Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour
The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour is a concert tour performed by American musician and satirist "Weird Al" Yankovic. The tour supports Yankovic's ninth compilation album, Medium Rarities (2017).[1] Intended to be a more intimate and less stylized production compared to his previous concert tour, the Vanity Tour focuses on Yankovic's older material and original songs. The 76-date North American tour was announced in October 2017, and includes 68 shows in the United States and eight shows in Canada. On June 25, recordings of the entire tour were released on Stitcher Premium.
Tour by "Weird Al" Yankovic | |
Promotional poster for the tour | |
Associated album | Medium Rarities |
---|---|
Start date | February 27, 2018 |
End date | June 10, 2018 |
Legs | 1 |
No. of shows | 77 |
"Weird Al" Yankovic concert chronology |
Background
In a departure from his previous concert tours, Yankovic set out on The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour with the intention to produce a more intimate, less stylized show than his preceding concert tours, describing the Vanity Tour as having an "extremely limited appeal" by design, and inspired by the staging of VH1 Storytellers and MTV Unplugged.[2][3][4] The absence of video screens and advanced lighting,[2] along with the Vanity Tour's lack of costumes changes, props, and choreography present in Yankovic’s previous tours allowed for a more flexible and unpredictable experience, to the testimonial approval of Yankovic himself and his touring band.[3][4] In the tour's October 2017 announcement across social media, Yankovic stated:
By design, it has extremely limited appeal. Instead of doing festivals, fairs and arenas, we'll be doing small, intimate theatres. Instead of putting on a big flashy production, we'll be trying to go for something very informal and low-key… kind of an Unplugged/Storytellers vibe. Like we're just hanging out, playing in your living room. So if you've really got your heart set on seeing fat suits and Segways and hearing all your favorite parodies… this probably isn't the tour for you. Chances are we'll be doing that kind of show again sometime in the future, just not THIS time.
— "Weird Al" Yankovic[4]
The opening act was the comedian Emo Philips, who had previously worked with Yankovic in his 1989 movie UHF and 1997 TV series The Weird Al Show.[5]
In accordance with Yankovic's desired theme of more intimate and "loose" shows, the setlist for The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour is set to be different each night,[6][7] with a focus on older material and various original songs from his discography, as opposed to his staple parody songs.[8] Yankovic performed at least one non-humorous and mostly straight cover version of a classic rock song at most shows.
Promotion
The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour was officially announced on "Weird Al" Yankovic's official social media pages on 13 October 2017,[3][4] with information on tour dates, venues and ticket sales appearing on Yankovic's official website the day after.[9][10] Tickets for the Vanity Tour, which went on sale on October 20, were advertised from $50 to $70.[6][11] The tour's announcement also coincided with the November 2017 release of Squeeze Box and Medium Rarities, two compilation albums collecting the works of Yankovic.[12]
Opening act
Setlist
While there was no consistent setlist, a typical setlist may have looked like this.
- "CNR"
- "Dare to Be Stupid (Grateful Dead version)"
- "Bob"
- "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota"
- "Generic Blues"
- "Melanie"
- "Midnight Star"
- "My Own Eyes"
- "One More Minute"
- "Why Does This Always Happen To Me?"
