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| Event poster for our show |
Dawn and I traveled to Mountain View, California, to attend the 22 August 2025 "Weird Al" Yankovic concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre.
This represents our 7th Weird Al concert:
- 2007 - San Joaquin County Fair, Stockton, California
- 2010 - California State Fair, Sacramento, California
- 2013 - California State Fair, Sacramento, California
- 2015 - Showroom at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada (we won the “Weird Al” Yankovic Mandatory World Tour Contest)
- 2018 - The Golden State Theatre, Monterey, California
- 2019 - The Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley
- 2025 - Shoreline Amphitheatre
Getting There
Parked on Old Middlefield Way. Walked over the pedestrian bridge and through the Google complex. Ate at Zareen's Indian & Pakistani take-out restaurant. This time I had a Tikka/Madras Burrito Wrap with Paneer Tikka, and Dawn had a Naan Wrap with Veggie Samosa and a side of Tikka sauce. We shared a Mango Lassi.
Walked to Shoreline Amphitheatre. Noticeably less chaotic than the July 4 concerts. They had closed-off the escalators and routed everyone to the sidewalk access. This time Dawn had a clear-plastic shoulder-bag, so no problems with security.
Pre-Show
Used the restrooms, took a photo in front of the marquee sign, and walked to the merch tent. Purchased two CD's by Steve Jay: 1) Physical Answer (2008); and 2) Off-Bass (2025). Dawn purchased the black tour dates shirt. Bought a non-alcoholic sparkling berry drink. Felt a bit embarrassed because we were standing next to a young couple and they were in line ahead of us, but the cashier I guess decided they weren't ready and called on us first. They were gracious about it, thankfully.
Found our seats, Section 102, Row H, which was pretty good spot. As we sat down, the man to my immediate left sat down and snapped off his belt-mounted mobile phone case (his phone was OK, I think he was holding it). He and his partner seemed justifiably unhappy but rolled with it. I think I overheard him eventually saying he found he could just buy the side that broke, which he was grateful for. Over the course of the opener and concert his enthusiasm endeared him to me : ) He asked if we had seen Puddles Pity Party before and I was a bit confused if he meant live, so I said no, even though we'd seen him online. "Our people".
The weather was warm but a bit breezy, so we put on our jackets. Stadium and lawn seemed sold-out.
Weird Al Concert
Confetti cannons shot red and white streamers during Canadian Idiot, and I think a second time as well.
During the Tacky off-stage performance (shown on video), a helper put a whipped-cream pie on Puddles Pity Party's face.
The show had a seconds-long speaker glitch during the second song. Steve Jay was indicating trouble with his sound setup early on, but it seemed they figured it out. Overall I'd have preferred dropping the bass levels and overall volume about 10%, but it was manageable.
Drummer Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz had a 180-degree plexiglass wall in front of his kit, perhaps to shield his drums from the bubbles released during an early song.
Al's fat suit looked a bit slimmer than previous years.
During "One More Minute", he walked the aisle and gave scarves and a pair of heart-shaped underpants to fans.
Reddit confirms the Yoda Chant at the end does get extended a bit during each tour.
Overall, I was a bit tired this time, and by Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me I was content. Weird Al's voice seemed a bit raspier than I remembered, his hair was thinner, but he still gave his all. The crowd was happy, and we got through it without any problems.
Set list:
- Fun Zone
- Tacky
- Mission Statement
- Polkamania!
- Drum Solo
- Everything You Know Is Wrong
- One More Minute
- Another One Rides the Bus (video from Weird: The Al Yankovic Story)
- Smells Like Nirvana
- Dare to Be Stupid
- Party in the CIA / It's All About the Pentiums / Bedrock Anthem / My Bologna / Ricky / Ode to a Superhero / I Love Rocky Road / Eat It / Like a Surgeon / Word Crimes / Canadian Idiot
- Fat
- Captain Underpants Theme Song
- Now You Know
- Happy Together (The Turtles cover) (with Puddles Pity Party)
- It’s My World (and We’re All Living in It)
- Skipper Dan
- Drum Solo (Reprise)
- eBay
- Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me
- White & Nerdy
- Amish Paradise
- Encore:
- Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (Johann Sebastian Bach cover)
- We All Have Cell Phones
- The Saga Begins
- Yoda
Songs by album:
- Others: 4
- Captain Underpants Theme Song
- Party in the CIA / It's All About the Pentiums / Bedrock Anthem / My Bologna / Ricky / Ode to a Superhero / I Love Rocky Road / Eat It / Like a Surgeon / Word Crimes / Canadian Idiot
- Polkamania!
- We All Have Cell Phones
- Dare to Be Stupid (1985): 3
- Alpocalypse (2011): 2
- Bad Hair Day (1996): 2
- Mandatory Fun (2014): 2
- Drum Solos: 2
- Covers: 2
- Even Worse (1988): 1
- Medium Rarities (2017): 1
- Off the Deep End (1992): 1
- Poodle Hat (2003): 1
- Running With Scissors (1999): 1
- Straight Outta Lynwood (2006): 1
- Weird: The Al Yankovic Story: Original Soundtrack (2022): 1
Post-Show
As we exited we saw a long line waiting for what seemed like a meet-and-greet.
Walked out to the Permanente Creek Trail, avoiding people vaping and blowing smoke carelessly. 🤬 Pretty empty compared to the crush of people on July 4--perhaps more come out in the surrounding areas to watch the fireworks as well. Drove home and crashed.
Coda
The next day I had moderate bowel problems--maybe too much dairy & cheese (?) Haven't felt anything like it in some time, so I'm hesitant to say it was Zareen's (it was Zareen's). Not painful, just very, very bloated. First time that happened after eating there, so probably will fall back to getting the Naan wrap next time and skipping the paneer burrito.
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