“Weird Al” Yankovic at Morton Amphitheater, Riverside MO (2026-06-19)

The power of pop culture parody, now five decades strong!

It was time for Kansas City to get ‘Bigger & Weirder’ as comedy legend “Weird Al” Yankovic brought his latest cross-country tour to the mostly covered confines of the metro’s newest venue, Morton Amphitheater, in nearby Riverside MO on a night that managed to keep the worst of thunderstorms away.

As a high school student in 1976, Yankovic gave radio host Dr. Demento a tape that began with a comedic song about their family’s car, and a career was born. Over the decades, Yankovic has managed to stay relevant and cross-generational with entertaining shows that involve an expanding band, well-timed and hilarious video clips, and a song catalog that manages to make fun of the most popular songs of the day (all with the original artist’s approvals).

His family-friendly show has always been equal parts concert and sketch comedy that encourages sing-alongs with fans of all ages, many of which dress in similar shirts (some with fake wigs and moustaches too) for a fun night that keeps them returning for more.

The overcast evening got underway with a set from 7ft tall, all-in-white ‘sad’ clown, Puddles Pity Party (aka ‘Big Mike’ Gaier) who mixed mime, routines, prop comedy, and a baritone-voiced setlist of vintage covers, for an entertaining opening.

His breakout moment came during the 2017 season of America’s Got Talent, which got him to the show’s quarter finals and then a resulting Vegas residency, which expanded his notoriety. Video breaks would ask on-screen ‘if anyone would help the clown’, and hands shot in the air for a chance to be part of a skit, while songs like Ozzy’s “Crazy Train” were reinterpreted, Pagliacci-style,

His selfie-stick cell phone became the ‘Cry Cam’ as audience members and crew feigned weeping when it pointed at them, and it would transform into the ‘Cram Cam’ as an unsuspecting audience member kept receiving Hostess Cup Cakes to consume, as the song went on.

Puddles’ newest album is the self-released America Today (we heard the title track live) and the set wound up strong with a mash-up cover of the Gilligan’s Island theme and Led Zep’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’, and a unique rendering of the Queen/David Bowie classic, “Under Pressure.”

After an intermission, lights dimmed and following an intro video, the screen showed “Weird Al” making his way to the stage (stopping to hit Puddles with a pie in the face). The fans cheered with glee, happy to take in a large full-production format tour again, after some previous more intimate and personal incarnations that Yankovic had been on the road with.

The show’s pacing was mostly breakneck- medleys and quick-edit video interludes peppered between the mostly familiar hits, making it more impressive as the night went on, that a now 66-year-old Yankovic can stay with the rapid-fire production, while managing numerous costume changes and skit routines.

More refreshed versus simply nostalgic or having worn out its welcome, parodies like “Tacky,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Fat,” and “Dare to Be Stupid” still drew cheers from a crowd that was literally 8-to-80 in age, all laughing and singing along. The mostly longtime band happily played along as well, donning Devo-like hats, suits, and Star Wars costumes, as the songs demanded. It was this honest and proudly nerdy commitment, that keeps Yankovic endeared to his fan base (and amazes any first-timers) with the songs not coming off as trendy and tired, but more as timeless parodies.

Because the complexities of the production are, I’m sure, closely timed, there was not much opportunity to be spontaneous, but fans appreciated hearing that he knew he was in Riverside and on the Missouri side (so many musicians assume KS) and said that his father was born in Kansas City, KS, so he had always felt a connection to the area.

Yankovic paused to mention that people don’t know exactly what to call him, and so he wanted to clarity this, as the band struck up Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al” (a song we didn’t hear from the man himself last week, and the one song he had to retire due to Simon’s drastic hearing loss). The main set ended strongly with two of his most-loved parodies, “White and Nerdy,” complete with gangsta Al riding about on a Segway, and “Amish Paradise” with Yankovic in a plain dark suit and wide-brimmed hat.

The all-Star Wars encore (complete with Yankovic in Jedi robes, abundant Stormtroopers, and a looming Darth Vader) began with “We All Have Cell Phones” which brought the fans to their feet with phone lights illuminated every level of the grounds and continued with “The Saga Begins” which mashes Don McLean’s “American Pie” with details from the Star Wars film, “The Phantom Menace.” One last sing-along was reserved for “Yoda”, a Kinks parody song that even the youngest in the crowd, could easily learn the chorus to.

The Bigger & Weirder Tour is everything you’d expect from “Weird Al” Yankovic– the hits, the videos, the costumes, and the jokes; but beyond that, it embraces silliness, nerdy fun, and creatively coloring outside the lines with heart – something that needs more celebrating in these often sullen and divisive times.

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PUDDLES PITY PARTY​​​​​​​​​​

National / International act coming through the Midwest / Kansas City area? Please email details to johnc@weheartmusic.com with a good lead time to be considered for Show Preview and Show Coverage consideration.