- "Good Old Days"
- "UHF"
- "Dog Eat Dog"
- "Don't Download This Song"
- "You Don't Love Me Anymore"
- "Jackson Park Express"
- Drum Solo
- Bass Solo
- "Albuquerque"
- "Unplugged Medley: Eat It" / "I Lost on Jeopardy" / "Amish Paradise" / "Smells Like Nirvana" / "White & Nerdy" / "I Love Rocky Road" / "Like a Surgeon"
Encore:
- One of 77 cover songs
- "The Saga Begins/Yoda"
Tour dates
- Festivals and other miscellaneous performances
- A This concert was a part of the "Nashville Comedy Festival"[15]
- B This concert was a part of the "Moontower Comedy Festival"[16]
Box office score data
Venue | City | Tickets sold / Available | Gross revenue |
---|---|---|---|
Théâtre Maisonneuve | Montreal | 2,102 / 2,102 (100%) | $98,975[17] |
Circus Maximus Theater | Atlantic City | 1,330 / 1,606 (83%) | $81,258[18] |
Ohio Theatre | Cleveland | 932 / 1,000 (93%) | $63,019[19] |
Pantages Theatre | Minneapolis | 1,968 / 1,980 (99%) | $124,124[20] |
The Vic Theatre | Chicago | 1,879 / 1,879 (100%) | $94,231[21] |
Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center | Midland | 984 / 1,733 (57%) | $42,690[21] |
The Theatre at Ace Hotel | Los Angeles | 2,981 / 2,981 (100%) | $206,726[22] |
Crest Theatre | Sacramento | 934 / 975 (96%) | $54,538[22] |
Fox Oakland Theatre | Oakland | 1,923 / 1,923 (100%) | $117,345[22] |
TOTAL | 15,033 / 16,179 (93%) | $882,906 | |
References
- Rettig, James (October 13, 2017). ""No Frills" Weird Al Tour To Feature Obscure Songs, No Costumes". Stereogum. Eldridge Industries. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- Geslani, Michelle (October 14, 2017). ""Weird Al" Yankovic announces The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour". Consequence of Sound. Consequence Holdings, LLC. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- Haack, Brian (October 12, 2017). "'Weird Al' Yankovic Announces 'Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour'". Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- Marotta, Michael (October 12, 2017). "A different kind of 'Weird Al' Yankovic tour is coming to North America in 2018". Vanyaland. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- Hopper, Ben (April 12, 2018). "'Weird Al' abandons spectacle for 'intimate' new tour" (Press release). Chicago, Illinois. United Press International. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- Meinert, Kendra (October 13, 2017). "'Weird Al' to play stripped-down show at Meyer Theatre". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- "The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent Ill-Advised Vanity Tour". setlist.fm.
- Menta, Anna (October 13, 2017). "Weird Al Tour Dates Are Here, But the Shows Are 'Not for Everybody'". Newsweek. Newsweek Media Group. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- Hughes, William (October 13, 2017). "Weird Al is ditching the parody songs for a "scaled-down," "intimate" tour". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- Lewis, Randy (October 13, 2017). "'Weird Al' Yankovic will embark on an 'Ill-Advised Vanity Tour' next year". Los Angeles Times. Tronc. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- Janci, Jenelle (October 13, 2017). "'Weird Al' Yankovic, Stars of Nashville to perform in Lancaster in March 2018". Lancaster Online (LNP). LNP Media Group. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- Roskopp, Jack (October 13, 2017). "F*ck yes: 'Weird Al' Yankovic is coming to Ann Arbor". Metro Times. Euclid Media Group. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- Grosinger, Matt (October 13, 2017). ""WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC ANNOUNCES DATES, VENUES FOR INTIMATE TOUR (EXCLUSIVE)". Nerdist News. Legendary Entertainment. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- Frederick, Brittany (October 16, 2017). "Weird Al Yankovic reveals 'Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour'". AXS. Anschutz Entertainment Group. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- Paulson, David (October 16, 2017). "Weird Al coming to Nashville with an unusual concert". The Tennessean. Gannett Company. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
- Gross, Joe (October 13, 2017). "'Weird Al' Yankovic and more big names in comedy coming to Austin for Moontower 2018". Austin American-Statesman. Cox Media Group. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Nashville, Tennessee: Eldridge Industries. 130. April 7, 2018. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on March 31, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
- "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Nashville, Tennessee: Eldridge Industries. 130. June 9, 2018. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Nashville, Tennessee: Eldridge Industries. 130 (14). June 2, 2018. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
- "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Nashville, Tennessee: Eldridge Industries. 130. April 28, 2018. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
- "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Nashville, Tennessee: Eldridge Industries. 130 (13). May 19, 2018. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
- "Billboard Boxscore". Billboard. Nashville, Tennessee: Eldridge Industries. 130. June 23, 2018. ISSN 0006-2510. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.