The State Theater in Easton is a beautifully restored art deco theater from the 1920’s, and it seemed to be filled to its capacity of 1500 with mostly upper middle class couples only slightly familiar with Todd. Even so, they listened quietly during the songs, applauded wildly at the end of each one, laughed at all his jokes, and generally acted as if they felt privileged to be there, which on this night they were. Todd’s voice was strong, he played wonderfully (except for the obligatory flubs during Hello It’s Me), and he was his usual charming and funny self. He also pulled out quite a few surprises, including local boy Jesse Gress appearing to play guitar for Never Never Land, Lucky Guy, and an extended version of Born to Synthesize (Jesse also played along with the mp3 player for the With a Twist songs). Other highlights for me were Lunatic Fringe, It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference, the underappreciated Beloved Infidel, and the absence of Love in Action, which he has to have played 1000 shows in a row.
The Power Trio tour proved that Todd can still outrock anyone live, and I hope he does more of that in the future. If he’s going to continue to tour solo, though, this show was evidence that if he plays upscale venues he can not only pull his core fans, but also an entirely new audience eager to appreciate his talents. To the rest of the crowd who thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to jabbermouth though the show: snotpuppies for you!
