Weird Al Yankovic announces new Mandatory Tour dates, Hollywood Bowl gigs

Apparently some U.S. citizens didn’t get “Weird Al” Yankovic’s message last year when he embarked on his U.S. tour, which he dubbed the “Mandatory World Tour.”

Wrote the brilliant music parodist while announcing a new round of 2016 dates, including two at the Hollywood Bowl: “I’ve decided to do the Mandatory World Tour for one more year, after learning that some people didn’t make it out to the show this last time around. Apparently, they don’t know the meaning of the word ‘mandatory’!!”

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It’s not like Yankovic didn’t make the effort. In 2015 he may as well have been a presidential candidate. He took his show, which featured his reworked versions of songs by Madonna, Lady Gaga, Green Day, Nirvana and Miley Cyrus, to more than 100 cities. Apparently that wasn’t good enough, because tens of millions of people still haven’t obeyed Yankovic’s call. To that end, Yankovic added 76 more for 2016.

Those in the Los Angeles area will have two opportunities to see him at the Hollywood Bowl. The artist will perform July 22 and 23.

Yankovic’s been busy in the off season. In addition to contributing voice-over work to the animated series “Adventure Time” and “Gravity Falls,” he’s signed on to replace Reggie Watts as the co-host and “bandleader” on the low-budget IFC talk show “Comedy Bang Bang.” That premieres in the spring. He’s also involved in another career-spanning box set. Unlike 1994’s four-CD set of classics, “Permanent Record: Al in the Box,” the forthcoming Legacy Recordings box will feature digitally remastered versions of Yankovic’s 14 studio albums, which stretch back to 1983.

The entire run of 2016 tour dates can be found at Weird Al’s website.

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