Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour

The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour was a concert tour performed by American musician and satirist "Weird Al" Yankovic.^[1] Intended to be a more intimate and less stylized production compared to his previous concert tours, the Vanity Tour focused on Yankovic's older material and original songs. The 76-date North American tour was announced in October 2017, and included 68 shows in the United States and eight shows in Canada. Following the conclusion of the tour, recordings of the entire tour were released on Stitcher Premium.

Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour

Tour by "Weird Al" Yankovic
Promotional poster for the tour
Start date	February 27, 2018 (2018-02-27)
End date	June 10, 2018 (2018-06-10)
Legs	1
No. of shows	77
Supporting act(s)	Emo Phillips
"Weird Al" Yankovic concert chronology

Background

In a departure from his previous concert tours, Yankovic set out on The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour with the intention to produce a more intimate, less stylized show than his preceding concert tours, describing the Vanity Tour as having an "extremely limited appeal" by design, and inspired by the staging of VH1 Storytellers and MTV Unplugged.^[2][3][4] The absence of video screens and advanced lighting,^[2] along with the Vanity Tour's lack of his popular hits, costumes changes, props, and choreography present in Yankovic's previous tours allowed for a more flexible and unpredictable experience, to the testimonial approval of Yankovic himself and his touring band.^[3][4] In the tour's October 2017 announcement across social media, Yankovic stated:

By design, it has extremely limited appeal. Instead of doing festivals, fairs and arenas, we'll be doing small, intimate theatres. Instead of putting on a big flashy production, we'll be trying to go for something very informal and low-key… kind of an Unplugged/Storytellers vibe. Like we're just hanging out, playing in your living room. So if you've really got your heart set on seeing fat suits and Segways and hearing all your favorite parodies… this probably isn't the tour for you. Chances are we'll be doing that kind of show again sometime in the future, just not THIS time.

— "Weird Al" Yankovic^[4]

The opening act was the comedian Emo Philips, who had previously worked with Yankovic in his 1989 movie UHF and 1997 TV series The Weird Al Show.^[5]

In accordance with Yankovic's desired theme of more intimate and "loose" shows, the setlist for The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour was different every night,^[6][7] with a focus on older material and original songs from his discography, as opposed to his staple parody songs.^[8] Yankovic performed a straight cover version of a different classic rock song during the encore of each show.^[9]

Promotion

The Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour was officially announced on "Weird Al" Yankovic's official social media pages on 13 October 2017,^[3][4] with information on tour dates, venues and ticket sales appearing on Yankovic's official website the day after.^[10][11] Tickets for the Vanity Tour, which went on sale on October 20, were advertised from $50 to $70.^[6][12] The tour's announcement also coincided with the November 2017 release of Squeeze Box and Medium Rarities, two compilation albums collecting the works of Yankovic.^[13]

Follow-up tour

Main article: The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour

In 2021 "Weird Al" Yankovic announced a follow-up concert tour to the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour "The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour", performed from May to October 2022 with special guest Emo Phillips.^[14]

I've loved doing every single incarnation of my live show, but honestly the Vanity tour is the most fun I've ever had on stage, so I've been dying to get back out there and torture everybody with it once again!

— "Weird Al" Yankovic^[14]

Setlist

Each of the 77 shows had a different set list, with the following 51 songs in regular rotation:^[15]

• "Airline Amy"
• "Albuquerque"
• "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota"
• "Bob"
• "Buy Me a Condo"
• "Christmas at Ground Zero"
• "Close But No Cigar"
• "CNR"
• "Craigslist"
• "Dare to Be Stupid" (Grateful Dead version)
• "Dog Eat Dog"
• "Don't Download This Song"
• "Fun Zone"
• "Generic Blues"
• "Good Enough For Now"
• "Good Old Days"
• "Happy Birthday"
• "I Remember Larry"
• "I Was Only Kidding"
• "I'll Sue Ya"
• "I'm So Sick of You"
• "If That Isn't Love"
• "Jackson Park Express"
• "Let Me Be Your Hog"
• "Melanie"
• "Midnight Star"
• "Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung"
• "Mr. Popeil"
• "My Baby's in Love With Eddie Vedder"
• "My Own Eyes"
• "Nature Trail to Hell"
• "The Night Santa Went Crazy"
• "One More Minute"
• "One of Those Days"
• "Party at the Leper Colony"
• "The Saga Begins"
• "She Never Told Me She Was a Mime"
• "Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me"
• "Stuck in a Closet With Vanna White"
• "That Boy Could Dance"
• "Traffic Jam"
• "Truck Drivin' Song"
• "UHF"
• "Velvet Elvis"
• "When I Was Your Age"
• "Why Does This Always Happen to Me?"
• "Yoda"
• "You Don’t Love Me Anymore"
• "Young, Dumb & Ugly"
• "Your Horoscope For Today"
• Unplugged Medley ("Eat It", "I Lost on Jeopardy", "Amish Paradise", "Smells Like Nirvana", "White & Nerdy", "I Love Rocky Road", "Like a Surgeon")

