Schenectady review & set list

Sunday, July, 22nd was a great day!!! The sun was shining brightly and it was hot, Very hot. I got to Central Park in Schenectady, N.Y. at about 1:40 in the afternoon. I had a gig last night doing sound so I did the 160 mile drive on 4-1/2 hours sleep. I had no lack of energy today as It's been almost a year since I last saw O.H. on the Power Trio tour. I entered the park and observed the Collegiate World Series baseball game that was taking place on a field near the MacDonald Music Haven where Todd And Jesse were scheduled to play their set. Todd was on stage as I came over the hill from the baseball diamond, He and Jesse were finishing their sound check. Todd went backstage as I approached the seating area. To my surprise there were only about 20 people gathered near the stage and on the surrounding hill.

The Music Haven is a great little band shell type setup with a earthen amphitheater surrounding it. The PA system was straight out of the Late 70's Big & OLD! Long throw cabinets with a stack of Piezo horns on top. I spent about a half an hour trying to figure out where the best location would be for recording a tape in this place. There were two issues here, the antiquity of the PA and the fact that this was not exactly going to be a total Todd crowd. You know the scene, Folks just out for an afternoon in the park with the kids. I decided the best bet was to grab a seat somewhere in the midst of the seating setup and try to position myself in front of one of the stacks.

Todd hit the stage at 3pm sharp as he had a show in Wallingford at 7:30 pm with the Abbey Road tour.

The Set list was as follows:

1. Hammer in my heart ( Todd Solo )
2. Cliché ( Todd Solo )
3. I don't want to tie you down ( Todd Solo )
4. West Virginia Gals ( Hal Wilner Produced, Harry Smith tribute CD
Tune) ( Todd Solo )
5. I saw the Light ( Jesse Gress joins)
6. Love is the Answer  ( Jesse & TR )
7. Never, Never land  ( Jesse & TR )
8. Mated  ( Jesse & TR )
9. Song of the Viking ( Todd Piano segment )
10. Compassion ( Todd Piano segment )
11. Free, Male & 21 ( Todd Piano segment )
12. House Carpenter ( Todd Electric Gtr)
13. Can we still be friends( Jesse & TR)
14. Lucky Guy ( Jesse & TR )
15. Lady madonna ( Jesse & TR )
16. I want you ( Jesse & TR )
17. A dream goes on Forever ( Jesse & TR )
18. One World ( TR solo ) Encore
19. The Wheel ( TR solo ) Encore

That's all folks! I'm glad I went to this show as it was a great warm-up for the show at B.B. Kings Club in New York City on Monday the 23rd. The show Sunday was really, really, loose. Todd is always loose in his solo shows but today was especially loose. I can only imagine what the "normal" folks in Schenectady thought of O.H.? Especially after he was joking about the name of their fair city. He kept referring to it as ( Guttural sound ) 'nectady. It's kind of hard to describe how he pronounced it, but he sounded like he was going to throw up each time he said it. Then he said I feel a real Schenection with you people. It was really very funny. Todd signed some stuff and split, He said "I'm going to Wally world" otherwise known as Wallingford. I had thought about going to see the Abbey road tour, then thought better of it. I can't imagine spending good money to see Todd perform in a show he is making so much fun of. B.B. Kings Should be a great show, I can't wait.