If you had to associate any sort of musical instrument with the legendary, Oscar-nominated “Weird Al” Yankovic, it would have to be the accordion. However, Yankovic recently eschewed his trademark squeezebox to make his guitar-playing debut in New York.
As we speak, “Weird Al” Yankovic is currently knee-deep in a 76-date North American tour appropriately titled ‘The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour’, so he recently used this as an opportunity to treat eager audiences with a rather unique experience.
As Rolling Stone reports, at Yankovic’s recent performance at the Apollo Theatre in New York, he decided to change up his encore to include himself playing guitar live on stage for the first time, leading his band through a cover of Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s ‘Cinnamon Girl’ – an uncharacteristic cover rather than a parody.
“Tonight is a very, very special night for two big reasons,” Yankovic explained to the audience. “One is: On this next song, I’m going to make my guitar-playing debut.”
“My whole life I never learned to play the guitar. I figured, you know, I’ve been in entertainment, I’ve been a recording artist and a professional musician for most of my life, and I should know how to play the guitar. So, for the last several months, I’ve been studying and learning how to play the guitar so that I could debut it at the Apollo on this next song.”
Of course, if you’ve ever listened to anything by “Weird Al” Yankovic, you’d undoubtedly be aware that this was all part of a major ruse of sorts, with Yankovic only actually joining his band to play the ending of the solo – which is just one repeated note.
Notably, Yankovic’s current tour has seen him cover a wide variety of songs in his encore slot, with tracks by Elton John, Cheap Trick, and Tommy Tutone (no prizes for guessing which song) all getting a run-through.
It’s been just over two years since Weird Al made his way down to Aussie shores, but if he works on his guitar playing a little bit, we might be in for one hell of a show the next time he graces us with his presence.
Check out Weird Al’s guitar debut:
“Weird Al” Yankovic @ The Apollo Theatre, New York 23/03/18 Setlist
‘Dare To Be Stupid’
‘Close But No Cigar’
‘Generic Blues’
‘Mr. Popeil’
‘Nature Trail To Hell’
‘Craigslist’
‘Dog Eat Dog’
‘My Own Eyes’
‘Your Horoscope For Today’
‘UHF’
‘I Remember Larry’
‘Jackson Park Express’
‘Young, Dumb & Ugly’
‘You Don’t Love Me Anymore’
‘Albuquerque’
‘Eat It/I Lost On Jeopardy/Amish Paradise/Smells Like Nirvana/White & Nerdy/I Love Rocky Road/Like A Surgeon’
Encore:
‘Cinnamon Girl’ (Neil Young & Crazy Horse cover)
‘Yoda’
