BE YE ADVISED: I will be announcing ALL THE DATES for my 2018 North American tour tomorrow morning, October 13 at 9:00 AM Pacific on weirdal.com.
In case you haven’t heard the rumors… THIS WILL NOT BE OUR NORMAL KIND OF TOUR. I decided we should try something different, just for a change of pace. So next year we’re scaling way, way back. No costumes, no props, no video screens, no computer servers. We’re just going to walk out on stage, sit down on stools, and play a bun...ch of old songs. Oh, and we’re going to be performing almost exclusively originals (i.e. not parodies). The deep cuts and obscure tracks. The songs that were never hits. The ones you barely remember.
Okay, obviously this tour is not for everybody. 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.
It might sound like I’m trying to talk people into NOT buying tickets… Actually, I just want people to be very aware of the nature of this tour so that they can make an informed decision now and not be disappointed later. Having said that, I know that there’s a small but enthusiastic subset of fans that literally have been waiting decades for this kind of a show, so… this tour is for them. And me. And the band. After putting on “multimedia extravaganzas” for 35 years, we just wanted to take it down a few notches and have a little musical palate cleanser.
Because all my concerts in the past were so highly produced, they needed to be rigidly planned down to the SECOND, and therefore the shows were virtually identical from one city to the next. But since this tour is unencumbered by theatrics, we have a lot more flexibility. So… EVERY SINGLE SHOW WILL BE DIFFERENT. We’re going deep into the catalogue and mixing up the set list every night. This show will be loose, unpredictable, and maybe a little sloppy – we’ll be making it up as we go along.
Oh, one other cool thing… For the first time ever, I’m bringing an opening act with me on the road. I’m very pleased to announce that on every show of the 2018 Tour, I will be sharing the stage with my good friend, the legendary Mr. EMO PHILIPS.
We’re calling it THE RIDICULOUSLY SELF-INDULGENT, ILL-ADVISED VANITY TOUR.
If this isn’t your metaphorical cup of tea – hey, I get it, no worries, we’ll see you next time. But for everybody else – please check out the full list of tour dates tomorrow morning on weirdal.com!
Your close, personal friend,
Al
