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Five ways “Weird Al” Yankovic parodied pop concerts on Friday at Verizon Theatre

For nearly four decades "Weird Al" Yankovic has held a funhouse mirror in front of pop culture at large, producing silly and salient parodies of the things we all deem relevant.

His biggest targets are pop acts (everyone from Queen to Lorde) and screen tropes (his feature film UHF and his MTV specials dubbed Al TV), resulting in spoofs so creative that they sometimes exceed the originals. Proof that Yankovic's appeal still extends beyond simple sight and word gags: His fourteenth album, last year's Mandatory Fun, was his first to hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

With this in mind, the 55-year-old comedic musician approaches a large-venue concert tour like he would any other project in his sights - as a parody, a laugh-filled commentary on its own established structure. Think about it: Al's got enough hits for an epic, career-spanning concert, a four-piece band that can ace pretty much any musical style and plenty of crazy costumes from decades of videos. All he had to do on Friday night at Verizon Theatre was put it all together in a way that excited the bustling crowd of a few thousand while honoring his crafty legacy. Here's how he did it:

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Weird Al doing "Perform this Way."
Weird Al doing "Perform this Way."(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

Most songs came with their own unique visuals: Yankovic changed costumes as many or more times than any pop diva, one of which he aped quite well during the Lady Gaga-esque "Perform This Way." His take on her wacky getups consisted of a tentacle-laden octopus dress and an ice-cream-cone hat. The Devo costumes came out for "Dare to be Stupid." He was a gargantuan Michael Jackson for the classic, "Fat," and a picture perfect Cobain on "Smells Like Nirvana." Weird Al roamed the stage on a Segway before tackling his Chamillionaire sound-alike "White & Nerdy."

Transitions between set pieces further cemented Al's stature: How, pray tell, did he and his band pull off all those costume changes? While they were rushing backstage to change, the audience was treated to many compilations of video clips from Yankovic's illustrious career. We saw parts of his music videos, TV cameos from every comedy program imaginable and, best of all, the mock trailer for an intensely revealing Weird Al biopic. One could tell the fans were well-versed in all this material, as they recited bits of dialogue. In short, boredom never seemed to set in.

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Like many career artists do on victory-lap tours, Al changed up some of his biggest tunes: We didn't get the classic treatment on all of the chart-busting pop spoofs from Yankovic's catalog. He and his agile band sat down near the end of the two-hour performance for an "unplugged" set. You've seen this done when an artist wants to slow things down or get serious, but we've never heard songs as funny as "Eat It" and "I Love Rocky Road" done in this style. Brilliant way to keep 'em guessing, Al.

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He connected with the people by venturing into the crowd: Actually, Yankovic initially entered from the side of the venue and worked his way through the front sections, shaking hands as he crooned his Pharrell spoof, "Tacky." Later, during the over-the-top R&B seduction "Wanna B Ur Lovr," he employed plenty of different gut-busting methods of getting closer to fans. He wrapped a leg around one highly amused woman. Fans played along whole-heartedly throughout the show, eagerly creating a ripple effect when Yankovic jumped up and down on stage during "Fat."

There were super-medleys and, of course, polka jams: What's a pop show without a fast-paced medley or two? Yankovic did it a few times, most notably smashing together "Party in the C.I.A.," "It's All About the Pentiums," "Gump," "Another One Rides the Bus" and more in one segment. My favorite medley moment, though, came at the beginning, when he pulled out his accordion for his signature polka stylings of hits by Miley Cyrus, Will.I.Am, Foster the People and One Direction. As he launched into that uniquely "Weird" moment, a fan behind me shouted, "Take us to polka town!" The fun never felt forced.