Weird Al Yankovic at the Honda CenterComedy Music history was made on September 14th, 1980 when Weird Al Yankovic performed “Another Rides the Bus” on the Dr. Demento show just a month before his 21st birthday. Yankovic would meet Jon ‘Bermuda’ Schwartz who would keep the beat with Yankovic’s accordion case and has been playing with Yankovic the last 46 years. Yankovic a native of Lynwood, CA played the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA September 19th.  Yankovic released his debut album in 1983 and did a small tour of east coast and midwest venues under 1000 capacity along with Dr. Demento. On the debut album, Yankovic added in bassist Steve Jay a member ever since then and Rick Derringer who passed away in May last year played guitar on it and produced the first five Weird Al albums.

The second release was 3-D in 1984--this would be the first album with guitarist Jim “Kimo” West who has been a member since. From 1984 to 1991 the band would be Bermuda, Kimo, and Jay. During the Dr. Demento 20th anniversary special, Yankovic would meet keyboardist Ruben Valtierra and soon after he would join the band. Now nearly 35 years later, Yankovic has had a 4-piece band.

Yankovic’s last album was Mandatory Fun in 2014 and since then he would do a massive world tour on that album between 2015 and 2016 performing over 200 shows including two historic nights at the Hollywood Bowl with the L.A. Philharmonic. After taking off two years, Yankovic’s next tour would be the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour  which was acoustic shows at intimate venues without all the costumes and production as the previous tours. The songs performed were all originals with the exception of a parodies medley, a different cover song for each of the 77 shows, and “Saga Begins” and “Yoda” as the closing songs. Yankovic would return again the following year (2019) with the Strings Attached with a local orchestra for each show.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Yankovic would return to touring in 2022 with the second  Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour which just like the first one featured a different setlist each night and cover song. Two years after that tour completed Yankovic came back with the Bigger & Weirder Tour. The Bigger & Weirder Tour began last year and was Yankovic’s biggest tour including stops at Madison Square Garden and the Forum. The tour returned this past May. Puddles Pity Party has been the opener since last the tour began last year.

In addition to Yankovic’s longtime band, there have been four more musicians added for this tour who all play multiple instruments and also have acting roles. The new additions to the band are Long time Brian Wilson guitarist Probyn Gregory, Men at Work and Dweezil Zappa Saxophonist/percussionist Scheila Gonzalez, vocalist Monique Donnelly who has been on numerous film, TV shows and albums as well as performing with Yankovic on the Strings Attached tour, and keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist Payton Rose Velligan who has toured with Boston frontman Tommy DeCarlo.

This tour has all the songs, humor, outfits, and classic video segments for the wardrobe changeovers any fan would want. Yankovic, now 66, still puts on a two hour show with all the costumes.

Just like on the Mandatory World Tour, Yankovic opened with “Tacky” which starts with him walking through the backstage and Puddles can be often seen with a pie being thrown on his face, This tour includes another six songs you can always expect to see performed with the exception of the two vanity tours which are “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Dare To Be Stupid,” “Fat,” “White & Nerdy,” “Amish Paradise,” and his usual closers “Saga Begins” and “Yoda.”

These have been his closing songs on every tour since Touring with Scissors in 1999 except the Straight Outta Lynwood tour when they were performed earlier in the set and the second vanity tour only Yoda” was performed. “Yoda” had first been a closer in 1985 and has been the closing song on nearly every tour since.

On opening night “Fat” was performed for the first time since 2016, “eBay” since 2003, “ “Stop forwarding the Crap to Me” since 2018, White And Nerdy,” and “Amish Paradise” since 2019. Also a few songs were performed for the first time whether they were recorded since the last tour or had never been previously performed on tours before this one, “Mission Statement” from Mandatory Fun, Yankovic’s latest polka medley “Polkamania!,” “Everything You Know is Wrong” from Bad Hair Day (1996),” Captain UnderPants” theme song, “Now You Know” from Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, the theme to the Disney animated series MiloMurphy’s Law It’s My World (and We’re All Living In It) as Yankovic said it’s the shortest song he’s ever performed. Although it’s been 11 years since Mandatory Fun, Yankovic has put out a Polka medley of songs from Broadway sensation Hamilton and “Polkamania!” which consists of covers going back to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” (2014) to 2023 with Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire,” and also included Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” Adele’s “Hello,” “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Disney’s Encanto, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” Lusi Fonsi’s “Desposito,” Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You,” Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Fun,” Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP,” and Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next.” For each song the actual music video for it appeared on the screen. Since Yankovic’s second album in 1984, he has put out a Polka medley of covers of the biggest hits at the time and this was a compilation of hits since his last album release.

