The Songs: I Hate My Frickin' ISP Couldn't I Just Tell You Love of the Common Man Lowest Common Denominator Love in Action There Goes My Inspiration The Ikon (Instrumental) You're Fast and I Like It (Is that the correct title?)Todd gives the band a little break; sez "they just couldn't keep up with me." Cliché' (acoustic solo) Bang on the Drum (with a little bit of Lion Sleeps Tonight on Eugene the ukulele) Temporary Sanity Black and White Trapped (Kasim lead vocal) Buffalo Grass One World
1st Encore: Hammer in My Heart & Open My Eyes 2nd Encore: World Wide Epiphany
Overall, a good show. The band was tight, the sound was a bit muddy at first but seemed to get better as the set progressed. (Could have been the alcohol buzz ...) Todd's vocals were every bit as good as they've ever been. And he can still wail on the guitar. Loved hearing the clip from the Ikon. My personal favorite for the night was hearing "Black and White" from Faithful and "Temporary Sanity" from the Individualist. Does anybody else out there miss hearing "Just One Victory" as the closing song? I do. I don't, however, miss hearing "Hello It's Me." I wish he would have played another song or two on his acoustic guitar ("The Verb To Love," "Lucky Guy," or "Sweeter Memories," to name a few faves).
My biggest surprise was no warm-up act. Out of all of the bar shows I've seen in my life, there always seems to be a warm-up band. As typical bar shows go, the schedule would be something like first band is supposed to come on at 9, gets started at 9:15, plays until 10 or 10:30, half hour break, and then the star comes out just before 11 and will play to 12:45 or so. The show at the Beaumont was scheduled to start at 8, so I figured we'd just move the schedule up an hour.
We were across the street enjoying drinks and dinner. At about ten til 8, somebody suggested we check on the warm-up band status. "No warm up band," we were told. So, we ran back got the group, got back to the Beaumont at about 8:10 and had missed the opening 2 and a half songs. Damn. Who would have figured that: 1) there'd be no warm up band, 2) the show would actually start on time, (hey it was still light outside!) and 3) TR would be in his last encore at 9:30!?! Ok, I take total blame for missing the opening tunes, however, after paying $85.30 for two tickets I couldn't help but feel a little ripped off for the what I consider a relatively short set. TR starts on time and is finished less than 100 minutes later.
(BTW: That's 2 x $35 plus the $12.80 convenience charge and $2.50 handling charge; we upgraded to the "VIP" tickets at the Beaumont, an area above stage left, nice view of TR and a "headless" Kasim... blocked by the hanging speakers... Most I ever paid for a bar show.)
I've seen TR many times from the late 70s on, and although many of those shows are/were seen through somewhat hazy, rose colored glasses, I'd sure like to see and hear more than what we did in KC. Is it too much to ask from OH to play a solid two-hour set? After driving from Lincoln, NE, (Todd last played in Nebraska in Omaha in 1995.), I'm at that point in my life where I can afford the expenses but can't help but wonder if it's all worth it, even if it is one of my all-time favorite musical artists.
All I'm asking is for TR to give us our money's worth and jam for another 20 or so minutes. Todd hasn't been playing large venues for quite some time. For better or worse, he can't fill a multi-thousand seat auditorium. It's better for the fans who love hearing him in the bar setting with only the hard core cult in attendance. I do realize that touring is a demanding job, however, once you're all set up I'd like to think that perhaps the band could perform for at least couple of hours.
Todd, is that really too much too ask?
