Local artists show love for Weird Al | News, Sports, Jobs – Warren Tribune Chronicle

December 20, 2022 ndowd

Sep 15, 2022
Christie Hayes has been a fan of Weird Al Yankovic since she was 12 years old.
“My older brother brought home ‘Running with Scissors’ (in the late ’90s),” she said. “As a kid, I found his antics to be very appealing, and I never grew out of it.
“We have a little something in common, a chaotic energy. Not only is he a brilliant artist, he’s a person I wanted to grow up to be like. I didn’t see any other adults having that much energy.”
Hayes is a visual artist, not a musician, but she has plenty of musician friends, starting with her husband, Labra Brothers drummer Matt Hayes.
Using those connections, she’s assembled an all-star band of local talent that will perform Yankovic’s originals and his musical parodies on Saturday at Cedars West End.
Joining them will be members of Labra Brothers, The Vindys, Black Wolf & the Thief, Kitchen Knife Conspiracy, JD Eicher’s band and Ctrl-Alt-Rewind, a rotating ensemble of musicians that plays shows devoted to a specific artist or musicial genre.
“This group is so good,” Christie Hayes said. “The band is capable of switching it up from song to song.”
That’s something Yankovic’s catalog requires. While Yankovic writes original songs, often led by his accordion, he’s parodied artists from every genre in the last 40-plus years. Paying tribute to Yankovic requires a band that can play everything from rock to rap and from pop to grunge.
John Anthony, lead guitar player for The Vindys, said they studied Yankovic’s live performances to see how he approached some of this material with a five-piece band.
“That’s part of the fun of something like this, decoding the music and deciding how you’re going to do it,” Anthony said.
Anthony, who’s known Christie Hayes since they were in high school together, also has been a Weird Al fan since he was a child.
“Weird Al was my first introduction to rock ‘n’ roll, which is hilarious,” he said. “I got ‘Running with Scissors’ and then started digging into his other records. My first exposure to Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers was his parodies. That was my first introduction and then I discovered (the originals).”
Yankovic already had released nine albums before “Running with Scissors,” and Fred Whitacre Jr. is making sure that his ’80s and early ’90s music won’t be ignored
“I fell in love with Weird Al when I was a very young child,” Whitacre said. “I was 4, 5 years old when I heard ‘My Bologna’ and thought that was great. I’ve loved him ever since. I think everything he does is awesome, entertaining, stellar and brilliant.”
Whitacre normally is stuck behind the drum kit with Kitchen Knife Conspiracy, and he’s looking forward to being out front as one of the singers for Saturday and exploring some of his favorites.
“He’s always so good at blending well-loved musical tropes with brilliant satire,” Whitacre said. “His pop culture references are always great. It never feels like he’s out of the loop … I saw him live recently and he’s still doing amazing stuff.”
Hayes originally had the idea for the Weird Al tribute show in early 2020 and had it scheduled for September of that year before the COVID-19 pandemic started. Despite the delay, everyone she initially approached still was interested in participating.
A Weird Al biopic / mock biopic that premiered last weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival and is scheduled for release later this year only makes Saturday’s concert more timely.
Expect to hear many of the radio favorites, but Hayes also is planning to do some deep cuts, like Yankovic’s 11-minute long opus “Albuquerque.”
“It’s a huge undertaking, a big challenge,” she said. “But the people who love Weird Al, that’s what they would be most excited to hear. It will surprise a lot of people that we are doing it.”
She isn’t worried about forgetting the words the words to “Albuquerque” or any of the songs, despite the fact that the last time she was on stage was a high school production of “Grease” more than 15 years ago.
“I keep telling my friends I don’t think I could be more prepared,” Hayes said. “I couldn’t know my songs any better. As far as nerves go, we’ll just see what happens, but I feel so comfortable with this group of musicians. Everyone is so familiar with the music.”
If you go …
WHAT: A Tribute to Weird Al Yankovic
WHEN: Saturday with doors open at 7 p.m., Amy Winehouse tribute starring Jacqlene May at 9 p.m. and Weird Al tribute at 10 p.m.
WHERE: Cedars West End, 706 Steel St., Youngstown
HOW MUCH: $10
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