There have been 13 Weird Al albums plus the UHF Soundtrack. Of the 13 albums There were one to four songs performed from all except for his fourth release Polka Party!. The most songs were performed from Dare To Be Stupid totaling four.

For the first five songs the outfits stayed the same minus Yankovic’s blazer for “Tacky,” and Yankovic put another blazer on for “One More Minute With You,” and on that song he comes through the audience singing right in people’s faces. The first video shown since the intro video was the “Another Rides The Bus” scene from Weird The Al Yankovic Story featuring Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al, Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento, and Jack Black as Wolfman Jack. When the stage lights came on there was Yankovic and the band dressed in their Nirvana outfits for “Smells Like Nirvana.” Yankovic spit water onto the front row during the gargle solo. The next video was various clips of Yankovic followed by him and the band coming out in their Devo style outfits for “Dareto Be Stupid.” This year marks 40 years of that song and album of the same name.

Another video played of various clips ending with Yankovic and The Simpsons to allow for the next wardrobe change for the parodies medley. The medley began with everyone dressed in suits and sunglasses for “Party In the CIA,” then Yankovic took his blazer off for “It's All About the Pentiums,” then removed his button down shirt and sunglasses and had black shirt under for “Bedrock Anthem”. During the Flintones clip from the music video Yankovic picked up the accordion for “My Bologna” and “Ricky” off his first album, at this point of the show it showed just how long of a career Yankovic’s career has had how much it has evolved since the first album.  During “Ricky,” Donnelly plays Lucy.  Next came “Ode to a Superhero” with one of his crew members holding the harmonica while he played it and accordion together. The medley continued with “I Love Rocky Road” also from his debut album. Yankovic put on his “Beat It” jacket for “Eat It” and did the Michael Jackson dance moves just like in the video and also switched to keyboard. This was the first time since the first vanity tour in 2018 tour it had been performed, however it was part of an acoustic medley that tour and the last time the entire song was performed was in 1985. The medley continued with another early hit “Like a Surgeon” which he wore a doctor’s cap for. Yankovic stepped away from the keyboard and moved around the stage for “Word Crimes” and then put on a red and white maple leaf blazer for “Canadian Idiot.”  The band played song to song without stopping.

Before “Fat” the opening from the music video played and out came Yankovic just as he looked in the music video. Yankovic would go back to a Hawaiian shirt for the next six songs and there would also be a cover of David Bowie’s Suffragette City.” For “Skipper Dan,” Yankovic wore a skipper hat just like you see on the Disneyland Jungle Cruise Ride. Following “Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me,” one of the best videos of the night played. It was a parody of the movie “Whiplash” with Yankovic on accordion and just like in the movie J.K. Simmons as the teacher. Next would be a Jeopardy clip with the late Alex Trebek and the categories were titles of Weird Al songs. Out would come Yankovic on a segway for “White and Nerdy” dressed as he did in the video with the band wearing short sleeve button downs with pocket protectors and pens as well as wearing glasses. There would be another wardrobe change for the last song before the encore which was “Amish Paradise” with everyone dressed just like they were in the music video. Yankovic would announce the band before they all left the stage. Rather than a video segment for the wardrobe change the stage went dark.

For the encore, Valtierra dressed as Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars came out and got the crowd cheering then plays Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565” followed by Yankovic and the rest of the band coming out in their Jedi attire just like in “The Saga Begins” video and now having female members, Velligan and Donnelly dress as Rey and Gonzalez as Princess Leia as well as members of local 501st Legion dressed as stormtroopers, a sand trooper, a scout trooper and of course Darth Vader.  At the Shoreline Amphitheater show there were two snow troopers, and a Chewbacca. At MSG there was a remote controlled R2D2. Yankovic also brought back “We All Have Cell Phones” as the beginning of the encore taken from an interview with R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe which is shown earlier in the show. Following “Saga Begins,” the legion exits the stage while Valtierra plays “Charge!” which you hear at baseball and hockey games and Yankovic, Jay, West, and Gregory all remove their Jedi robes and Yankovic picks up the accordion for the final time. During “Yoda,” Yankovic lets the audience sing the chorus and then him and band go A capella for three minutes with different chants, “Grim Grinning Ghosts’ from the Haunted Mansion Ride at Disneyland, The Rivington’s “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow,” and more before finishing the song. Bermuda had two “drum solos” during the show and the joke was it was just a single hit on the snare drum.

