REVIEW | Weird Al Yankovic’s Bigger & Weirder Tour lives up to its name in Sioux Falls
Opener Puddles Pity Party and the headliner create a night of comedy and music at the Denny Sanford Premier Center
The Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls opened its doors on a warm June 30 for The Bigger & Weirder Tour, headlined by Weird Al Yankovic. From the moment I walked through the entrance, there was a different kind of energy in the building. Concertgoers weren’t just wearing band shirts. Hawaiian shirts, fake mustaches, costumes inspired by Al’s music videos and even a few accordion themed outfits filled the concourse. It felt less like a typical concert and more like a gathering of people who had spent decades laughing alongside one of music’s most unique entertainers.
Of course, before the accordion took center stage and the parody madness began, there was still another performance waiting in the wings. Every great concert has to start somewhere, and before Weird Al brought his wonderfully weird world to South Dakota, the audience was treated to an opening act that deserved some attention of its own.
A perfectly weird match for the tour
I don’t know if you could have dreamed up a more suitable opening act for The Bigger & Weirder Tour than Puddles Pity Party. The larger than life clown persona created by Michael Geier is the perfect complement to Weird Al’s brand of offbeat entertainment. While the two artists approach comedy from completely different angles, they share the same ability to make audiences laugh while delivering genuinely impressive musical performances.
I previously caught Puddles’ headlining show back in November 2023 at The District, where I quickly learned that his act is unlike anything else touring today. His exaggerated facial expressions, silent interactions with the audience, bizarre props and surprisingly emotional lounge style covers of modern hits somehow combine into one cohesive performance. It constantly walks the line between absurd comedy and legitimate musicianship, and that’s exactly what makes it work.
Going into this performance, my biggest reservation wasn’t whether Puddles would be entertaining. I already knew he would. Instead, I wondered how well his incredibly interactive show would translate from the intimate atmosphere of a club to the massive stage of the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
At The District, audience interaction was practically the entire show. Puddles repeatedly wandered into the crowd, often stopping beside unsuspecting fans to create awkwardly hilarious moments. One of the funniest bits involved him taking audience members’ phones while they were recording, filming himself for several seconds, and then intentionally handing the phone back to the wrong person several rows away. Watching confused fans try to reunite with their phones while Puddles remained completely expressionless was laugh-out-loud funny.
While the audience interaction naturally had to be scaled back a bit, the heart of the performance remained intact. Puddles still invited multiple audience members onto the stage throughout the set, turning everyday concertgoers into unwilling co-stars in his silent comedy routine. He even ventured out into the audience for a brief walk through the arena, giving fans outside the front rows a chance to become part of the act.
Rather than relying entirely on the venue’s production cameras, Puddles became his own cameraman. Throughout several songs, he wandered the stage holding a handheld camera, filming everything from his own perspective while the footage appeared instantly on the massive video screens behind him.
It was a clever solution that made an arena of thousands somehow feel surprisingly intimate. Instead of watching a performer from a distance, the audience got to see exactly what Puddles was seeing, making everyone feel just a little more involved in the performance.
Beneath the comedy is a world-class vocalist
As hilarious as the entire performance was, the biggest takeaway remains exactly what it was the first time I saw Puddles. Beneath all the makeup, props and silent comedy is an incredible singer.
Too often, comedians who incorporate music into their acts use humor to compensate for average musical ability. Puddles does the exact opposite. The comedy gets you through the door, but the vocals are what leave a lasting impression. His rich baritone voice effortlessly transforms pop songs into heartfelt lounge ballads that are every bit as captivating as they are funny.
Honestly, I believe Michael Geier could retire the clown costume tomorrow, form a traditional lounge band and still build a successful career purely on the strength of his voice.
Instead, he continues to blend world class vocals with wonderfully bizarre comedy, creating one of the most unique live performances you’ll find anywhere. As an opener for Weird Al Yankovic, there may not have been a more fitting choice. Before the headliner even stepped on stage, the audience had already been laughing, singing and wondering what wonderfully weird thing they were going to see next.
The main event finally arrives
What can you really say about Weird Al Yankovic that hasn’t already been said over the course of a career spanning more than 45 years? Few artists have managed to remain culturally relevant across multiple generations, and even fewer have done so by building an entire career around parody. Yet somehow Weird Al has outlasted countless musical trends, continuing to introduce himself to new audiences while longtime fans still eagerly anticipate hearing songs they’ve loved for decades.
Before he even took the stage, the production reminded everyone just how much history there is to celebrate. During many of the costume changes, the video screens became a highlight all on their own, rapidly cycling through classic Weird Al television appearances, comedy sketches, music video clips and interviews. Rather than leaving the audience waiting in silence while costumes changed backstage, every transition became an entertaining nostalgia trip.
The biggest surprise for me was seeing an extended clip from “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” proving that even the intermissions between songs were carefully crafted to keep the audience laughing.
Rather than walking out from backstage like most artists, the show opened with a cinematic live feed showing Weird Al making his way through the backstage hallways and loading docks underneath the Denny Sanford Premier Center. The audience watched him weave through the arena’s underbelly before finally emerging onto the stage in perfect sync with the music, turning what could have been a standard entrance into a full theatrical production.
It was an incredibly creative way to kick off the evening and immediately established that this wasn’t just going to be a concert. It was going to be a comedy show, a musical and a theatrical production all rolled into one.
