The Wonder of Weird
The Wonder of Weird: The 40th Anniversary Tour is a live tour by The Residents, the second part of The Randy, Chuck and Bob Trilogy (following Talking Light, and preceding Shadowland). The tour began January 29th and ended May 24th 2013.
A double album of the same title featuring a performance from the tour was released May 20th 2013. Footage from this tour features in Don Hardy's 2015 documentary film Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents.
The tour, despite being billed as the 40th anniversary, actually took place on their 41st anniversary. The 40th title was a joke, to highlight the sleazy attitude The Residents wanted to give off with the show. The joke is that Randy, Chuck, and Bob had written the show for Christmas of 2012, had to play it in early 2013. It could also be seen as Randy, Chuck, and Bob, lying about their ages. They don't look a day over forty.
History
The second part of The Residents' Randy, Chuck and Bob Trilogy of live tours (following 2010's Talking Light tour), The Wonder of Weird focuses on the theme of sex, with its lead character Randy further detailing the story of his life, now ruined by a sex addiction.
Like Talking Light before it, The Wonder of Weird featured a stripped down trio line-up of Randy Rose (vocals), Charles Bobuck (keyboards/electronics), and Lionel Bob (guitar). The group wear variations of the same masks previously featured in Talking Light, with the addition of Santa outfits and classic Residents t-shirts.
Despite the Christmas theme in the costumes and set designs, the show began at the end of January (and ended in May). A running gag in the show is that despite being subtitled "The 40th Anniversary Tour", it actually ended up taking place on the group's 41st anniversary.
Each performance on the tour was filmed by Don Hardy and his crew, for the documentary film Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents (later released in 2015).
The Wonder of Weird would turn out to be the last full tour to feature long-time composer and arranger Charles Bobuck as part of the group's line-up, prior to his retirement in 2016 during the Shadowland tour.
Performances
US tour
- January 29th 2013 - The Crescent Ballroon, Phoenix, Arizona
- January 31st 2013 - Scottish Rite Theatre, Austin, Texas
- February 1st 2013 - Kessler, Dallas, Texas
- February 2nd 2013 - Kessler, Dallas, Texas
- February 3rd 2013 - Variety Playhouse, Houston, Texas
- February 5th 2013 - Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, Georgia
- February 6th 2013 - Carrboro Arts Center, Carrboro, North Carolina
- February 9th 2013 - Stage 48, New York City, New York
- February 10th 2013 - Sixth & I Synagogue, Washington, DC
- February 11th 2013 - World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- February 12th 2013 - ICA, Boston, Massachusetts
- February 13th 2013 - Iron Horse, Northampton, Massachusetts
- February 15th 2013 - Schubas, Chicago, Illinois
- February 16th 2013 - Lincoln Hall, Chicago, Illinois
- February 17th 2013 - Turner Hall, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- February 18th 2013 - The Cedar, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- February 22nd 2013 - Hawthorne, Portland, Oregon
- February 23rd 2013 - Neptune Theatre, Seattle, Washington
- February 24th 2013 - Bimbo's, San Francisco, California
- February 25th 2013 - El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, California
- February 26th 2013 - Belly Up Tavern, Solano Beach, California
- February 28th 2013 - Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz, California
European tour
- April 24th 2013 - Het Depot, Leuven, Belgium
- April 25th 2013 - Tollhaus, Karlsruhe, Germany
- April 27th 2013 - Festspielhaus Hellerau, Dresden, Germany
- April 30th 2013 - Logen Teater, Bergen, Norway
- May 1st 2013 - Folken, Stavanger, Norway
- May 2nd 2013 - Kulturhus, Larvik/Bolgen, Norway
- May 3rd 2013 - Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway
- May 4th 2013 - Byscenen, Trondheim, Norway
- May 6th 2013 - Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland
- May 8th 2013 - Sodra Teatern, Stockholm, Sweden
- May 10th 2013 - Basen, Warsaw, Poland
- May 11th 2013 - Palac Akropolis, Prague, Czech Republic
- May 12th 2013 - Moravian Theatre, Olomouc, Czech Republic
- May 14th 2013 - Burgtheater, Wien, Austria
- May 15th 2013 - Ampere, Munich, Germany
- May 16th 2013 - Frankfurter Hof, Mainz, Germany
- May 18th 2013 - Barbican Arts Centre, London, England
- May 20th 2013 - Muziekgebouw Aan Het IJ, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- May 21st 2013 - Kampnagel k6, Hamburg, Germany
- May 23rd 2013 - Babylon, Berlin, Germany
- May 24th 2013 - Fuzz Club, Athens, Greece
Set list
- Loser = Weed / Picnic In The Jungle (Mashup)
- Baby Sister
- Give It To Someone Else
- The Simple Song
- Jelly Jack The Boneless Boy
- The Confused Transsexual
- Teddy
- The Monkey Man
- Struggle
- Mr. Lonely / The Man In The Dark Sedan (Mashup)
- Hanging By His Hair
- Bathsheba Bathes
- Honey Bear
- The Black Behind
- Marching To The Sea / Constantinople / Shorty's Lament / Would We Be Alive? (Mashup)
Encore
Related releases
- The Wonder of Weird (2014)
- Marching To The See: The Wonder of Weird Tour (2014)
- Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents (2015)