Setlist:TackyMission StatementPolkamania!Drum SoloEverything You Know Is WrongOne More MinuteSmells Like NirvanaDare to Be StupidParty in the CIA / It's All About the Pentiums / Bedrock Anthem / MyBologna / Ricky / Ode to a Superhero / I Love Rocky Road / Eat It /Like a Surgeon / Word Crimes / Canadian IdiotFatIt’s My World (and We’re All Living in It) - Milo Murphy’s Law ThemeCaptain Underpants Theme SongNow You KnowSuffragette City- David BowieSkipper DanDrum Solo (Reprise)eBayStop Forwarding That Crap to MeWhite & NerdyAmish ParadiseEncore:We All Have Cell PhonesThe Saga BeginsYodaThe post Weird Al Yankovic at the Honda Center first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Sean Parker is rebuilding Stability AI around musicSean Parker, who once taught the music industry what asking for forgiveness looks like, is now back with the labels' blessing and money.

Juniper Studio IR DeconvolverIf you make cab IRs, you know the routine: bounce between apps, set everything by hand, one capture at a time. I got tired of it, so I built IR Deconvolver for Mac and Windows. Drop in a whole session of recordings, press one button, and every IR is done in seconds. Batch processing, one IR per recording in a single run. Auto mode picks the IR length and sweep type. Every IR comes out phase-aligned, so you can swap and blend without comb filtering. Blend two IRs, sample-aligned and gain-matched. Harmonic Kernels measure the speaker's 2nd/3rd/4th-order distortion, with your mic's calibration taken out. Built-in sweep, with normalized 24-bit or 32-bit float WAV output. It's free for 30 days with no account or card, then pay what you want from $10. One license covers 10 machines. Questions and honest feedback welcome. Read More

2026 Retrocomputing Challenge: A Homebrew Computer In Only Three ICsHomebrew computers don’t have to be retrocomputers, but [Just4Fun]’s all-through-hole, 68008-based “68k-MBC” certainly qualifies, so it is a worthy entry in our ongoing contest. While there are both “full” and “lite” hardware configurations, the three-IC “lite” configuration is what first caught our eye. Yes, three: the 68008, an SRAM chip, and a PIC microcontroller that acts as the ROM.
Software is provided by the suitably-retro CP/M68K, or standalone executables, which run on both hardware configurations. The “lite” option restricts you to a maximum of 512 KB of RAM and a single serial port, but it looks like you still get I2C and the option to plug in an SD “hard drive” or RTC module however you configure the machine. Through the serial port, you can of course connect a terminal of you choice, or even use a thermal printer. The “full” version has two serial ports, if you want to do both. [Just4Fun] also has a parallel adapter lets you plug in printers with that interface as well. The demo video is below, but be warned that the text-to-speech narration won’t be to everyone’s liking.
We’ve featured other single-board-computers using the 68k before, but this one is a worthy contender in our contest, not least for the impressively low chip count. This contest has gotten oodles of entries, but there’s still time for yours: entries close October 27th.

iFi audio reveal the GR2 MT iFi audio have unveiled a new Master Tuned variant of their praised iDSD GR2 portable DAC/headphone amplifier that has been developed alongside Grammy-winning producer Steve Levine. 

From Warner’s EMP sell-off to Universal Music’s Briegmann promotion… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe biggest headlines from the past few days...

Source

Meet the Loewe neo, a high-end portable speaker with built-in ambient lightingGerman electronics brand Loewe has unveiled neo, a new portable speaker boasting “refined acoustic performance”, Loewe’s signature design aesthetic and even atmospheric lighting.
Housed in an IP67 water and dust-proof chassis, neo is “perfectly sized for life on the move”, while driven by 50 Watts of power and dual passive bass radiators so you don’t have to compromise on sound quality anywhere.