Four decades of music without a four-hour runtime
One of the biggest challenges facing any artist with a catalog this extensive is deciding what to leave out.
After more than four decades of recording music, Weird Al has accumulated enough fan favorites to fill multiple nights of performances. Thankfully, instead of trying to cram every song into a marathon length show, he found a much smarter solution.
Throughout the night, the audience was treated to several medleys that seamlessly stitched together snippets of numerous songs into one continuous performance. The transitions flowed so effortlessly that each parody rolled straight into the next, and somehow Weird Al still found time to appear in a fresh costume, even if it was just swapping to a new hat, every time the music changed.
Officially, the setlist contained around two dozen songs.
In reality, it felt like we experienced well over 40.
Longtime fans were rewarded with quick bursts of deep cuts while casual listeners still heard the classics they came to see. It was an impressive balancing act that kept the pacing brisk without ever feeling rushed.
Costume changes at lightning speed
If there was one thing that became immediately obvious throughout the night, it’s that nobody commits to a costume change quite like Weird Al.
Nearly every song came with a completely different look, ranging from elaborate parody recreations to wildly exaggerated original outfits. Between the wardrobe, props, video packages, choreography, and live band, each performance almost felt like its own self-contained music video brought to life.
The sheer logistics behind the production were staggering. Every few minutes another costume appeared, another video rolled, another parody began, and somehow everything stayed perfectly synchronized.
It’s easy to forget just how much work goes into making a production this intentionally ridiculous.
Still full of energy at 66
Perhaps the most impressive part of the evening had nothing to do with costumes or comedy.
At 66 years old, Weird Al still performs with the enthusiasm of someone half his age.
He spent nearly the entire evening moving across every inch of the stage, interacting with his band, acting out every lyric and throwing himself fully into each performance. At one point, he even ventured out into the audience, climbing over seats and interacting directly with fans while continuing the song without missing a beat.
Moments like that reminded everyone why live shows are still relevant in the digital age. No music video or streaming playlist can recreate the feeling of watching an artist completely immerse themselves in the crowd.
The “Bigger & Weirder” title wasn’t just clever marketing.
It perfectly described the entire experience.
Saving some of the biggest nostalgia for last
As the evening wound toward its conclusion, Weird Al saved some of his most recognizable material for the finale.
Before the encore, he appeared dressed head to toe in full Amish attire for “Amish Paradise,” instantly drawing one of the loudest reactions of the night. The combination of the familiar parody, the over the top costume and the audience enthusiastically singing along created one of those classic Weird Al moments that reminded everyone exactly why the song has remained so beloved.
After briefly leaving the stage, he returned one final time dressed as a Jedi, along with his entire crew dressed as storm troopers, Princess Leia and even Darth Vader, for a performance of “The Saga Begins” followed immediately by “Yoda,” closing out the evening with two of his most iconic Star Wars parodies.
For many fans, it was the perfect ending.
The weirdest crowd I’ve ever seen
Ironically, one of the strangest parts of the night had nothing to do with Weird Al himself.
Throughout the entire show, the nearly sold out crowd enthusiastically clapped, laughed, sang along and reacted to every joke. The energy inside the arena was undeniable.
Yet almost nobody stood up.
Song after song passed with nearly every person remaining seated, even during some of the biggest hits. It wasn’t because the audience wasn’t engaged. Quite the opposite. They were having an incredible time.
Then the encore arrived.
Almost instantly, the entire arena jumped to its feet.
And just as strangely, once the encore songs actually started, many people sat right back down.
I’ve attended hundreds of concerts over the years, covering everything from metal to country, Christian music to Broadway productions, and I honestly can’t remember witnessing another crowd behave quite like this. Somehow, it felt oddly appropriate. At any other concert, the audience’s behavior would have seemed bizarre.
At a Weird Al Yankovic show?
It somehow felt perfectly normal.
Afterglow
Overall, the show was a perfect embodiment of its title, Bigger & Weirder. From the moment Puddles Pity Party stepped onto the stage until the final notes of Weird Al’s encore, the evening embraced the wonderfully unhinged spirit that both performers have built their careers upon. What could’ve easily been a simple nostalgia trip instead became a celebration of creativity, comedy, musicianship, and the joy of not taking life too seriously.
What stood out most was how much effort goes into every aspect of the production. It would have been easy for an artist with such an established legacy to simply walk on stage, play the hits, and call it a night. Instead, every song felt like an event unto itself. Between the elaborate costumes, the video packages, the medleys, the crowd interaction and the nonstop pace of the performance, there was never a moment where the audience’s attention drifted. Even during costume changes, the screens provided enough entertainment to keep the momentum going.
As the final encore ended and the house lights came up, there was a noticeable feeling throughout the arena that we’d experienced something special. Not because it was the biggest production I’ve ever seen or because it featured the most elaborate stage design. It felt special because it was uniquely Weird Al. There simply isn’t another touring act that delivers this combination of humor, theatricality, audience participation, nostalgia and genuinely impressive musicianship. For nearly two and a half hours, thousands of people gathered together to laugh, sing and celebrate the wonderfully strange world that Weird Al has been creating for more than four decades.
Content courtesy of Lyrical Limelight.
Awesome show! I was not expecting to hear a David Bowie cover, but Al knocked Suffragette City out of the park!
It was an awesome show. Worth the 67$ for my seat.