Weird Al to play with Hollywood orchestra

Weird Al Yankovic says he’ll play with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at his shows there in July.

The parody singer says that, though the concerts at the venue will be shorter than usual, fans will get to hear him perform with a string ensemble for the first time.

Weird Al tells Rolling Stone: “We’re doing a shorter set because the Bowl will not let you go over. I think 84 minutes is the cutoff. It’s going to be a truncated set, but on the positive side, the show is with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

“So, as we speak, there is an arranger that is arranging my set for them. I’m extremely excited about it.

“I’m going to be playing all the hits with an orchestra. I never imagined Smells Like Nirvana with strings before, but you’re gonna hear it that night.”

Weird Al previously said his send-up of the Nirvana classic got the seal of approval from late frontman Kurt Cobain.

He’ll embark on a 78-date North American trek in June, with Dublin and London shows scheduled in October.

Weird Al tour dates 2016

Jun 03: St. Petersburg Mahaffey Theater, FL
Jun 04: West Palm Beach Kravis Center For The Performing Arts, FL
Jun 05: Fort Myers Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, FL
Jun 07: Mobile Saenger Theatre, AL
Jun 09: Lakeland Youkey Theatre, FL
Jun 10: Miami Adrienne Arsht Center, FL
Jun 12: Birmingham BJCC, AL
Jun 15: Louisville Iroquois Amphitheater, KY
Jun 16: Nashville Grand Ole Opry, TN
Jun 17: Huntsville Von Braun Center, AL
Jun 18: Greensboro White Oak Amphitheatre, NC
Jun 19: Atlanta Fox Theatre, GA
Jun 21: Portsmouth Portsmouth Pavilion, VA
Jun 22: Baltimore Hippodrome Theatre, BD
Jun 24: Akron Akron Civic Theatre, OH
Jun 25: Bay City Veterans Memorial Park, MI
Jun 26: Ft. Wayne Foellinger Theatre, IN
Jun 28: Evansville Victory Theatre, IN
Jul 01: Toledo Zoo Amphitheater, OH
Jul 02: Aurora RiverEdge Park, IL
Jul 03: Merrillville Star Plaza Theatre, IN
Jul 06: Columbus Palace Theatre, OH
Jul 07: Indianapolis White River State Park, IN
Jul 08: Cincinnati PNC Pavilion, OH
Jul 09: Chattanooga Tivoli Theatre, TN
Jul 10: Southaven BankPlus Amphitheater, MS
Jul 12: Austin Bass Concert Hall, TX
Jul 14: Houston, Brown Theater at Wortham Center, TX
Jul 15: Biloxi Hard Rock Live, MS
Jul 16: Dallas Winspear Opera House, TX
Jul 17: Enid Event Center, OK
Jul 19: El Paso Plaza Theatre, TX
Jul 21: San Diego CalCoast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, CA
Jul 22:Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl, CA
Jul 23:Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl, CA
Jul 24: San Jose City National Civic, CA
Jul 26: Seattle Woodland Park Zoo, WA
Jul 27: Seattle Woodland Park Zoo, WA
Jul 28: Troutdale Edgefield, OR
Jul 29: Eugene Cuthbert Amphitheater, OR
Jul 30: Rohnert Park Sonoma State University, CA
Aug 02: Santa Barbara Arlington Theatre, CA
Aug 03: Phoenix Comerica Theatre, AZ
Aug 05: Salt Lake City Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre, UT
Aug 07: Kansas City Starlight Theatre, MO
Aug 09: Cedar Rapids McGrath Amphitheater, IA
Aug 10: Lincoln Pinewood Bowl Theater, NE
Aug 13: Sturgis Buffalo Chip Campground, SD
Aug 14: Regina Conexus Arts Centre, SK
Aug 15: Winnipeg Burton Cummings Theatre, MB
Aug 18: Thunder Bay Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, ON
Aug 19: Minneapolis State Theatre, MN
Aug 20: Appleton Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, WI
Aug 21: Madison Overture Hall, WI
Aug 23: Rockford Coronado Performing Arts Center, IL
Aug 24: Paducah The Carson Center, KY
Aug 26: Grand Rapids DeVos Performance Hall, MI
Aug 27: Sterling Heights Freedom Hill Amphitheatre, MI
Aug 28: Huber Heights Rose Music Center, OH
Aug 30: Wilmington The Playhouse Theatre, DE
Sept 01: Lowell Boarding House Park, MA
Sep 02: Gilford Bank of New Hampshire, NH
Sep 03: Canandaigua Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center, NY
Sep 04: Big Flats The Budweiser Summer Stage at Tag’s, NY
Sep 07: Columbia Koger Center for the Arts, SC
Sep 08: Wilmington Cape Fear Community College, NC
Sep 09: Durham Durham Performing Arts Center, NC
Sep 10: Asheville Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, NC
Sep 11: Vienna Filene Center at Wolf Trap, VA
Sep 13: Hershey Theatre, PA
Sep 14: Providence Providence Performing Arts Center, RI
Sep 16: Pittsburgh Benedum Center PA
Sep 17: Schenectady Proctor’s Theatre, NY
Sep 18: Waterbury Palace Theatre, CT
Sep 22: Charleston Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences, WV
Sep 23: Atlantic City Caesars Atlantic City, NJ
Sep 24: New York Radio City Music Hall, NY

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.