Weird Al Yankovic had shtick to spare at a Sunday night appearance at the Napavine Amphitheater, as his accordion-powered parodies skewered stars from Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey to Celine Dion and Eminem.
The outdoor show looked to be a wet one during downpours that afternoon, but the skies cleared by show time. The amphitheater was nearly filled for the show, which lasted nearly two hours and covered more than two dozen of Yankovic’s hits and recent songs.
He started the night with a playful polka, paying homage to popular songs of the day, from “Beverly Hills” by the rock band Weezer to “Drop it Like It’s Hot” by rapper Snoop Dogg.
He moved on to a spoof of “American Idiot” by the punk rock band Green Day. Yankovic’s version, “Canadian Idiot,” featured references to hockey, Saskatchewan and curling. Red maple leaves flew on the video screen behind him as he sang “They think their silly accent is so cute / Can’t understand a thing they’re talking aboot.”
Yankovic played accordion for several songs. For his parody of Bill Joel’s “Piano Man” and the Spider Man movies, a heavily tattooed member of the stage crew held up a harmonica for Yankovic to play.
He didn’t talk to the audience much during the show, but he did yell out, “Napavine, Washington, are you ready for the drum solo?”
The spotlight centered on his drummer, who gave a single dramatic bash of his drum kit before falling silent.
In keeping with his quirky persona, Yankovic’s show included many such odd moments. A large video screen behind the musicians played numerous fake interviews with stars or pop culture spoofs. One sendup of 1950s instructional videos showed a swerving car with an authoritative voiceover suggesting, “Never drive anywhere with a rabid wolverine in your pants.”
Yankovic changed costumes for nearly every tune, sometimes mid-song. During his homage to the prom dance staple “You’re Beautiful to Me,” Yankovic removed several layers of shirts and pants to reveal himself in a SpongeBob SquarePants T-shirt, pink tutu and polka dot boxer shorts as he crooned, “You’re pitiful to me.”
For “Amish Paradise,” his tribute to the rap song by Coolio, “Gangsta’s Paradise,” Yankovic and his band came on stage in wide-brimmed hats and fake beards.
For his epic song about the recent Star Wars prequels, “The Saga Begins,” Yankovic and his musicians wore long, druidic robes. That song, to the tune of “American Pie” by Don McLean, was a crowd-pleaser as it recounted the early story of Anakin Skywalker and his dark future as Darth Vader.
Many in the audience sang along to, “Oh my, my, this here Anakin guy, may be Vader someday later, now he’s just a small fry,”
That song served as a natural segue to his 1980s Star Wars song, “Yoda,” a parody of “Lola” by the Kinks.
Perhaps hoping to throw his old fans for a loop, the two backup vocalists interrupted that song with chants that Yankovic soon joined. They began harmonizing on the nonsense chants with choreographed kicks and dips of the guitar. Their synchronized sighs and “oy oy oy” lyrics were synchronized with bongo drums, and ended with them pointing at the befuddled audience. After a dramatic pause, the band picked up where they’d left off several minutes before, finishing the song about the sage Yoda and young Luke Skywalker.
The crowd cheered as the band began the distinctive opening electric guitar riffs to Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Yankovic’s, “Smells Like Nirvana.” For that song, two locals took the stage in black cheerleader outfits as backup dancers (see sidebar).
For “White and Nerdy,” a parody of “Ridin’” by the rapper Chamillionaire, Yankovic rode to the microphone on a Segway scooter.
In his grande finale, Yankovic donned a fat suit for perhaps his most famous song, “Fat,” a parody of “Bad” by Michael Jackson.
He spun and danced despite his enormous girth, with the stars twinkling overhead.
“Al, come back,” one woman in the crowd shouted after he finished.
He returned for an encore wearing a Hawaiian shirt.
“I think I know which song you’ve all been wanting to hear,” he said quietly, then began singing softly, “We all have cell phones, so, come on, let’s get real.”
Hundreds of people in the crowd raised their cell phones, waving their glowing screens in the air as Al continued singing an epic song about sauerkraut, a fiery plane crash, a lucky glow-in-the-dark snorkel, and the ash trays at “the famous Holiday Inn in Albuquerque,” which are so clean you can eat soup out of them.
It was a strange end for a weird night in Napavine.
