The 7:30 show began close to 8pm, and when the band took stage to rousing applause and cheers, someone yelled "Todd You're late"! Todd stepped up to the mic and said in a very understated way "You have no Idea where the dressing rooms are for this place... suffice it to say that they are not even in this building". He said they also wanted to give everyone a bit more time to get to the venue on such a snowy evening. The crowd cheered at this and the show began.
I sensed that Todd and band were in a very subdued mood this evening, Perhaps the difficult travel to get up to Northwest Connecticut had taken its toll.
I was at the Tarrytown, New York show on 10/11 and the band was firing on all cylinders in comparison. Todd was spinning and leaping with true Rock n' Roll abandon... Rachel and Todd were dancing back to back with huge smiles on their faces. This was for the most part missing from this show. Todd had far more interaction with the audience in Tarrytown as well. He gave songs like "Pissin" some set up for the uninitiated.. and told a few stories as well as throwing in the usual political commentary.
In Connecticut, however, he mentioned the sellout crowd, thanked everyone for braving the elements to come out, did an abbreviated kinda low-key "I invented the blues" setup before "Gun". He also introduced Strike" by saying it would perfectly fit their 3.5 minute window on Letterman... that was pretty much it for audience interaction.
That being said, I'm not complaining, as the Infinity Hall show was musically and sound-wise the better show, The playing was tight, the vocals were strong and Todd's solos were stellar. The show was In a word, "professional". The Tarrytown show was, however the better, get up on your feet, pump your fist rock show.
Two great performances with a very different vibe. I'm glad I had the chance to see both.
Whichever you get...don't miss this tour!
