The Show
Against all odds, the tireless, versatile warbling of "Weird Al" Yankovic has endured as a comedy staple lo these many decades, ranging from parodies of popular tunes across all genres to inspired original compositions, and not always accompanied by the much-maligned accordion. Fresh from its recent airing on Comedy Central, "Weird Al" Yankovic Live! - The Alpocalypse Tour captures Al on stage this past July in Toronto, in support of his album Alpocalypse, his first new studio effort in five years.
The show intersperses new concoctions (Lady Gaga is a popular target of his clever homages) with classic cuts such as "Smells Like Nirvana," "Fat," and "Amish Paradise" all the way back to "My Bologna" as part of an eclectic medley. All really sells this 17-song set, becoming a host of varied characters one right after the other while sparing home viewers the wait time of the many wardrobe changes. It is truly a cavalcade of pop culture comedy set to a familiar, engaging beat.
The Picture
The 16:9, 1080p/24 image is generally clean with realistic levels of detail: We can spot the changing patterns of sweat on the face of Al, who works his butt off when he performs, no question. I noted some ringing in the spotlights, and some noise in the thin layer of smoke across the stage, but nothing too tragic. The blacks however are generally flat and lifeless but they become downright nasty in some shots, from the shadow-drenched crowd to Al's dark Jim Morrison wig during "Craigslist."
The Sound
One of the neat things that concert Blu-rays can do is capture the sonic experience of actually being in the auditorium, surrounding us with a wall of adulation from the rears while every detail of the music hits us from the front soundstage. None of that happens here in this Dolby Digital 2.0 track, the only option. It's actually a great crowd, but their cheers and chanting are incidental. The songs don't even sound so good, they could definitely stand some more bass, and I really found myself longing for the increased dynamic range of high-res audio. I think he might be lip-synching, or perhaps he's just got his comedic/musical timing down cold.
The Extras
Those finding the 86-minute run time a bit too brief will be glad to see the three additional songs from the concert but dropped from the final edit ("Frank's 2000-Inch TV," "You Don't Love Me Anymore" and "You Make Me"), totaling 14 minutes. There is a creepy music video for "Perform This Way" and another for the curiously catchy "Polka Face."
Eight of Al's personal YouTube videos are included (about three-and-a-half minutes total), along with four other, more elaborate video sketches (about eleven minutes total).
All of these extras are in 1080i@60Hz quality.
Final Thoughts
The performance and fun extras certainly don't disappoint fans, but the audio quality surely does, neither multichannel nor high-resolution, both of which a modern concert Blu-ray should be, frankly. It still beats DVD though, so you might want to add it to your Shrine of Yankovic.
Product Details
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