READ MORE: “It frustrates me to hear people bashing something that’s so amazing”: Todd Edwards is optimistic about AI in music production

Neo is also equipped with built-in ambient lighting, which can be adjusted manually via the light strip on the speaker, to tailor the colour to your surroundings or chosen mood.
The speaker also comes with a companion app, which allows for the personalisation of sound and light with three sound presets, individual bass and treble adjustment and customisable light settings. To keep it safe on the move, neo also comes with a premium felt hardcase, as well as a detachable leather strap.
“With neo, we introduce a new expression of portable sound, where versatility meets the unmistakable elegance of Loewe,” says Aslan Khabliev, CEO of Loewe Technology. 
“For decades, Loewe has been synonymous with design, innovation and individuality. neo implements that philosophy out into the world, combining exceptional acoustic power, intelligent lighting, and unprecedented customisation in one beautifully crafted product. It represents not only the next chapter of premium personal audio, but the future of Loewe.”
Loewe neo establishes itself as a definitive statement piece for a modern music lover, exploring territories of luxury interiors – seamlessly blending exceptional acoustic power with design that elevates sophisticated living spaces,” the company adds. 
“It elegantly scales down the uncompromising acoustic philosophy of Loewe’s premium home theatre systems into an incredibly agile format. This launch underscores the brand’s broader strategic vision: delivering hyper-personalised, ultra-premium hardware that enriches the daily lives of design-conscious individuals.”
Neo comes in alu silver, alu black and champagne colourways, and will be available to pre-order from 20 November 2026.
Learn more at loewe.tv.
The post Meet the Loewe neo, a high-end portable speaker with built-in ambient lighting appeared first on MusicTech.

j.mp3 labs releases Pulse Ducker FREE sidechain volume shaper
j.mp3 labs has released Pulse Ducker, a free sidechain-style volume shaper for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Instead of using compression to duck the signal whenever a kick hits, Pulse Ducker lets you apply a volume envelope. This makes the amount and timing of the movement predictable, and it works great for both subtle low-end separation [...]
View post: j.mp3 labs releases Pulse Ducker FREE sidechain volume shaper

MOTU Digital Performer 12 now available Digital Performance 12 takes a major step forward with the introduction of Dolby Atmos support, AI-powered stem separation and much more. 

“It frustrates me to hear people bashing something that’s so amazing”: Todd Edwards is optimistic about AI in music productionThough now pretty ubiquitous, AI is a topic of serious contention, particularly among musicians and producers. How much of a role should AI play in the creative process, if at all? And is it ethical to use it given some models have been accused of using unlicensed data sets to train?
Mention AI to some producers and they’ll show you the door faster than you can generate a sample using Suno, but not everyone is totally anti-artificial intelligence.
Take house legend Todd Edwards, for example, who tells MusicRadar in a new interview that AI has become an integral part of his creative process, particularly when it comes to musical exploration, and disagrees with those who reject the technology outright.

READ MORE: Is too much gear a bad thing? Hazel Mills says “option paralysis is very real” – and it could be killing your creativity

“I resent the way people talk about this technology as if it’s from the devil,” he says. “I feel like the seasoned producer will see it as a potentially powerful tool, but the amateur or the person that doesn’t have the skillset will see it as a threat.”
He reveals that he has been using Suno Studio to generate legally safe samples. He explains that in 2025, he was “making [his] own samples by playing synths or using Splice. It just got depressing”.
But with Suno Studio, “there’s so much potential there, and it’s been able to reignite the idea of what you can do as a sample artist,” he continues.
Edwards offers a counter argument to those critical of AI’s alleged unauthorised scraping and use of copyrighted material, saying this practice has taken place by producers sampling material for decades, only on a smaller scale.
“What ticks me off is that there’s so many negative things that get said,” he goes on. “They say, ‘You’re taking money out of artists’ mouths’, but I’m sorry, I don’t remember every single artist on Beatport clearing samples! Is everyone clearing samples? Because if you’re not, it’s the same thing, just on a smaller scale.”
He also argues that using AI to generate samples isn’t any less creative than using sample libraries like Splice, which consist of sounds made by other artists.
“They say that it’s synthetic, but you’re using Splice packs,” he says. “You’re using other people’s sounds and you’re paying a credit to do that. If you build a whole track out of loops, that’s no different, in my mind. The hypocrisy in the industry is insane…”
“It frustrates me to hear people bashing something that’s so amazing. I guess it’s all about how you use it.”
Still, the AI debate continues, and is doing so in the comments section of a new post on his Instagram page promoting the MusicRadar article.
“Todd respectfully, this feels so needless,” comments Glasgow-based producer Austin Ato. “You have made genre defining music through your own originality and exploration. I know AI is promised as a new land to explore but it’s land built on stolen work and data centres. Please reject this easy way and stay original.”
“I understand the potential of using it as a creative tool but the ethics of it are just unacceptable right now…these samples aren’t being generated out of thin air, it’s the stolen work of fellow artists,” adds another user.

