Not Hal and Weird Al

Last night I found myself going to a Weird Al Yankovich Concert.

The original plan was for my brother-in-law Mark to take my boys and his kids using tickets that he got half-off through his job. Then my sister Becky and her husband Hal were added to the plans, since they like Weird Al and going places with their nephews and niece. When I went to drop off my boys, Mark offered me the opportunity to take his place at the concert. I agreed.

The tickets had to be picked up at the Will Call desk and Mark was supposed to show a picture ID and his credit card. We decided that Hal would pose as Mark since I probably couldn't pull it off convincingly. Since there were seven of us, we had the idea to take Mark's large Ford Expedition and only pay for parking one car.

Hal drove, and we realized that he was driving Mark's car, had his credit car and ID, and his two kids in the backseat! It was like voluntary identity theft! A weird start to a weird evening.

This was going to be the first real concert experience for all of the kids, and I was excited for them.

I still remember my first concert. I went to see Journey in the late 70's with my friend Tracey, I think it was in Cobo Arena. Our seats were so high up that when we stood on them we could touch the ceiling. I can remember seeing Steve Perry pacing around on the stage, and that the air smelled kind of funny in there.

The Weird Al concert was perfect for these kids. Jeffrey was already a fan, and it had a little bit of everything. I liked it a lot. There were many pop-culture references that had me smiling. Weird Al has been around a long long time, and he made a point about how famous he is. We were all laughing and singing along, having a ball.

Finally, the band thanked everyone and left the stage. My nephew Cale then said to me, "It's over, let's go now."

I told him that if we made enough noise Weird Al would come back and sing another song. He didn't believe me! So he stood there while I screamed and hollered...and then the encore began!

It's a great day when I get be with the kids as they are experiencing something for the first time. The weirdness will always be remembered!