‘Weird Al’ Yankovic brought his Bigger & Weirder tour to the Allianz Amphitheater earlier this week, turning Richmond’s newest stage into equal parts circus and cultural mirror. For anyone still catching up, Al has spent more than four decades parodying pop icons, from Michael Jackson to Nirvana to Lady Gaga, while quietly proving he’s one of the sharpest satirists and most durable performers in American music.
Opening the night was Puddles Pity Party, the seven-foot clown with the golden baritone who grew up right here in Richmond before heading south to Atlanta. Behind the greasepaint is Mike Geier, once a fixture of the city’s swing and lounge scene with the Useless Playboys. As Puddles, he leans into silence, deadpan mime, and a mournful delivery of pop covers that somehow bend from tragic to funny and back again. It’s vaudeville, cabaret, and something stranger, the perfect foil for Al’s over-the-top theatrics.
Photographer Joey Wharton
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