Weird Al

Bleeding Priest
Sep 1
4 min read

Green Music Center @ Sonoma State

Rohnert Park, CA

August 27, 2025

Ok, I know this is a Metal site but my feeling is…if you’re too Metal for Weird Al then you’re not Metal enough for me. With that said, let's talk about the Weird Al show I went to this past week.

He performed in Rohnert Park, CA. This was my first time seeing a concert in this farm town. I performed here once back in 96’ (I think) with Old Grandad at a warehouse party with technical Death Metallers Thanatopsis. In fact it was the third of a trio of shows we did with them in a 24 hour period. The night before we played with them and Grave at The Berkeley Square (RIP) then the following afternoon we played with them again at Golden Gate Park for this thing called Pit In The Park with a bunch of other bands. And then that night it was Rohnert Park. I took some acid at the GGP gig so I was flying by the time we got to that evening’s show so my memory is a bit hazy about that night EXCEPT I do remember someone falling from the second floor of this warehouse space and being pretty injured.

Anyways, back to Weird Al. He played this tiny amphitheater on the campus of Sonoma State University. I’ve never been to a venue that had so much staff/security. Literally every third person was working there. They were nice enough but there were so many goddamn rules it was a serious buzzkill. The worst of the rules was you couldn’t bring your drinks to your seat. Not even water. That right there was a deal breaker for me. I doubt I’ll be returning to this “venue”.

Despite the major shortcomings of the venue the show was nothing short of SPECTACULAR! The opening act was this clown named Puddles. His shtick was titled Puddles Pity Party and it was amusing. If you’re a fan of Harald O’s thing then you’ll love Puddles. One thing he did that blew me away was opening the show with Alice Cooper’s “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows”. That will probably be the one and only time I’ll hear that tune in a live setting.

Puddles is a one man show singing sad songs to prerecorded music. He had props and even brought a few audience members up onstage to be a part of the “fun”. As far as opening acts go he was fine. I can’t imagine finding proper opening acts for Weird Al is the easiest thing in the world.

Now on to the Grand Poobah! This was my third time seeing Al. The first was at the Marin County Fair a few years ago, where I almost got into a fist fight with another concert goer. That’s right. Even at a Weird Al show I was able to find trouble. Actually it found me but that’s a story for another time.

The second time was last year at The Golden Gate Theater in SF. That was a stripped down performance where he mostly did original material and gave lots of background on the songs and told some outrageous stories. Being a fan of his original stuff nothing will ever top that show. But this show was a close second. This one was the full Al experience with full production and costume changes on just about every song.

A lot of the songs in the first half of the show were parodies of pop artists from the last 10 to 15 years meaning I was absolutely clueless to the jokes being that I was unfamiliar with the source material. It actually made me realize how little I know about popular music these days….and I’m ok with that.

The second half were all the classics! The first song I recognized was “Smells Like Nirvana”. He replicated the Teen Spirit video down to the keyboard playing dressed as the janitor mopping up the stage. To be clear, when I say costume changes I mean the ENTIRE BAND! Al does a convincing Kurt Cobain. Next up was the classic (and one of my favorites) “Dare To Be Stupid”. An original written to sound like Devo. They dressed accordingly.

Then we got a lengthy medley of a bunch of 80’s parodies like “Eat It” and “Like A Surgeon” all with wardrobe changes happening within it. It’s pretty impressive to see all the moving parts of a Weird Al show. I had amazing seats by the way (thank you Robin Mazen) so I was able to get a good look at how the show operated. Up after that was “Fat” complete with fat suite and crotch grabbing.

Next was a later hit parody of his by an artist I’m gladly unfamiliar with named Chamlionaire. However I’m familiar with his tune “Ridin’”. If you’ve watched 5 minutes of NFL then you’ve probably already heard the song 5 times. Al’s parody is titled “White And Nerdy” and it was a highlight of the show. Complete with him riding one of those two wheeled motorized thingamajigs that you see white businessmen riding around downtown. I think it’s called a Segway but don’t quote me on that. Donny Osmond was on the video screen to add to the comedy.

Al closed the main part of the show with the epic “Amish Paradise” Always a crowd pleaser. His encore was the coup de grace as it were with the Star Wars epic “The Saga Begins”. Complete with an entire platoon of Stormtroopers onstage with Darth Vader and R2-D2 for good measure.

I’m pretty sure the troops and Darth were provided by local Star Wars fans known as the 501st Legion. The 501st Legion are a group of Star Wars enthusiasts who buy or make their own costumes (usually Imperial) and rent out their services to events that require Star Wars flair. You can find them all over the country. In fact, a dear friend of mine, Tony Williams (he was one of the guitarists in my now defunct Mercyful Fate tribute band Hail Satan) is a member of the Bay Area Legion. He may have been up there for all I know. It was an over the top end to an over the top show.