“Weird Al” Returns to NPR’s Tiny Desk 16 Years After Last Visit, This Time with a Full Band: Watch

As he approaches the latest leg of his “BIGGER & WEIRDER Tour,” the great “Weird Al” Yankovic returned to a venue he hasn’t played in over a decade and a half: NPR’s Tiny Desk. The parodist last played a TDC in 2010, bringing his classic band in an acoustic formation for a three-song set. This time, however, he shoved his full, plugged in band into the office space and played a mix of parodies, pastiches, and originals. For the takeoffs, he brought out his online shopping ode “eBay” (Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way”) and the classic Star Wars – Episode 1 recap “The Saga Beings” (Don McLean’s “American Pie”). Deep cut Weezer-esque “Skipper Dan” from 2011’s Alpocalypse opened the four-song performance, and the Emmy-nominated “Now You Know” recounted the hard, 100% completely true facts of the 2022 biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Get Weird Al Yankovic Tickets Here But the true highlight just might be someone behind Yankovic. Keep your eyes on guitarist Payton Rose Velligan on the left side of your screen, seemingly the youngest member of the band and someone who is clearly thrilled to be playing for a legend like “Weird Al.” (A quick look into her bio reveals she’s also ...