So first, set list, schmet list. I don't have the time or the memory to write down every song in order.
Also, I am unfamiliar with the White Knight material and the last two albums that I do not care for.
Second, I did not care for the screen that obscured the band. That is, the band should have been in front of the screen like Todd and the girls. The screen was not that critical of a device in my mind. The screen was not opened at all, not even during the encore.
Third, although Todd seemed to be in a good mood I'm a little perplexed by his lack of banter between songs. I don't believe he mentioned the name of one song during the evening. I also do not recall a "Hello Waukegan" or "Hello Chicago". He mentioned the band by name during the encore but it just seemed obligatory at that point.
Fourth, very little Todd guitar work. I know this is not the first time he has gone at length without playing but I like my Todd grinding the ax. At least part of the reason for this, of course, was the set list.
Fifth, I'm not a Trump supporter by any means but I did not care for the Bill Orangutan routine on the video. I do not like to mix my musical enjoyment with politics of any stripe. I hit the bathroom as soon as I got the gist of the video clip.
Okay- not a set list but Todd relied heavily on his last five albums (not counting Johnson). Not much from the way-back machine, except for the encore songs- One World, Hello It's Me and Just One Victory.
The musical highlights of the evening for me were three Liars tunes- God Said, Truth and my favorite- Past. I've heard Past live from a clip on YouTube and I thought the beauty of the song was lost in the live shuffle but I felt it last night.
All-in- all I was lukewarm to last night's performance. I've seen much better out of Todd and almost never worse. "Todd in the Pod" at the Park West in Chicago in the early 90's was THE WORST in my book.
The Genesee Theatre is a nicely-refurbished grand old movie palace of about 2,400 seats and is a good venue, especially for a Todd show. The sound was pretty good. I was a little disappointed that it was only about 80%-90% filled by my estimate.
Since I live just a short drive away from the theatre I decided for the first time to go back behind the theatre and see if I could meet Todd and maybe some others from the band. I got back there not more than 10 minutes after the show. There were maybe 20 people hanging by the two tour buses. During the roughly 70 minutes that I waited back there I saw the Global Girls come on to one bus and Kasim came out and talked with us and signed autographs and posed for pictures. Kasim was extremely gracious and kind. I didn't expect any less from him but I was still a bit surprised for some reason. What a guy. Finally, out of nowhere the one bus left and security told us the whole band was on that bus. That was not true. A short while later Prairie came out and got on the other bus. He did not come over to us or even make a wave. After another 20 minutes or so security again told us that Todd and the band were already gone and we could stand there but to no avail. I still think Todd had yet to emerge from the theatre but I gave up.
