After I did my very first trip report on Flyctory.com about following Weird Al Yankovic on his “Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour” in 2018, I decided to do this travel diary format again for following him on “Strings Attached” 2019. What a difference in concept of the two tours: while the 2018 tour had daily alternating setlists with a focus on not-that-frequently played songs, Weird Al did it posh this year: Al and the band were supported by an orchestra in each show. However, the orchestras are local, so that they do not travel and Yankovic is backed by different people every day (apart from his long-year buddies Ruben Valtierra, Jim Kimo West, Stephen Jay and Jon Bermuda Schwarz, of course).
I will fly over to the States twice for that tour. This trip report just features my visit to two New England concerts, Gilford NH and Mashantucket CT. I did have tickets for a Boston show as well, but it would have increased my travel costs due to high priced hotel and unfortunate flight prices by over 800 Euro – funds, I decided to put into a show in late August in Indianapolis, where I will see the guys again. This gave some opportunity to strike one item off the bucket list, visiting the semifinal (and induction) day at the Hall of Fame Tennis Open at Newport, Rhode Island, one of the most traditional tournaments on the ATP Tennis Tour calendar. This is my second trip report in 2019 after reporting from my trip to CMA Fest in Nashville.
Weird Al & Tennis 2019 – My Trip
Composing a reasonable trip was quite a challenge. These are the waypoints I finally chose for my travel.
The most straightforward airport would have been Boston to fly in – however, there were no sensible flights at the time of booking. Finally, I went for this World Traveller Plus / Premium Economy ticket starting at Luxembourg Airport.
| Date | Flight | from | to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17.07.2019 | BA 417 | Luxembourg LUX | London LHR (T3) |
| 17.07.2019 | BA 115 | London LHR | New York JFK |
| 21.07.2019 | BA 1511 | New York JFK | London LHR (T3) |
| 22.07.2019 | BA 416 | London LHR (T3) | Luxembourg (LUX) |
Weird Al & Tennis 2019 – Hotels
I hoped to have one hotel for the hotel trip. Unfortunately, both, the Foxwood Casino hotels as well as the Hilton Garden Inn Preston I chose for the first three nights were too expansive over the weekend. I decided to choose a hotel for the final night which is not too far away from Newport:
- (before the trip) ibis Luxembourg Airport (1 night)
- Hilton Garden Inn Preston Casino Area (3 nights)
- Hampton Inn & Suites Providence/Warwick Airport (1 night)
Weird Al & Tennis 2019 – Day by Day
Here are the links to the overview posting and daily entries of this trip report:
- Weird Al & Grass Court Tennis 2019 – Overview Posting
- Day 1, 17.07.2019 – Luxembourg to Connecticut
- Day 2, 18.07.2019 – My tour debut in Gilford NH
- Day 3, 19.07.2019 – Weird Al at the Foxwoods Casinos
- Day 4, 20.07.2019 – Leander Paes or the Tennis Hall of Fame Open
- Days 5 & 6, 21.22.07.2019 – Going home
Trip Reports
Here are all (other) Trip Report postings:
On Tour With Rock of Ages 2024 (Episode 6 – Zurich, 8th/9th June 2024)
Time to say good-bye. The 8th to 9th June 2024 trip to Zurich featured the last four shows of the ...
On Tour With Rock of Ages 2024 (Episode 5 – Munich, 28th May to 1st June 2024)
Munich is always a special place to me. As parts of my family roots are from there, I always feel ...
On Tour With Rock of Ages 2024 (Episode 4 – Duisburg, 1st May 2024)
After I had a one show stay in Vienna, it was already some three weeks since I had seen Rock of ...
On Tour With Rock of Ages 2024 (Episode 3 – Vienna, 13th April 2024)
After visiting the nearby shows in Bochum and my home town Cologne, the third tour stage of the German Rock ...
On Tour With Rock of Ages 2024 (Episode 2 – Cologne, 22nd to 27th March 2024)
This year, I take you on my tour-chasing of the German Rock of Ages musical. The first trip report episode ...
On Tour With Rock of Ages 2024 (Episode 1 – Bochum, 12th/13th March 2024)
Typically, my trip reports are about one travel. Sometimes, there are one-day stories like the 24 hour train ride through ...
Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Reprise)
Eight days of traveling along the Icelandic Ring Road are done. The trip was just intense. My wife and I ...
Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Day 8 – 6th May 2023) – Day in Reykjavik & More
Last full day in Iceland. We decided not to start too late (also because the car had to be moved ...
Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Day 7 – 5th May 2023) – Reykholt to Reykjavik
The circle is closed on Day 7 - we are back in Reykjavik, where the trip more or less started ...
Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Day 6 – 4th May 2023) – Akureyri to Reykholt
Day 6 on your Iceland Ring Road trip - time to start counting down the kilometers towards Reykjavik and Keflavik ...
Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Day 5 – 3rd May 2023) – Husavik to Akureyri
We arrived significantly later than expected in Husavik on Day 4, so that Day 5 was packed with Husavik action ...
Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Day 4 – 2nd May 2023) – Egilstadir to Husavik
With the weather being much colder than expected, we had to alter our travel plans for the Iceland Ring Road ...
Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Day 3 – 1st May 2023) – Hrafnavellir to Egilstadir
After the intense travel at Day 2 of our Iceland Ring Road trip, Day 3 was thought to be a ...
Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Day 2 – 30th April 2023) – Hella to Hrafnavellir
After arriving in Iceland the day before, Sunday 30th April 2023 was thought to be the most intense travel day ...
Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Day 1 – 29th April 2023) – Germany to Hella
Let's take you on a trip to Iceland. This is the first proper entry to my Trip Report, which takes on ...
Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Preview)
Traveling on the Icelandic Ring road or Road 1 is one of the "classic" trips you can do on the ...
All German States (and the Eleven Biggest Cities) on one Rail Ticket – Part 2
AIthough has just been a day trip, but I just felt it is too long to tell the story of ...
All German States (and the eleven biggest Cities) on one Rail Ticket – Part 1
Okay, I give in: this trip is weird. While people typically feel that I am "just" a die hard aviation ...
Exploring Hamburg with the HADAG Public Ferries – Line 61
In the order of posting the episodes of my trip report of exploring Hamburg Habor (here is my overview posting ...
Exploring Hamburg with the HADAG Public Ferries – Line 73
This episode of my Hamburg Public Ferry trip report takes you to my favorite route of all, Line 73 (see ...
Exploring Hamburg with the HADAG Public Ferries – Line 72
The second posting about exploring Hamburg with the HADAG public ferries features Line 72, which is special in multiple aspects ...
Exploring Hamburg with the HADAG Public Ferries – Lines 62 & 64 & Overview
Typically, my Trip Reports are like travel diaries. One posting per day, telling you all the stories of a trip, ...
3,337 Waffle Houses Away – A Walk through Paola, Kansas
3,337 Waffle Houses Away in the little town of Paola, Kansas - I have heard these words so often. They ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 6/7, 30.4./1.5.2022)
The last entry of my (multi-day) trip reports is typically a bit of boring. Getting to the airport, flying back ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 5, 29.4.2022)
Somehow, a sad moment. The last show of Weird Al Yankovic on this trip. Day 5 would take me from ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 4, 28.4.2022)
No concert... But this trip is just not complete without a venue. On Day 4 of my trip following the ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 3, 27.4.2022)
Day 3 of my Weird Al Yankovic trip in April 2022 likely had the most relaxed schedule of all. No ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 2, 26.4.2022)
Pough... Pough... Keepsie? Poughkeepsie! I do love my Pittsburgh Penguins trips - like the last one in March 2022. But ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 1, 25.4.2022)
First day of my Weird Al trip in April 2022. I was initially even thinking about merging it with Day ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Preview)
Sharing my travel experience following Weird Al Yankovic on tour in North America is somehow traditional on Flyctory.com. Even though ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 10/11, 19th/20th March 2022)
After Day 9 featured the last real travel highlights including the Opry show, the last entry of any multi-day trip ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 9, 18th March 2022)
Back to Nashville and a fantastic way to finish off the trip on a Friday night - even though another ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 8, 17th March 2022)
Visiting the Gateway Arch and having the last NHL ice hockey match of the trip: the eighth day of my ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 7, 16th March 2022)
The longest road trip part of my Penguins March 2022 travel lay ahead of me on the seventh day. Off ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 6, 15th March 2022)
No flight this day, but therefor, the match I was likely looking forward to most on this Pittsburgh Penguins March ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 5, 14th March 2022)
Music City, Baby! The final airborne transfer within the USA on this Monday. I was so excited to be back ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 4, 13th March 2022)
A very interesting direct return flight and the second Pittsburgh Penguins match - Sunday in Pennsylvania felt to be a ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 3, 12th March 2022)
The first day of the trip without any flight - I finally decided to have a bit more of a ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 2, 11th March 2022)
Day 2 was just so exciting to me: the first time being back in Pittsburgh since two and a half ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Day 1, 10th March 2022)
Time to see my hockey team again! The first day of my Pittsburgh Penguins trip to the States did not ...
