In Clearwater some technical glitches at the start of Joe's set had him edgy and flustered at times. Not so here! The sound was terrific and he was relaxed and in great voice. Much more between song banter and interaction with the audience. At one point after thanking us for our round of applause, he started reminiscing about the last time he played "here in Cincinnati at a small venue down on the riverfront", blah, blah, blah. Finally one or two persons got the nerve to remind him he was in St. Louis! Hilarious! He handled it very well though. Another entertaining moment came during Is She Really Going Out With Him. On the "Look over there"..."WHERE?" portion that I'm sure all audiences participate. Apparently we were a little more unified and louder than some, because he lost it. Came to a complete stop, laughing and said "It's just so plain!" He managed to get the song going again and we all had fun.
Todd came on and done his usual splendid job of entertaining. Though his performance lacked the inspiration and intensity of the Clearwater show, (Melbourne had just happened), his voice was strong and his mood was happy and relaxed. Oddly one of the highlights of his solo portion for me anyway was Lysistrata. The song itself has aged well and I think Todd's maturing voice sounds even better singing it these days.
Finally the encore part of the night with Joe and Ethel back on stage with Todd! To me this is what this show is all about. And it's obvious that they are getting better and better at performing together now.
Pretending To Care was just beautiful with the strings. Even though it was nearly ruined by an idiot in the back shouting at the top of his lungs "Todd this sucks for fifty bucks" over and over. As Bugs Bunny would say "Whadda maroon".
Next was While My Guitar Gently Weeps. WOW. They've got this one down. This is the show stopper, the highlight of the night! I had grown tired of Todd performing this song, dating back to AWDAR days. But with the string quartet Ethel, Joe's piano and back up vocals, Todd, well just being Todd, and some dates under their collective belts, this song ROCKS now! But even the loud standing ovation couldn't quite drown out the idiot in back screaming "Ra, RA, RAAA". He was pissed. Hey dude, if you haven't been to a Todd show in like twenty-five years, why bother now?
THANK YOU Todd for taking the time, once again, to share your talents with us folks here in the St. Louis area!
