Fox Theatre
Atlanta, GA
June 19, 2016
Jackie and I spent the morning at the Atlanta Aquarium, which is a very cool place to see if you ever go to Atlanta. It's a must stop. The whale shark tank is a lot of fun, and they let you pet sharks, anemones and sting rays. I also enjoyed the penguin exhibit which lets you crawl into it and pop your head up in the middle of the penguins. The dolphin show is very well done too.
Our hotel was only about a mile from the Fox Theatre so we walked over after clearing it with the hotel concierge that it was safe. We got the the theater around 4:30 and they had our tickets already at the will call, but no passes. We went to dinner at the restaurant next door and I had an awesome rib-eye steak. We ran into Jerry at the bar and said hello. We walked back over to the will call window and they still didn't have our passes, so I made arrangements with the venue staff to let me leave the VIP party about an hour before the show started and check the will call again since they had a no re-entry policy.
We got to the VIP party around 5:30 and it was in full swing when we got there. "Weird Al" Yankovic music was blaring and people were mingling and having a good time. There was a dedicated merchandise booth for the VIP crowd which was nice. The new stuff this tour were a "Word Crimes" t-shirt and the new NECA action figure. They'll also be adding the paperback book at some point. Other new stuff at the party included a station to make a foil hat, a photo booth that printed pictures for you, and a nice museum with some really awesome stuff in it.
The museum had items taken from the personal collections of Al and Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz. The items were the "Eat It" jacket, Al's patchwork pants, "Dare To Be Stupid" goggles, "Eat It" Valentine's Day chocolates, Jon's bow tie from "I Love Rocky Road", Al's original accordion case, the "I Love Rocky Road" jacket the "Living With A Hernia" suit, Al's personal clipping from the twine ball, a Hawaiian shirt from UHF, a handwritten UHF script, the Even Worse jacket, a towel from The Compleat Al, the "Smells Like Nirvana" shirt, the Alapalooza drum head, the lobster hand from The Weird Al Show, Harvey's house from The Weird Al Show, the "Bedrock Anthem" stone guitar and tunic, the Straight Outta Lynwood jacket, the porcupine from "Perform This Way", the "White & Nerdy" hoodie, and tour laminates from every tour.
Also on the picture boards that they have set up, and we didn't know this until we saw it, but two of Jackie's pictures are included. The one with Chewbacca and the one with Al sticking out his microphone. These are also in the book.
The first group activity was a foil hat competition. Several people were chosen to return for the swimsuit competition and a talent portion. A little girl won because her talent was burp whistling, though the guys in swimsuits were my favorites. Next up we all sang the Weird Al National Anthem and there was a drawing to spin the Wheel Of Fish which a little boy won and traded his fish away for the box and everyone called him STUPID!
The next group activity was a couple dance to "Good Enough For Now" and everyone who participated got a free CD single. We got a "Headline News" promo single.
The final competition was the costume contest. Jackie was dressed as a "Smells Like Nirvana" cheerleader. I was dressed as "eBay" and Jerry was in his awesome Mandatory Fun outfit. Jackie, Jerry, and I were picked for the final 6 and then made the final 3 because we answered the trivia question right. Jerry performed "Living With A Hernia". Jackie performed "Smells Like Nirvana", and I performed "eBay". It was a tight race and everyone performed great. The final two came down to me and Jerry and I ended up winning the costume contest by applause! I won an autographed tom-tom drum head used the night before and I got a ton of compliments on my outfit.
I made a whole lot of new friends and the VIP party and got to hang out with Jerry, Joel, and Anna, among others. It was definitely worth going VIP. They know how to throw a party!
The concert was great as well. We were in row B, dead center, which was the second row behind the pit. There were some new video clips, most which I didn't know but at least one I recognized from
After the show I met Nathan Rubin who did Weird Al: The Book, which was cool. I briefly said hello to Jim West who was walking up the stairs, and got to hang out with the cheerleaders, and got to say hello to Melissa, and talk with Jon at length. We talked about the boxed set and some stuff that might be on it as well as some stuff he sent for the book.
After a short while, Al was brought over and we got out picture together, and I talked to him for a few minutes and he personalized my prize. JW told me he loved my costume and wants me to do something new next time so I have to start thinking of what to do. Overall, this was one of the better experiences from beginning to end.
More Pictures!!!
You can click on the highlighted words above and below to see more concert photos.