Following The Pittsburgh Penguins in March 2022 (Preview)
Two years without visiting the United States are about to come to an end: in March 2022, I had planned ...
Four Countries, Four Trains – A Trip on Tracks (Day 4, 10th August 2020)
Heading back home. As said in the Day 3 coverage, I did not expect too much going on on that ...
Four Countries, Four Trains – A Trip on Tracks (Day 3, 9th August 2020)
A Day in Rome - for this Day 3 part of the Four Country Train Trip report, I decided to ...
Four Countries, Four Trains – A Trip on Tracks (Day 2, 8th August 2020)
Being in Milan until the early afternoon, checking out an Italian rail lounge for the first time - and then ...
Four Countries, Four Trains – A Trip on Tracks (Day 1, 7th August 2020)
So excited to travel again and do a proper. I did my first day of the rail rides through Germany, ...
Four Countries, Four Trains – A Trip on Tracks (Preview)
After having so many trip reports involving flights and road trips, this trip report will completely leave me on the ...
Traveling Through Germany at Covid-19 Times – A special Trip Review
Coming back from London from the (finally cancelled) Country To Country Festival 2020 was the last trip I took before ...
California With The Pittsburgh Penguins 2020 (Days 7/8, 2nd/3rd Mar 2020)
Four ice hockey matches, Rock of Ages #32 in Hollywood, two new airlines and many more impressions - this trip ...
California With The Pittsburgh Penguins 2020 (Day 6, 1st Mar 2020)
Last stage: Las Vegas! My duties supporting my Pittsburgh Penguins were done, time to enjoy... some more hockey. This stage ...
California With The Pittsburgh Penguins 2020 (Day 5, 29th Feb 2020)
After four nights in Greater Los Angeles, it was time to follow my team and fly to San Jose with ...
California With The Pittsburgh Penguins 2020 (Day 4, 28th Feb 2020)
Let's play hockey - again! The fourth day of my trip through California (with a detour to Nevada) had the ...
California With The Pittsburgh Penguins 2020 (Day 3, 27th Feb 2020)
No hockey on Day 3 of my California trip 2020 - the day after the first match of the Pittsburgh ...
California With The Pittsburgh Penguins 2020 (Day 2, 26th Feb 2020)
Waking up in Anaheim, cheering fpr the Penguins in Staples center - that was roughly the plan for Day 2 ...
California With The Pittsburgh Penguins 2020 (Day 1, 25th Feb 2020)
Day 1 of my trip to the Penguins. The travel days to the US are typically not too thrilling. Leaving ...
California With The Pittsburgh Penguins 2020 (Preview)
California, here I come. The first trip report of 2020 will bring me to California, where my ice hockey team, ...
Exploring Barra With Barra Island Tours
Flying to Barra - an aviation nerd's dream came true on 7th September 2019, when I visited the Scottish Island ...
Weird Al & Grass Court Tennis 2019 (Day 5/6 – 21st/22nd July 2019)
After two days of Weird Al Yankovic concerts and a memorable Day 4 with my sports idol Leander Paes and ...
Weird Al & Grass Court Tennis 2019 (Day 4 – 20th July 2019)
After having two Weird Al Yankovic concerts on the second and third day of my trip, tennis was in focus ...
Weird Al & Grass Court Tennis 2019 (Day 3 – 19th July 2019)
After the transfer Day 1 was haunted by terrible weather and Day 2 the expected long road trip to New ...
Weird Al & Grass Court Tennis 2019 (Day 2 – 18th July 2019)
After transferring to Connecticut on the first day, the second day of my "Weird Al & Grass Court Tennis" trip ...
Weird Al & Grass Court Tennis 2019 (Day 1 – 17th July 2019)
The first entry of a trip report is typically full of stories about airports, airlines and flying. My trip to ...
A Musical Trip to CMA Fest 2019 (Day 6 – 5th June 2019)
The final day of my trip report to Nashville. The tour is coming to an end, the next days, I ...
A Musical Trip to CMA Fest 2019 (Day 5 – 4th June 2019)
After driving quite a bunch of miles the two days before, 4th June was planned to be a sightseeing day ...
A Musical Trip to CMA Fest 2019 (Day 4 – 3rd June 2019)
3rd June 2019 on my trip to Nashville was "Elvis Presley Day". Waking up less than a mile away from ...