View this post on Instagram

The post “It frustrates me to hear people bashing something that’s so amazing”: Todd Edwards is optimistic about AI in music production appeared first on MusicTech.

Lyft is paying $272.5M to settle lawsuit over how it classified driversToday, gig economy drivers are classified as contractors. This settlement clears up a lingering lawsuit from 2020 when that was still an unanswered issue.

Evernorth clears shareholder vote ahead of Nasdaq debut with 473M XRP treasuryEvernorth expects to begin trading on Nasdaq under the ticker XRPN after its SPAC merger closes, with an XRP treasury worth roughly $710 million at current prices.

The Music Connection October Spotify Playlist is Live!October is here and our monthly playlist representing each issue is back.

Listen along with us as we get wild with some of cover girl Slayyyter's biggest bangers and enjoy artists (new and legacy) covered in the issue's Live Reviews, Album Reviews, Signing Stories and New Music Critiques.

While you're there please like and follow Music Connection's profile and check out our brand new playlist feature Sound System.

The post The Music Connection October Spotify Playlist is Live! first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

FRCTL GRNi LiteGRNi Lite is a free granular sampler. Drop a recording on the waveform, set the note it's in, and play it on the keys. Every note you hold grows its own cloud of grains from the recording. It runs the same grain engine as the paid GRNi, with three controls on the front instead of the full instrument. Three controls ROOT, C to B. The note your sample is in, so the keyboard plays it in tune. Samples are almost never at C, so this is the one to set first. SIZE, 10 to 500 ms. How long each grain is. Short grains sound grainy and glitchy, long grains smooth out into pads. DENSITY, 0.5 to 200 grains per second per note. From a sparse crackle to a solid cloud. All three can be automated in your DAW. The waveform Drop a WAV, AIFF, FLAC, OGG or MP3, or click LOAD. Drag the edges of the highlighted selection to choose which part of the sample the grains play from. Zoom in for fine edits. A glow shows where each note is reading from as you play. Each held note gets its own stream of grains, so chords build up. Buffer library Save the sample and its selection under a name and load it back in any project. The library folder is shared with the full GRNi, so everything saved in Lite carries over. Specs Free, permanently. No serial, no account, no trial timer. Instrument plugin: VST3 and CLAP on Windows, macOS and Linux, plus AU on macOS. No standalone app. Windows 10 or later. macOS 10.13 or later, native on Intel and Apple Silicon, signed and notarized. Linux with ALSA or JACK. On-screen keyboard from C2 to C7, plus any MIDI controller. Resizable window. Commercial use included. The full GRNi GRNi adds a second sample layer with BLEND, which decides grain by grain which layer each new grain reads from; SCALE mode with ten scales; mono, legato and poly voicing with portamento; MPE; 3 LFOs, 3 envelopes and 4 macros with an XY pad; a 10-slot FX rack; 52 factory presets that never touch your sample; and a standalone app. $44.99, with a 14-day free trial. Read More

A Mechanical Radio, Sort Of[The Mike Stuff] has an interesting proposition. He asserts that ancient people like the Greeks could have built a form of radio that was purely mechanical. We aren’t sure we agree, but even if it were possible, we are sure it would have sounded awful. You can see the details in the video below.
The idea is that you can compress air with a waterwheel, blow it through a rotating disk with slots in it, and a valve to amplitude modulate the airflow through the disk. Horns like an old gramophone speaker would amplify the signal at both ends. The demodulation is straightforward and doesn’t even require power, like compressed air.

This is a fun idea, but even [Mike] notes it wouldn’t be very good. We suspect you’d just hear a 10 kHz buzz. On the other hand, this would be pretty easy to build if you wanted to test it. Use an electric motor to spin the disk — after all, we’ll stipulate that you could turn a disk with water power, even if speed control is a little challenging.
If you build it, we’d love to hear about it. Just don’t use it to send us an air-radio message. Try e-mail instead. What do you think? Would this work? We get that if it did, it wouldn’t work well, but would it work at all? Let us know what you think.
If you think about it, building regular receivers that are of low performance is easy enough. With a little work, simple receivers can actually work quite well.