Oh my Goodness! We're Getting Another Ridiculously Self-Indulgent , Ill-Advised Vanity Tour!
There were many, many moments throughout “Weird Al” Yankovic’s 2018 Ridiculously Self-Indulgent , Ill-Advised Vanity Tour when I took a big cosmic step back and thought about how there was nowhere in the world I would rather be at that moment than with “Weird Al” Yankovic fans watching Al and the band perform a tour like none other.
The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent , Ill-Advised Vanity Tour wasn’t just one of my favorite tours of all time, although it was that as well. It was much more than that to me. It was a goddamn essential step in my emotional, creative and spiritual journey as a chronicler of the career and world of “Weird Al” Yankovic.
In 2017 I kicked off this website with The Weird Accordion to Al, an insanely ambitious, time and labor-intensive, perversely niche and wildly un-popular song-by-song exploration of every track on every album Al has ever released.
The little column that couldn’t was designed to go far beyond the hits and the zeitgeist-capturing parodies to showcase the depth, richness and dazzling versatility of Al’s complete discography.
So, you can imagine my excitement when Al shocked and delighted his hardcore fans by announcing a deliberately less commercial (if not quite non-commercial tour) that eschewed screens, costume changes and extras in order to showcase the depth, richness and dazzling versatility of Al’s complete discography.
The Weird Accordion to Al was a much better column and The Weird Accordion to Al is a much better book because I spent a surreal and awesome two weeks or so traveling the country seeing as many stops on the tour as my life as a dad, husband and website proprietor would allow.
I felt a deeper spiritual connection to Al’s music and his fans because of that tour, a connection rivaled only by my emotional bond with Insane Clown Posse and Phish the other two acts I have written books about and seen live more than any other.
That’s not surprising, since Al toured like Phish with the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent , Ill-Advised Vanity Tour, playing multi-night stands in numerous cities and switching up the set list as much as possible to keep fans doing the whole tour from hearing the same songs over and over and over again.
I lived in the moment throughout that glorious tour and as a result have all manner of memories to last a lifetime. But I also hoped that this would not be the last time that Al toured in that fashion, letting his music speak powerfully for itself instead of augmenting it with Michael Jackson-level stagecraft and spectacle.
It’s no coincidence that the subtitle for the 500 page extended version of The Weird Accordion to Al is lovingly borrowed, or “stolen” from the title of a tour chronicled extensively in its pages.
If the typical “Weird Al” Yankovic tour is Weird Al: The Book, a glossy production that hits all the highlights and lovingly chronicles the big moments then The Weird Accordion to Al, The Weird Accordion to Al: Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Edition, The Weird A-Coloring to Al and The Weird A-Coloring to Al: Colored-In Special Edition are the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour: a cultish labor of love for fans who know that Al is so much more than the broad outlines of his public image, even if he is one of the most beloved figures in American life.
Throughout the pandemic I have found myself pining for that glorious moment when it would once again be possible to see “Weird Al” Yankovic perform live again.
Al wisely took 2021 off from touring because of, you know, everything, but will be returning with a vengeance with the 133-stop, 2022 Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour.
The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour is back, baby! And at a time in which I am EXTREMELY prepared to benefit from it financially via renewed interest in the many, many books I have written about “Weird Al” Yankovic.
I’ve written so many books about "Weird Al” Yankovic that I seldom bother to even mention the book I wrote with him, at his request, 2012’s Weird Al: The Book (Rabin with Yankovic).
I won’t be able to go to all 133 shows, unfortunately, but I once again plan to go to as many as possible. I hope to at least hit up shows in Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison and my home town of Atlanta.
I can’t wait to experience a “Weird Al” Yankovic live show again. So I heartily encourage you to buy the many books I’ve written about Al in preparation for his glorious return to the live stage and I will see you at a show!
Buy The Weird Accordion to Al AND THE BRAND SPANKING NEW THE WEIRD A-COLORING TO AL here: https://www.nathanrabin.com/shop or from Amazon here or here
Pre-order The Joy of Trash, the Happy Place’s upcoming book about the very best of the very worst and get instant access to all of the original pieces I’m writing for them AS I write them (there are NINE so far, including Shasta McNasty and the first and second seasons of Baywatch Nights) AND, as a bonus, monthly write-ups of the first season Baywatch Nights you can’t get anywhere else (other than my Patreon feed) at https://the-joy-of-trash.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
Missed out on the Kickstarter campaign for The Weird A-Coloring to Al/The Weird A-Coloring to Al-Colored In Edition? You’re in luck, because you can still pre-order the books, and get all manner of nifty exclusives, by pledging over at https://the-weird-a-coloring-to-al-coloring-colored-in-books.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
AND of course you can also pledge to this site and help keep the lights on at https://www.patreon.com/nathanrabinshappyplace