‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s ‘Mandatory World Tour’

It’s going to be hard for the parody musician to top 2014, which marks the biggest year of his career. But he’s going to try by playing more than 100 cities throughout North America, Europe and Australia.

The global outing takes its name from his 14^th studio album, Mandatory Fun, which was released in July on RCA Records, topping the Nielsen SoundScan albums chart. Not only is the LP Yankovic’s first No.1 album in the U.S., but it also has the distinction of being the first comedy album to ever debut at the top of the chart.  

“Weird Al” set a few others records in 2014, including having the most tracks from one album on Spotify’s viral top 10 at one time, with four tunes at the top of the list. The success of “Word Crimes,” his take on Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” makes him one of only three artists to have Top 40 singles in each of the last four decades. Madonna and Michael Jackson are the only other acts who have achieved that type of longevity on the chart.           

Mandatory Fun also features parodies of “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea, “Royals” by Lorde, “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, and “Happy” by Pharrell Williams.

The initial tour schedule consists of 88 dates. “Weird Al” wrote the following note on Facebook to explain the booking process.  

“Hey guys! I’ve been reading all your comments, and I feel like I should clarify a few things…

“First of all, this bears repeating – I basically have NO CONTROL over where I play. There’s no reason to thank me if I’m playing your city, and there’s REALLY no reason to get mad at me if I’m not. I don’t decide what city I play, or what venue I play, or what day I play. The way it works is, I tell my booking agency how long I’d like to tour, and then they put a tour together based on whatever offers come in from concert promoters. So if you want to twist somebody’s arm, maybe try your local concert promoter… but you don’t need to convince ME – believe me, I would love to play EVERYWHERE!

“And secondly… you may have noticed there are a few holes in my otherwise packed touring schedule. This is because some dates haven’t been completely confirmed (like the Australia / NZ dates), and some dates we’re not allowed to announce yet for various legal/contractual reasons. All I can say is, please be patient… don’t give up hope quite yet… there are still a few more 2015 tour dates to be announced.

“If I AM coming anywhere near you, I hope you can go… it’s going to be a great show!”

Now that that’s clear, here are the confirmed dates:

May 12 – Las Vegas, Nev., Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino     
May 13 – Las Vegas, Nev., Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino     
May 14 – Las Vegas, Nev., Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino     
May 15 – Las Vegas, Nev., Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino     
May 16 – Las Vegas, Nev., Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino     
May 19 – Tulsa, Okla., Brady Theater           
May 20 – Oklahoma City, Okla., Hudson Performance Hall            
May 22 – Biloxi, Miss., Hard Rock Live      
May 23 – Nashville, Tenn., Ryman Auditorium       
May 24 – Robinsonville, Miss., Horseshoe Casino    
May 26 – Bloomington, Ill., Bloomington Ctr. For The Perf. Arts  
May 28 – Indianapolis, Ind., Murat Theatre  
May 29 – Mount Pleasant, Mich., Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort  
May 30 – Cleveland, Ohio, Jacobs Pavilion At Nautica
May 31 – Greensburg, Pa., Palace Theatre    
June 2 – Boston, Mass., Wilbur Theatre        
June 3 – Boston, Mass., Wilbur Theatre        
June 4 – Concord, N.H., Capitol Center for the Arts – Chubb Theatre
June 6 – Mashantucket, Conn., Foxwoods Resort Casino   
June 7 – New York, N.Y., Randall’s Island (Governors Ball Music Festival)
June 8 – Lancaster, Pa., American Music Theatre     
June 11 – Richmond, Va., Carpenter Theatre            
June 12 – Vienna, Va., Filene Center At Wolf Trap
June 13 – Baltimore, Md., Pier Six Pavilion  
June 14 – Roanoke, Va., Berglund Performing Arts Theatre            
June 16 – Bethlehem, Pa., Sands Bethlehem Event Center  
June 18 – Cary, N.C., Koka Booth Amphitheatre     
June 19 – Charlotte, N.C., Ovens Auditorium          
June 20 – Atlanta, Ga., Chastain Park Amphitheatre
June 21 – Kettering, Ohio, Fraze Pavilion For The Perf. Arts           
June 23 – Newark, Ohio, Midland Theatre   
June 24 – Louisville, Ky., The Louisville Palace Theatre      
June 26 – Windsor, Ontario, Caesars Windsor “The Colosseum”
June 27 – Chicago, Ill., Chicago Theatre       
June 28 – St. Louis, Mo., Peabody Opera House      
June 30 – Kansas City, Mo., Arvest Bank Theatre At The Midland
July 1 – Wichita, Kan., Orpheum Theatre     
July 2 – Council Bluffs, Iowa, Harrah’s Council Bluffs – Stir Concert Cove           
July 3 – Prior Lake, Minn., Mystic Showroom
July 7 – Bowling Green, Ky., Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center
July 8 – Greenville, S.C., Peace Center Concert Hall            
July 10 – Erie, Pa., Warner Theatre  
July 11 – Albany, N.Y., Palace Theatre         
July 12 – Burlington, Vt., Flynn Center For The Performing Arts   
July 14 – Verona, N.Y., Showroom At Turning Stone Casino Resort
July 15 – Buffalo, N.Y., UB Center For The Arts    
July 17 – Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton Place
July 18 – Rama, Ontario, Casino Rama Entertainment Centre         
July 19 – Ottawa, Ontario, Lebreton Flats Park (RBC Bluesfest)
July 20 – London, Ontario, Centennial Hall  
July 24 – Halifax, Nova Scotia, Schooner Showroom Theatre
July 25 – Moncton, New Brunswick, The Centre at Casino New Brunswick
July 26 – Portland, Maine, Maine State Pier
Aug. 4 – New Bedford, Mass., Zeiterion Performing Arts Center   
Aug. 5 – Williamsport, Pa,. Community Arts Center
Aug. 7 – Knoxville, Tenn., Tennessee Theatre          
Aug. 8 – Newport News, Va., Ferguson Center For The Arts          
Aug. 9 – North Charleston, S.C., North Charleston Perf. Arts Center        
Aug. 11 – Orlando, Fla., Hard Rock Cafe / Hard Rock Live           
Aug. 13 – Clearwater, Fla., Ruth Eckerd Hall          
Aug. 14 – Melbourne, Fla., King Center For Performing Arts          
Aug. 15 – Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Broward Center For The Perf. Arts
Aug. 16 – Jacksonville, Fla., Florida Theatre
Aug. 18 – Houston, Texas, Bayou Music Center      
Aug. 19 – San Antonio, Texas, Majestic Theatre      
Aug. 20 – Austin, Texas, Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater   
Aug. 21 – Grand Prairie, Texas, Verizon Theatre At Grand Prairie  
Aug. 23 – Denver, Colo., Paramount Theatre           
Sept. 1 – Arcata, Calif., John Van Duzer Theatre     
Sept. 2 – Jacksonville, Ore., Britt Pavilion    
Sept. 4 – Bend, Ore., Les Schwab Amphitheater      
Sept. 5 – Portland, Ore., Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre
Sept. 6 – Portland, Ore., Oregon Zoo Amphitheatre
Sept. 8 – Vancouver, British Columbia, Queen Elizabeth Theatre    
Sept. 9 – Penticton, British Columbia, South Okanagan Events Centre       
Sept. 11 – Enoch, Alberta, River Cree Resort And Casino  
Sept. 12 – Calgary, Alberta, Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium  
Sept. 13 – Airway Heights, Wash., Northern Quest Casino
Sept. 14 – Puyallup, Wash., Western Washington Fairgrounds (Washington State Fair)
Sept. 18 – Laughlin, Nev., Harrah’s Rio Vista Amphitheatre           
Sept. 24 – Stockholm, Sweden, Grona Lund            
Sept. 25 – Oslo, Norway, Sentrum Scene     
Sept. 26 – Trondheim, Norway, Waterfront Brattora
Sept. 28 – Copenhagen, Denmark, VEGA House Of Music            
Sept. 30 – Amsterdam, Netherlands, Melkweg         
Oct. 1 – Brussels, Belgium, Ancienne Belgique        
Oct. 4 – London, England, Eventim Apollo
Oct. 6 – Dublin, Ireland, Vicar Street

Presales are ongoing now at WeirdAl.com. General onsales begin Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. local time.