Starting a world tour in Vancouver has been done many times before, but according to Andrew WK, speaking from the stage at The Venue on Granville Street last night, there's logic behind its popularity.

"We chose to kick off a global party in the most party city we can think of!" he declared at a concert that began with chaos and descended from there.

The madness actually started earlier Saturday afternoon, when Andrew WK played keyboards for Vancouver legend Nardwuar the Human Serviette and his band, The Evaporators, at a wild album launch party at Main Street's Neptoon records.

The Evaporators returned the favour by warming up the crowd at The Venue with their high-energy, so-stupid-it's-clever pop punk. What Nardwuar lacked in vocal chops he more than made up for with showmanship, repeatedly strapping on his maple leaf crash helmet to surf the crowd while leading his band (now bolstered by two members of Vancouver's mighty New Pornographers) through novelty punk gold like "I Gotta Rash" and "Addicted to Cheese."

Suitably inspired by Vancouver's weirdest and most hirsute music figure, the crowd was chanting "Par-ty!" before Andrew WK even took the stage. Perhaps it was the knowledge of what was coming that inspired them. Labelled as the "I Get Wet" Headline Tour, the show and the entire trip were billed as a short-term nostalgia fest celebrating the 10-year anniversary of WK's debut (and so far only critical and commercial hit) album.

Since then he's become far more famous for presenting TV shows, motivational speaking and never changing his clothes. WK's still an underrated musician (he released an album of improvised piano tunes in 2009), but at his core he's a revolutionary philosopher whose outlook on the human condition is that we're at our best when enjoying life at maximum velocity. At that point, partying hard becomes a near religious experience. So why not do it all the time? It's the idea that's made LMFAO millionaires. Andrew WK had it ten years ago.

To achieve this Zen-like state of partydom, WK chose to unleash his ultimate weapon, the album I Get Wet, in order and in its entirety.

The mayhem began almost immediately. "Party Hard," Andrew WK's biggest hit, is the second track on I Get Wet, and its arrival sparked an eruption of crowd surfing that would last the duration of the concert. Once it became apparent that WK was welcoming stage invaders – asking their names and introducing them to the crowd – any semblance of rock show normality was jettisoned in the quest for the ultimate party moment.

The soundtrack suited the search. To the ear unfamiliar with the nuances of WK's particular brand of party rock, every song his band played must have sounded identical; a piano melody exploding into a wall of guitar noise (four of them at the show's beginning, although one appeared to be demoted to roadie midway through the set), accompanied by sledgehammer drums and a madman vocalist exhorting a churning mosh pit to party harder and harder. Teenage pop performed by uncompromising thrash metallers.

"Has anyone puked here tonight?" enquired WK by way of introducing "Party Til You Puke." "You don't have to puke from your stomach. You can puke in your brain!"

With every song the show lapsed further and further into utter carnage. WK and his band were obscured by a never-ending stream of stage invaders, with fans being pulled up quicker than security could push others off. Anyone near a mic was singing into it. The audio was a mess; too many feet treading on too many cables. No one cared.

It's a fine line between madness and genius, and the smart betting is that Andrew WK has fallen on the nutbar side of that boundary. But there are at least 200 young people nursing bruises in Metro Vancouver today who would swear that last night was the greatest moment of their lives so far.