After “Weird Al” Yankovic wraps his “vanity” tour in the isles next weekend, there’s no sign that the five-time Grammy-winning recording artist plans to slow down any time soon. In fact, there might even be plans ahead for Broadway.
Best known for his hit song parodies, Yankovic takes a different path with “The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour,” with performances Saturday at the Blaisdell Concert Hall and March 26 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. The shows, which end the second leg of a massive international tour, will feature original song selections from his 15 studio albums rather than his music video parodies.
“We have never played Hawaii before as a band. Why is it the one state in the U.S. that we have never played? I’ve always wanted to play there,” said Yankovic, who has a residence in Hana, Maui. “It’s always been difficult because our normal tours are big multimedia, theatrical productions with costume changes and props and computer servers and screens. It’s a lot to transport so it was always a money-losing proposition. This tour is a very understated, low-key tour in terms of production — basically just me and the band onstage sitting on stools and playing instruments. It’s about as low, low-production as you can get, so we were finally able to do some shows in Hawaii. … These are the first actual ‘Weird Al’ shows ever in Hawaii.”
As with Yankovic’s previous “Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour” in 2018, the set list comprises almost entirely original songs. Fans will know some of them from Yankovic’s albums of years past, such as the comedic rock song “Lame Claim to Fame” (“I bought a second hand toaster / From a guy who says he knows Brad Pitt”) or the reggae song “Buy Me a Condo,” which celebrates the easy life (“I gonna buy me a condo / Never have to mow da lawn”). From uptempo rock to acoustic ballads, many of the original songs are written in the style of another musical artist. There may also be some of Yankovic’s favorite oldies by other artists.
Hawaii residents will notice a familiar face with Yankovic onstage. Grammy Award-winning guitarist (and also part-time Hawaii resident) Jim “Kimo” West has been a member of Yankovic’s band since 1983.
Yankovic also comes to Hawaii celebrating the steady success of his second comedy film, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” which was released in November and is streaming on the Roku Channel. Daniel Radcliffe stars in the title role. A tongue-in-cheek press release described the film as a biopic that “holds nothing back, exploring every facet of Yankovic’s life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like ‘Eat It’ and ‘Like a Surgeon’ to his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle. … a truly unbelievable journey through Yankovic’s life and career, from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time.”
“I heard it’s doing really well,” Yankovic said about the film. “Roku is certainly very, very happy with the numbers they’re doing, although they’re not sharing them. It seems to be doing really well at it and it’s getting all sorts of awards now, which I was not anticipating. So as far as I’m concerned, it’s doing great.”
Longtime fans are likely familiar with the story about when Yankovic was in high school in Southern California in the mid-1970s and got the chance to meet Dr. Demento, the host of a syndicated radio show that played novelty songs of all types. Yankovic gave Demento a cassette tape and the good doctor played one of his originals on his show.
Three years later, in 1979, Yankovic was hosting a college radio show as “Weird Al” Yankovic and sent Demento his “My Bologna” (The Knack’s “My Sharona”) parody. Demento played the tune on the air and the exposure eventually led to a short recording contract with Capitol Records.
From there Yankovic moved to other labels and released a string of hit parodies that included “I Love Rocky Road” (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ’N Roll”), “Like a Surgeon” (Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”), “Fat” (Michael Jackson’s “Bad”) and “Smells Like Nirvana” (Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”).
Yankovic has been on a roll ever since, and has made it a rule to always show respect to the recording artists and songwriters whose songs he used to build his successful career.
Music parodies can be free to use under First Amendment principles of “freedom of speech,” but Yankovic asks permission before he releases a parody of someone’s hit.
“I’ve found that you can generally get away with doing song parodies without asking for permission, but I’ve just never wanted to do that,” he said, calling the freedom of speech argument “a gray area.” “I’ve always wanted to stay on the right side of all these songwriters and artists, and I don’t want to ever do anything that would be offensive to them. So I make a point of getting their blessing before I do a parody.”
If an artist turns him down, he scraps the project. That gesture of professional courtesy has paid dividends for him and for his fans. Some artists have even made their music video sets available for Yankovic’s video shoots, and occasionally he hears from artists who suggest that he parody one of their hits.
While he’s always on the lookout for new songs to satirize, Yankovic mulls tackling new horizons that could include a run on the Great White Way.
“Something I was thinking about at one point and may think about again in the future is doing a Broadway musical. Before ‘Hamilton’ came out, I was hanging out with Lin-Manuel Miranda, and we were trying to think of something we could work on together. We were actually pitching a few things, which never actually happened, but maybe in the future.” (Miranda has a cameo in the Roku film “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”)
Whatever the future holds, fans can be assured that Yankovic will continue to entertain.
“If it wasn’t fun, I would stop doing it,” he said. “But I still love performing live, I still get a huge kick out of it. I get to work on stage with my band. These are the same guys I’ve been with for 40 years. I mean, we’re good friends. We love playing together. We love hanging out. It just doesn’t get old for us. I get to do comedy and music for a living, and those are my two passions in life. So there’s no need for me to ever retire.”
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“Weird Al” Yankovic
“The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour”
>> Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall
>> When: 8 p.m. Saturday
>> Cost: $59.50-$89.50
>> Info: ticketmaster.com
For details on the Maui concert, go to mauiarts.org.
