Accomplished musician and iconic parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic is scheduled to perform two shows at the Jack Singer Concert Hall on Saturday with a 41-piece symphonic orchestra.
The Calgary performances of the North American 'Strings Attached' tour will bring a stage show that Yankovic considers to be the most elaborate of his nearly four-decade long career and its set list required careful consideration.
"I wanted to play as many hits as possible, and a couple deep cuts in there, but mostly I wanted to pick songs that sound great with an orchestra," explained Yankovic ahead of his Thursday night show in Victoria. "We're playing songs like Jurassic Park, which we haven't played in years, that sounds so amazing with an orchestra. 'Well, we have to play that!'"
The four-time Grammy winner says sharing a stage with his regular band as well as a symphony is surreal.
"I'm outside of my body thinking 'Why do I need an orchestra for these silly songs?' but somehow it all works. The songs are ridiculous and they sound kind of majestic with this full orchestra. It's a fun show."
Tickets for the Saturday evening performance at the Jack Singer are sold out but, as of Thursday afternoon, seats are still available for the 3 p.m. matinee show through the "Weird Al" Yankovic website.
