience all shot their fists up at the right moment made me extremely proud.) So out he comes in THE SUIT, does his thing, and as the song is ending names off the band members as is usually done at the end of a concert. So people started leaving. Dumbasses.
A few minutes later, the band comes back out in the standard Hawaiian shirts, and as a sort of joke!encore, plays 'Everybody's Got Cellphones, So Let's Get Real'. (and yes, everybody took out their phones for this one (myself included)). It was awesome.
But! Notice I said joke!encore. They weren't done! Oh, nowhere near it! Not long after they wrapped up 'Cellphones', Al gets into one of his "moods", and the band busts out with this crazyfast guitar riff that I instant recognized. You know what it was?
ALBUQUERQUE!!ftw!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's right! The show he only does live once per tour because it's so damn long (12+ minutes)! Apparently they decided to mix it up this year, and are doing this all throughout the tour. But OMG, ALBUQUERQUE! *dies* It is THE NUMBER ONE song on my favorites list of his! I &hearts it like whoa!
Granted, there were some truly classic moments he did last time I saw him that were missing from this show, (like 'One More Minute' (wtf, no boxers!toss?!), 'Melanie', 'Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies' (seriously, because UHF is one of my favorite movies), and 'Your Horoscope For Today' (another one of my faves), not to mention 'Jerry Springer', 'Jurassic Park', 'Lasagna', and 'My Bologna'.
All in all, it was an amazing experience, even if we didn't make eye contact this time. *wahmbulance* I can't wait until he tours again!
Post-show!drama:
So, after that wonder-filled time, it was sadly time to head home, so we all pile in the car, and head back to the exit where we parked my ride (it was in a Lowe's parking lot, btw). They drop me off and leave, I get in my car, start it up, and begin driving when I notice that the needle on my fuel gauge is at dead empty. O_O Once more, I begin to freak out. "Oh shit, what if my fuel line got damaged and I can't hold any gas!" "What if someone siphoned my tank!" "What if I get stranded out in the middle of BFE and can't get home, and a creepy trucker/hitcher comes along and rapes and/or kills me, and I end up missing work because I have to be in at six-effing-forty-five in the morning?!" "WTF?!" (Keep in mind, I was going to have to drive over 70 miles in the middle of the night to get home, and spare tires are only good for about 50 or so miles. Plus, I'm dead tired, and had no means of obtaining any form of caffeine.)
Luckily, after many frantic calls to my dad (during which I woke him up more than a few times) I grew a (quite small) pair of balls and made it home. Now the needle is working fine, without me doing anything to it. >.<
Thus saith the nerd.
[EDIT: Despite this already being one of my longest posts, something I saw on ubergeeks required I make an edit. Today is a day when two sci-fi fandoms collide, as May 25 is a geek holiday for both Douglas Adams fans (Towel Day) and Star Wars fans (Universal Day of the Jedi). May the Force be with all the hoopy froods I sass out there!]