A Musical Trip to CMA Fest 2019 (Day 3 – 2nd June 2019)
While most of the trip to Nashville was accompanied by magical places of music history, the first highlights of the ...
A Musical Trip to CMA Fest 2019 (Day 2 – 1st June 2019)
The second day on my trip to Nashville was a comparably easy one: waking up in Washington D.C., sleeping in ...
A Musical Trip to CMA Fest 2019 (Day 1 – 31st May 2019)
Naturally, Day 1 of my trip to Nashville lead me to the airport. The first stage of my trip was ...
A Musical Trip to CMA Fest 2019 (Trip Report Preview)
Already months ahead, I was looking forward to visiting the CMA Fest in Nashville. Not just that I fell in ...
Bergisch Historic Trams Wuppertal
Wuppertal in the Bergisches Land region Northeast of Cologne hosts a very special attraction for train and rail enthusiasts: the ...
Flying with Southern Airways Express
Travelling to the NHL Stadium Series match of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Philadelphia Flyers in late February 2019, I ...
One Day in Bonaire
The ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) are more and more becoming of the Carribean's top destinations. Staying a full week ...
Sao Miguel on two wheels (Part 2)
This is the second part of my report on exploring the largest island of the Azores with a scooter in ...
Sao Miguel on two wheels (Part 1)
After having some scooter experience in Spain, I felt that a good way to get a first view of the ...
Six Intercontinental Flight Weekend – Day 5 (Trip Report)
Sunday, 27th May 2018 - time to slowly head home. After quite a lot of flying, this has really been ...
Six Intercontinental Flight Weekend – Day 4 (Trip Report)
After the helicopter adventure on Day 3, travelling to the other major Spanish exclave in Spain, Melilla, was on the ...
Six Intercontinental Flight Weekend – Day 3 (Trip Report)
After having arrived in Gibraltar and Algeciras the day before, the remaining trip would not stay in the European Union, ...
Six Intercontinental Flight Weekend – Day 2 (Trip Report)
While Day 1 has been a "transfer day" with the flight from Cologne to Tangier after work, Day 2 was ...
Six Intercontinental Flight Weekend – Day 1 (Trip Report)
There are a lot of factors which made me look forward to the first destination of my trip, Tangier in ...
Six Intercontental Flights in 72 Hours (Overview)
No, I am not going to travel between Europe and Asia or America like a madman or do some extreme ...
Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 5&6)
16th April, time to leave Atlanta again. At least, there has been plenty of time before to do some sightseeing ...
Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 4)
Day 4, back to Atlanta, heading to where the trip started... and to my final concert of this trip. The ...
Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 3)
Saturday, 14th April, has not been regarded as the most thrilling day of this trip anyway. Travelling from the very ...
Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 2)
So long awaited... Time for the first concert of my trip to the Weird Al Tour 2018! Tried to start ...
Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 1)
Day 1 of the trip to Weird Al Yankovic. It has been already some 14 years since I saw this ...
Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Preview)
My first flyctory.com Trip Report leads me to Georgia and Tennessee. Starting from Cologne airport, my key aim of that ...
Kinmen – Taiwan’s Western Outpost
As part of my February travels, I also made a daytrip to the island of Kinmen, which precisely contains the ...
Flyctory.com about Weird Al Yankovic
Here are all postings related to Weird Al Yankovic:
Flyctory.com Songs Of The Week (week of 19th July 2024)
I am loaded with tennis work this week. The time in Newport, Rhode Island, featuring Indian tennis and the induction ...
Flyctory.com Best Ones 2023
Is it really New Year's Eve already again? The last day of the year? I am posting this one in ...
Jim “Kimo” West – Of Wood and Spirit (American Guitar Stories)
A new album by Jim "Kimo" West is always a very special moment for me. The Grammy-winning artist is a ...
Stephen Jay – understatement
Suprise, but no surprise? Stephen Jay already stated that his new album understatement is almost ready around the Dusseldorf show ...
Weird Al Yankovic tours Europe 2023 – My Reprise
Ten shows within three weeks - I was just so flattered to welcome Weird Al Yankovic and his lovely band ...
Jim “Kimo” West is playing the very first German Weird Al Show tonight – he is back with “Nacht der Gitarren” in Fall
Today is a very special day to me: Weird Al Yankovic is playing is first-ever concert in Germany tonight, at ...
Songs Of My Life: Weird Al Yankovic – Skipper Dan
In one of my latest Songs Of My Life editions, I introduced you to Amish Paradise by Weird Al Yankovic. Just ...