Encore Songs^[9]

• "Smoke on the Water"
• "Blue Suede Shoes"
• "I Saw Her Standing There"
• "Johnny B. Goode"
• "Do Wah Diddy Diddy"
• "Dirty Water"
• "Honky Tonk Women"
• "Tutti Frutti"
• "Wipeout"
• "All Day and All of the Night"
• "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
• "Blister in the Sun"
• "Uncontrollable Urge"
• "867-5309 (Jenny)"
• "Psycho Killer"
• "Hello There"
• "Refugee"
• "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
• "Cinnamon Girl"
• "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting"
• "Play That Funky Music"
• "Free Bird"
• "China Grove"
• "Rebel Yell"
• "Stuck in the Middle with You"
• "Accordion Boogie"
• "Are You Gonna Be My Girl"
• "All Star"
• "Squeeze Box"
• "Beat on the Brat"
• "Last Train to Clarksville"
• "Beer Barrel Polka"
• "Breakdown"
• "What I Like About You"
• "We're an American Band"
• "Peaches"
• "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)"
• "Gimme Some Lovin'"
• "Glad All Over"
• "Sunshine of Your Love"

• "Particle Man"
• "Land of 1,000 Dances"
• "Crocodile Rock"
• "Viva Las Vegas"
• "Fire and Rain"
• "Werewolves of London"
• "I Wanna Be Sedated"
• "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
• "Born to Be Wild"
• "Vertigo"
• "You Really Got Me"
• "Sweet Home Alabama"
• "Suffragette City"
• "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)"
• "Radio Radio"
• "Girl U Want"
• "This Is a Call"
• "I'm Down"
• "The Elements"
• "Funeral For a Friend"
• "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"
• "God Save the Queen"
• "No Matter What"
• "Classical Gas"
• "Rock & Roll"
• "Funk #49"
• "Good Lovin'"
• "Foxy Lady"
• "Aqualung"
• "Hard to Handle"
• "All Right Now"
• "Summer Nights"
• "Magic Carpet Ride"
• "Rebel Rebel"
• "Takin' It to the Streets"
• "Not Fade Away"
• "School's Out"

