I have seen over 100 TR performances since 1976 and I was very displeased with the quality of the performance offered in Ventura. Muffled sound in all areas of the theatre, continual equipment problems with guitars out of tune, on stage equpiment failures and so on. Todd rushed through every song, always noticably ahead of the other band members. Made serveral mistakes with lyrics, and yes with his guitar playing. He missed several notes and made other mistakes as well. His voice was strong for about 10 minutes. Thereafter, they did something with the electronics so you could barely him. He sounded strongest singing Trapped which was the exception to the rest of the performance. It was awesome!!!
Kasim has not lost anything and may even sound and play even better than I can remeber him. Overall, the band was tight, the sound terrible, and Todd unprepared. He ended the show by laughing halfway through A Dream..... and just walked off stage. Never have seen him end a performance without an encore. Maybe he was pissed by the all of things which seemingly went wrong, I'm not sure.
Todd got a lot of support and the theatre had a nice crowd. I sat about 15 feet from the stage - dead center. They had a dinner and show option which we took advantage of. It was a nice setting.
The second part of the show was very similar to the With a Twist shows. Island setting (although they used a different set) and bossanova versions of his songs. I looked around the theatre several times and observed people sleeping during this set. While I like the way he performs these songs, bossanova style that is, I think he should stick to what he is really good at - exceptional musicianship and outstanding vocal arrangements.
I realize that this is a short tour and maybe Todd is not as geared up as he normally would be. I do know from experience in attending these shows however, that he was always a perfectionist in preparing and arranging his live performances. Maybe he needs to kick a little butt to make sure everything is right next time. I really liked the song selection he chose......one of those rare things where you could really enjoy every song. Overall, I felt that Todd lacked his usual passion and was just looking to get the whole thing over with ASAP. He spoke very little with the audience. His humor is a very integral part of his live performances...I really missed it!!!!!!!!!!!
Hopefully they will have the bugs worked out of this tour by the time they reach Chicago......I will be making that trip also.
Do I still love Todd ? You bet........Did his show in Ventura suck ? You bet.
