Magical...My Story

Review by Joe Shaffner (Switch to
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7/18/2001

This was the best show I have seen in a while. Wolf Trap is such a great venue and where else can you have a nice picnic and catch some world-class music. It was obvious that all the kinks had been worked out from earlier in the tour. All songs were well executed and polished and the set list was the same as reported in other posts.

I am glad to report that some new Todd fans were born last night. We were in the 14th row in front of Todd. Out of our Group of eight, we had four people who had never seen Todd. Thankfully, my wife now has an appreciation for Todd. Now when I play Wizard True Star in the dark, she won't look at me like I need psychiatric counseling.

There was a lot respect from the crowd for each of the musicians in a very tight band.

Todd was his usual class clown self. You could see his mind churning for something clever to say between breaks. Like the last time he was in Virginia (Jaxx for the Power Trio tour), he was pretty quite. I know I am biased, but the loudest cheers went out after each of Todd's performances and he was the anchor of the show. He did make light of the fact that it was not his desire to play Hello It's Me and Bang on the Drum All Day. But the crowd did not mind.

As far as I am concerned, Todd is at the top of his vocal game and his guitar playing was priceless. Todd Guitar standouts included Open My Eyes and As My Guitar Gently Weeps. It was very nostalgic to see the John Lennon autograph Todd's black Rickenbacker.

My only disappointment was not being able to hear John Entwistle's bass well. He had the largest stack up on stage, but I could barley hear his bass runs. I was so glad John brought his backup band. Sorry Todd, but Godfrey Towsend was the best guitarist up there last night. Who the hell is he anyway (pun intended)? I was joking that he was the love child of Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey.

I am not sure what Todd's relationship with David Pack is, but he made sure the crowd knew that David was a pansy and Ambrosia songs are kazoo music. David commented that he had been to Wolf Trap when he was young for a Leonard Bernstein concert and how is left an indelible impression. Todd wryly remarked, "This is my first time at Wolf Trap". Regardless, Todd and David did fine on the John and Paul vocal duets.

Although the Beatles were the best band ever, these luminaries gave a new dimension to all of the songs they selected. I hope that they do this again next year with a new set of materials. But judging from Todd's demeanor, I could see that he was anxious to get this tour over and get back to his own things.


Other reviews for A Walk Down Abbey Road
7/17/2001 - Wolf Trap Filene Center - Vienna, VA

Other reviews for overall A Walk Down Abbey Road

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