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue	Opening Act
February 27, 2018	Poughkeepsie	United States	Bardavon 1869 Opera House	Emo Philips
March 1, 2018	Tarrytown		Tarrytown Music Hall
March 2, 2018	Ledyard		Fox Theater
March 3, 2018	Portsmouth		The Music Hall
March 4, 2018 (Matinee)	Boston		Wilbur Theatre
March 4, 2018 (Evening)
March 7, 2018	Montreal	Canada	Théâtre Maisonneuve
March 8, 2018	Toronto		Danforth Music Hall
March 9, 2018
March 10, 2018	Grand Rapids	United States	20 Monroe Live
March 11, 2018	Ann Arbor		Michigan Theater
March 13, 2018	Amherst		Mainstage Theatre
March 14, 2018	Ithaca		State Theater
March 16, 2018	Atlantic City		Circus Maximus Theater
March 17, 2018	Huntington		Paramount Theater
March 18, 2018	Lancaster		American Music Theatre
March 20, 2018	North Bethesda		The Music Center at Strathmore
March 22, 2018	New York City		Apollo Theater
March 23, 2018
March 24, 2018	Greensburg		Palace Theatre
March 25, 2018	Cleveland		Ohio Theatre
March 26, 2018	Lexington		Lexington Opera House
March 28, 2018	Louisville		Brown Theatre
March 29, 2018	Carmel		The Palladium
March 30, 2018	Champaign		Virginia Theatre
March 31, 2018	Des Moines		Hoyt Sherman Place Theater
April 2, 2018	Rochester		Mayo Civic Center Presentation Hall
April 3, 2018	Minneapolis		Pantages Theatre
April 4, 2018
April 6, 2018	Chicago		The Vic Theatre
April 7, 2018
April 9, 2018	Milwaukee		Pabst Theater
April 10, 2018
April 12, 2018	Wabash		Ford Theater
April 13, 2018	Chattanooga		Walker Theater
April 14, 2018	Augusta		Miller Theater
April 15, 2018	Atlanta		Tabernacle
April 17, 2018[A]	Nashville		War Memorial Auditorium
April 19, 2018	Springfield		Gillioz Theatre
April 20, 2018	Longview		Belcher Performance Center
April 21, 2018[B]	Austin		Paramount Theatre
April 22, 2018	Midland		Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
April 24, 2018	Stafford		Stafford Centre Performing Arts Theatre
April 26, 2018	San Antonio		H-E-B Performance Hall
April 27, 2018	Dallas		Majestic Theatre
April 28, 2018	Wichita		Orpheum Theatre
April 29, 2018	Kansas City		Folly Theater
May 1, 2018	Denver		Paramount Theatre
May 3, 2018	Grand Junction		Avalon Theatre
May 4, 2018	Ivins		Tuacahn Amphitheater
May 5, 2018	Tucson		Fox Tucson Theatre
May 6, 2018	Santa Fe		Lensic Theater
May 8, 2018	Mesa		Ikeda Theater
May 9, 2018	Palm Desert		McCallum Theatre
May 10, 2018	Los Angeles		The Theatre at Ace Hotel
May 11, 2018
May 12, 2018	San Diego		Humphreys Concerts By the Bay
May 15, 2018	Sacramento		Crest Theatre
May 17, 2018	Monterey		Golden State Theatre
May 18, 2018	Turlock		Turlock Community Theatre
May 19, 2018	Oakland		Fox Oakland Theatre
May 20, 2018	Napa		Uptown Theater
May 22, 2018	Redding		Cascade Theatre
May 24, 2018	Eugene		McDonald Theatre
May 25, 2018	Portland		Revolution Hall
May 26, 2018
May 27, 2018	Spokane		Woldson Theater
May 29, 2018	Seattle		Moore Theatre
May 31, 2018	Calgary	Canada	Grey Eagle Event Centre
June 1, 2018	Regina		Casino Regina Show Lounge
June 2, 2018	Edmonton		River Cree Entertainment Centre
June 3, 2018	Medicine Hat		Esplanade Theatre
June 5, 2018	Winnipeg		Burton Cummings Theatre
June 6, 2018	Fargo	United States	Fargo Theatre
June 8, 2018	Columbia		Jesse Auditorium
June 9, 2018	Clear Lake		Surf Ballroom
June 10, 2018	Green Bay		Meyer Theatre

Festivals and other miscellaneous performances

^A This concert was a part of the "Nashville Comedy Festival"^[16]

^B This concert was a part of the "Moontower Comedy Festival"^[17]

Box office score data

Venue	City	Tickets sold / Available	Gross revenue
Théâtre Maisonneuve	Montreal	2,102 / 2,102 (100%)	$98,975[18]
Circus Maximus Theater	Atlantic City	1,330 / 1,606 (83%)	$81,258[19]
Ohio Theatre	Cleveland	932 / 1,000 (93%)	$63,019[20]
Pantages Theatre	Minneapolis	1,968 / 1,980 (99%)	$124,124[21]
The Vic Theatre	Chicago	1,879 / 1,879 (100%)	$94,231[22]
Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center	Midland	984 / 1,733 (57%)	$42,690[22]
The Theatre at Ace Hotel	Los Angeles	2,981 / 2,981 (100%)	$206,726[23]
Crest Theatre	Sacramento	934 / 975 (96%)	$54,538[23]
Fox Oakland Theatre	Oakland	1,923 / 1,923 (100%)	$117,345[23]
TOTAL		15,033 / 16,179 (93%)	$882,906