Music is a way to search for love and meaning, an avenue for people to plunge deep into their soul for an understanding of themselves and their world. “Weird Al” Yankovic knows our deepest part may be the stomach. For more than 35 years Weird Al has skewered popular culture and given us songs of food, animals and various absurdia. And on April 30, Weird Al brings his accordion and to-die-for hair to the Kiva Auditorium.

A Weird Al concert is showmanship at its best—theatrical and full of costume changes. The musicians and sounds are spot-on, and if we're lucky on Monday night, we may get a rare concert performance of "
Weird Al is not a cultural icon per se, but he has artistically outlived and is more relevant than most of what he has spoofed. Seeing Weird Al pretend to be an Amish Coolio is way better than seeing Coolio. His music is in a state of constant reinvention as he floats atop the zeitgeist with a clear view of how ridiculous it is. More than an evening of puns and silliness, a Weird Al concert contains a bigger truth of what is real. While love and soul-searching and the songs thereof might be exciting, chicken and pie is completely satisfying too.