Tallahassee Show

Review by Jaison Thompson (Switch to
)
1/25/2003

First of all, THANK YOU TODD for finally coming to Tallahassee!

I have driven to Jacksonville and Orlando for other shows. I even drove from Florida to Columbus, Ohio for the Nearly Human tour. It was nice to see Todd at a local venue, and I hope he enjoyed performing here so that maybe, just maybe, he'll come back! The show I saw in Jacksonville (shortly after the release of The Individualist) was next to a strip club. At one point, the music from the club began to drown out Todd. A horrific setting that really makes you appreciate the first-class setting of the Moon.

I'm going to try and keep this short. I loved the show. No, it wasn't perfect. And it wasn't my favorite Todd performance. The Nearly Human tour performance in Columbus earned that top spot and will be awfully hard to beat. I won't give up hope, however.  J Todd "messed up" quite a bit, but that did not overshadow a very strong performance. Although he had some problems on the guitar and the piano (especially near the end of "Hawking" during which I sat there on the edge of my seat hoping that Todd could pull it back together), Todd was VERY strong vocally. My admiration for Todd and his talents has been renewed.

The song list was pretty much the same as the New Orleans show.

Notable exceptions: Todd did not play Hammer in My Heart, There Goes My Inspiration and I Don't Want to Tie You Down (Damn, I was really looking forward to hearing this one performed live. One of my favorites off of AWATS)

Some songs Todd did play that I don't think he played in New Orleans: Lysistrata, Love of the Common Man, Drive and Hawking. He also played Tiny Demons.

"Hawking" was performed as an afterthought after Todd could not get the right track to play on his MP3 player.

He ambled over to the piano, sat down, pursed his lips and wondered aloud as to what he should play. I was ecstatic that he chose "Hawking". A special treat since I really wasn't expecting anything off of Nearly Human.

Overall, I think the majority of the crowd enjoyed the show. Unfortunately, I think some in the audience came expecting to hear nothing but HELLO IT's ME, I SAW THE LIGHT and all the other well-known hits (Yes, the show was marketed that way by the radio station that sponsored the show). Well, he did HELLO IT'S ME "straight", but performed I SAW THE LIGHT and CAN WE STILL BE FRIENDS Bossa Nova style accompanied by the MP3 player. Cries of joy at recognition of these songs soon turned to looks of puzzled confusion on the faces of some who obviously had not been indoctrinated to WITH A TWIST.

I have to be truthful here. I usually don't care for the Bosa Nova renditions of Todd's songs. You have to be in the right frame of mind to listen to WITH A TWIST (a six-pack helps). With one exception. I love the rendition of LOVE OF THE COMMON MAN, which oddly enough was not on WITH A TWIST, but instead was released on ONE LONG YEAR.

The show was billed as "AN EVENING WITH TODD RUNDGREN ON THE GRAND PIANO".

I wish that Todd had left his MP3 player at home. Sitting on a stool, singing along with the Bosa Nova tracks (he did 4 of these) played on the player was the weakest part of the whole show. And the least enjoyable. Several people got up to take a bathroom/bar break during this part of the show. Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT complaining! I still LOVED the show!

Lastly, this is not related DIRECTLY to the show, but I have a beef with the morning DJ's on Eagle 99.9 who were there for the show (well, at least part of it). I was listening to their show on the way to work the morning after the concert. They were taking calls from listeners who wanted to comment on the concert. 

One guy called to basically say that the concert was horrible because he only recognized a few of the songs performed. To my amazement, the DJs (a husband and wife team) agreed with the caller and were very apologetic for having sponsored the show. They stated that they had no control over the playlist and also voiced their displeasure with the show. The husband DJ stated that he did not recognize any of the first 6 songs played so he and his wife left the show. How can you criticize a show that you didn't even stick around to see??? And they didn't recognize LOVE OF THE COMMON MAN, CLICHE, DRIVE, LYSISTRATA, TINY DEMONS? Obviously not Todd fans in the first place! The DJ went on to say that at least Tallahassee had the CHER concert to look forward to. Quote "She always puts on a good show".

YIKES! You have got to be kidding me. As for the opinions of these two, I think the CHER quote speaks volumes. 

Anyway, if you get a chance. GO SEE THE SHOW! You won't regret it.

Lastly, this is directed to TODD: PLEASE DON'T FORGET TALLAHASSEE! You have faithful fans here who would love to see you come back for another visit.

A DEVOTED TALLAHASSEE TODD FAN


Other reviews for Miscellaneous Dates 2003
1/23/2003 - The Moon - Tallahassee, FL

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