Todd live at The Sage, Gatehead 06/06/05

Review by Keith Dixon (Switch to
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6/09/2005

What a venue and what a magical night!

Seats in the third row and with 2 friends, one of whom was a Todd live virgin. A great time was had by all.

Ethel and Joe were great and put in fantastic performances and then Todd hit the stage. He was much more relaxed and talked to the audience much more than on last year's Liars tour. I was pleasently surprised by Todd choosing to do the bosa nova version of "I Saw The Light" from the 'With a Twist' album. I suspect some guitar destruction led to Todd changing his proposed set list but he got through his 'titanic' situation with a rousing version of "Song of the Viking" Without doubt the higlight of the set (and worth the admission price alone) were the two songs Todd did at the end of his set with Ethel. Let's face it, when is the next time we in the UK are going to see Mr Rundgren being backed by a string quartet! "Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song" was very funny and very clear - with only one tongue trip from Todd - it was an ideal song to do with Ethel. Then came "Pretending To Care" from the 'Acapella' album. This songs has been a long time favourite of mine but WOW!!!!!!! Absolutely and totally brilliant. The woman in front of me was crying and reaching for the Kleenex at the end.

Todd - two years running - come on 2006 - let's go for the hat trick ma son!!!!! What about making it the Utopia 30th Anniversary reunion UK tour perhaps - well, one can but dream!

Set list:

Love of the Common Man
I Saw the Light
Cliché
Black and White (1st attempt!)
Song of the Viking
It Wouldn't Have Made any Difference
Compassion
Black and White (2nd attempt)
Afterlife
Tiny Demons
Bang the Drum All Day (aka Hit The Ukelele Daily)
Lysistrata
Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song (with Ethel)
Pretending To Care (with Ethel)
Soul Brother (with Joe and Ethel)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (with Joe and Ethel)

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06/06/2005 - The Sage - Newcastle, England

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