I know many fans count how many shows they've seen,
I've lost count, but since '75 all I know is I love
Todd best when he's by himself on stage. He seems to
worry less about his surroundings, what others are
doing and just perform "like himself." This tour will
be no exception to that rule! Liars was great, but I
prefer Todd on his own. His set list was as if I
picked it myself this time, everything I would like to
hear, really amazing with some real surprises. Hearing
Hawking again in Ruth Ekered Hall again, just amazing!
Of course some of the old standards that he has to do
to avoid that old criticism of ditching the classics
that got you where you are today..blah blah blah. He
played Hello Its Me in some really freaky key just to
make it intresting, a little different. With that
being said, it is a shorter set than usual of course
with the triple bill and I think he felt a bit rushed.
Some of the songs felt rushed anyway, and not just
played up-tempo but kind of crammed in, but it was
still cool. Oh and speaking of that, he set a land
speed record for the Viking Song, but that one was a
riot, he should get a record/award for that one! His
voice was in the best shape all the way through I have
ever heard in 30 years, every note right on the money
with absolute power and breath control. Some minor
glitches with guitar strings and fading mics, but what
the hell, a true performer is never shaken by crap
like that and he wasn't. I hadn't read any of the
stuff from Melbourne so I didn't know what the
Compassion thing was about, so we were guessing on the
way home, kind of figured it was some fan bashing
incident, lighten up folks! You'll enjoy this tour as
any other.
Joe was a bit shaky vocally but made up for it in the
spiritual performance. Hard to explain that, but he
was really connected to his material. I really enjoyed
it, he's a great performer and had some real humorous
moments with the fans just like Todd does. He had some
real core fans there too, which was nice to cheer him
on. He goes thru the same thing with the old songs are
the really pop favs, what are you gonna do?
Now Ethel. Very loose. They sounded much better with
Joe and Todd towards the end, but I would have
preferred less Ethel and more Todd frankly, and I do
like Classical / String Quartets, but good ones! They
need work. The blonde chelosit is pretty good, but one
good performer does not make a band.
So lame for all these guys not to sign autographs
afterwards, especially Ethel, they are not that good
and could really use the fan base! There were only ten
people waiting out in the cold so it was pretty
inexcusable for them to say "No thank you!"