Weird Al Yankovic (19th February 2023, Tilburg)
That day in Tilburg, Netherlands, was some sort of highlight of my Flyctory.com history so far. Almost five years after ...
Flyctory.com Best Ones 2022
The last posting of the year - Best Ones 2022 is introducing you to my best experience last years (as ...
Flyctory.com – My Favorite Albums / EPs 2022
While the music market is more and more focusing on singles and even writes weird stories like Taylor Swift's "Top ...
Flyctory.com Songs Of The Week (week of 16 December 2022)
I was quite surprised that finally 15 songs made it into my Songs of the Week as of 16th November 2022 ...
Weird Al Yankovic is touring Europe 2023 – Tour Dates and Travel Hints
The 7th November 2022 is one of these days I will hardly forget so quickly. In a Weird Al fan ...
Five Weird Al Yankovic Shows in Florida – Some Concert Pictures
During the second week of October 2022, I have been tour-chasing Weird Al Yankovic on five stages of his The ...
Songs Of My Life: Weird Al Yankovic – Amish Paradise
Last week, have been traveling through Florida. Four cities, five concerts, one artist: Weird Al Yankovic. The US-American comedy musician ...
Spotlight – Flyctory.com meets Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz (6th October 2022)
I am already flattered to head to the United States. I am going to Florida next week to see five ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 5, 29.4.2022)
Somehow, a sad moment. The last show of Weird Al Yankovic on this trip. Day 5 would take me from ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 3, 27.4.2022)
Day 3 of my Weird Al Yankovic trip in April 2022 likely had the most relaxed schedule of all. No ...
Stephen Jay – Vita Beata
Which album would suit better this week to be the preview on Flyctory.com than Stephen Jay's Vita Beata? Just in ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 2, 26.4.2022)
Pough... Pough... Keepsie? Poughkeepsie! I do love my Pittsburgh Penguins trips - like the last one in March 2022. But ...
Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Preview)
Sharing my travel experience following Weird Al Yankovic on tour in North America is somehow traditional on Flyctory.com. Even though ...
Flyctory.com – My Favorite Songs 2020
2020 is about to come to an end - and the last three posting of the years re about to ...
My Ten Favorite Weird Al Yankovic Songs
Weird Al Yankovic is not only one of my most favorite artists, who I follow for some twenty years now ...
Seven Things I look forward to do in the United States again
In addition to the very personal new Songs of My Life category, I feel like having a bit more blogging contents on ...
Jim “Kimo” West – More Guitar Stories
After his 2015 album Guitar Stories: Slack Key & Beyond, Jim "Kimo" West is back in the virtual record stores with ...
Spotlight – Flyctory.com meets Jim “Kimo” West (13th August 2020)
Just in time: one day before Jim "Kimo" West will release his new album More Guitar Stories, I had the opportunity ...
California With The Pittsburgh Penguins 2020 (Day 3, 27th Feb 2020)
No hockey on Day 3 of my California trip 2020 - the day after the first match of the Pittsburgh ...
Christmas Songs – Why not Hawaiian Style?
Due to my passion for Weird Al Yankovic, I know Jim "Kimo" West for a couple of years now. Kimo ...
Weird Al Yankovic – “Strings Attached”, Indianapolis (29th August 2019)
As part of my Weird Al and Grass Court Tennis 2019 trip, I already visited two concerts of Weird Al ...
Weird Al & Grass Court Tennis 2019 (Day 3 – 19th July 2019)
After the transfer Day 1 was haunted by terrible weather and Day 2 the expected long road trip to New ...
Weird Al Yankovic, Strings Attached Tour (Bank of NH Pavilion, Gilford, 18th July 2019)
String Attached - the 2019 tour of Weird Al Yankovic is backed up by (local) symphonic orchestras. I traveled into Gilford, ...
Weird Al & Grass Court Tennis 2019 (Day 2 – 18th July 2019)
After transferring to Connecticut on the first day, the second day of my "Weird Al & Grass Court Tennis" trip ...
Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 4)
Day 4, back to Atlanta, heading to where the trip started... and to my final concert of this trip. The ...
Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 3)
Saturday, 14th April, has not been regarded as the most thrilling day of this trip anyway. Travelling from the very ...
Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 2)
So long awaited... Time for the first concert of my trip to the Weird Al Tour 2018! Tried to start ...
Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Preview)
My first flyctory.com Trip Report leads me to Georgia and Tennessee. Starting from Cologne airport, my key aim of that ...
Title picture: Artist material