Popcorn and Pen

As Tom Petty performed his greatest hits to a sold-out audience in Noblesville, parody king “Weird Al” Yankovic was busy entertaining his crowd musically and comically at Indianapolis’ “The Lawn” at White River Thursday night.

While the two hour and 15 minute set included all variety of genres – alternative rock, classic rock, rap, R &B, pop, funk, ‘70s and ‘80s – “Weird Al” started off the evening with his bread and butter – polka.

“Polkarama” included a polka remix/mesh that begins with the “Chicken Dance” and ends with Kayne West’s “Gold Digger.” Other songs in the medley include radio hits from the Black Eyed Peas, Franz Ferdinand, Weezer, Coldplay, Modest Mouse, Gorillaz, Pussycat Dolls, The Killers, Velvet Revolver, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell and Rihanna.

Yankovic followed with “Canadian Idiot,” a parody of “American Idiot” by Green Day, “Close but No Cigar” and “Bob,” a song about Bob Dylan in which all of the lines are palindromes.

The “Straight Outta Lynwood” tour featured a majority of the songs on Yankovic’s 12th studio album, released in 2006. The title is a reference to Straight Outta Compton, the second album from the rap group N.W.A, with the location changed to Weird Al’s hometown of Lynwood, Calif. But the show included a wide range of songs reaching all the way back to his 1984 album “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3D.

The show featured Yankovic in a dozen different costumes. All but one of the changes occurred off stage. During his performance of the unreleased James Blunt parody “You’re Pitiful,” Yankovic removed four layers of shirts and his pants while singing the song before ending in a SpongeBob Squarepants T-shirt and a pink tutu.

During the offstage costume changes, AL TV played on the video screen. “Weird Al” edits the footage of a artists’ actual interviews and inserts himself asking questions for comic effect. Spoofs with Kevin Federline and Jessica Simpson garnered the most laughs from the audience (all videos are available on YouTube.com). Film and movie clips referencing Yankovic are also shown.

Yankovic is best known for his humorous parody songs that make light of popular culture. He has sold more than 12 million albums (more than any comedy act in history) and recorded more than 150 parody and original songs. “Weird Al” has received three Grammy Awards in nine nominations.

With his expansive song repertoire, “Weird Al” wasn’t able to completely perform the entire song and instead played one verse and the chorus before changing songs. Yankovic’s rendition of “Amish Paradise” (a parody of Coolio’s Grammy-winning “Gangsta’s Paradise,” in which an Amish man raps about his life) and “Fat” (a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Bad” complete with a oversized fat suit like the one from his 1988 music video) received an ovation from the crowd.

But the biggest crowd pleaser may have come with the help and dancing of some of Yankovic’s intergalactic friends. Darth Vader and several storm troopers joined his band on stage as “Weird Al” performed “The Saga Begins.” The song, which recaps the entire plot of “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” from the point of view of Obi-Wan Kenobi, is a parody of Don McLean’s “American Pie.” After a brief bridge of “The Imperial March,” “Weird Al” sang “Yoda” – “Lola” by The Kinks – describing the Dagobah-setting events of “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back” from Luke Skywalker’s point of view.

As funny as he is musically talented, “Weird Al” energetically provided his fans of all ages with a family-friendly and highly entertaining concert.