I had chosen to go to the Petaluma show for several reasons, and was so blown away by the whole presentation (and saddened by the feeling that Petaluma was seen by the band as a 'second-tier'., i.e. less important date) that I made a 'game time decision' to go to The Fillmore Wednesday night---good move on my part. Paul Ashby's hilarious review notwithstanding (I literally laughed out loud twice, Paul!) the band were noticeably more 'up' for this show than the previous night. As I said before: this was the best Todd show since '2nd Wind'/big band days. Songs, lights, staging, mood---there was a plan, a theme, a vision this time that surpassed just playing a bunch of songs for an audience. Kasim was solid (he looked healthy and happy---good for him) and Prairie Prince is one of the great rock drummers ever, IMHO. Oh, and by the way, the orange suit/shirt/tie/shoes---magnifique!! The set:
Truth (Kasim synth)
Buffalo Grass (TR Foamy solo)
Mammon
Fascist Christ (Foamy solo)
While My Guitar
God Said (breathtaking---can't do this one justice)
Liar
solo--Beloved Infidel
Lunatic Fringe
band returns--Funk (including Kaz doing a bit of '7 Rays' during his solo)
Soul Brother (Jesse synth)
Flaw
Sweet
Past
Love Science (a pleasant surprise--sounded good for a 4-piece trying to replicate a 11-piece band)
Born To Synthesize (funny but WAY too long)
Feel It (and TR's guitar worked for this one this time)
The Want Of A Nail (ROCKED!!)
Encore--Hello It's Me
2nd Encore--Just One Victory
Todd's voice was actually not as good as the night before, and yeah there were a couple of ragged spots.....but I've harped plenty on the negative aspects of the last few TR shows. This was fantastic, can't saywhat a revelation it was for me to see OH cacre so much again. Finally I'd like to say this: the best thing about this for me was not that he's playing JOV again. This song has such emotional meaning, both personally and for the 'community' of Todd fans and I'd rather have him not play it than just go through the motions. The best thing for me was: he sang that song like he meant it. Now I'm trying to figure out how I can wrangle going to the Campbell show on Friday.....it's really that good.
