Todd's between song comments were, as always, hilarious. He made a crack about three letter acronyms and how IPOs and LSD have the same basis in reality. He also chided the fact that they were playing at the Zoo which I'm sure to him conjured up images of the infamous Puppet Show and Spinal Tap scene from "This is Is Spinal Tap." In all fairness to the Zoo, however, some great bands have played there (Los Lobos, The Radiators, Peter Himmleman) and it is a much cooler venue than First Avenue or the Cabooze (both clubs) where he played the last two times he was in town. I really enjoyed the outdoor, "by the lake" atmosphere even if it was cold and damp.
Now to the tunes! And by the way, props out to Toby for getting me the One Long Year Japanese CD four days before the show so I could absorb the new tunes.
ISP-hilarious Couldn't I just Tell You-haven't heard this one in awhile. Great. Love Of The Common Man-a shiver and a sigh Black and White-really starting to rock on this one #1LCD-Loved this when he did it 95. Very psychedelic. Yer Fast-my wife's fave of the night (her first time seeing Todd) Trapped-Awesome. Kaz sounded great. It brought back memories of the all the Utopia shows I saw in the early 80s. As did the next few numbers. Love In Action Play This Game Cliche-Just beautiful Bang The Ukelele All Day-Very funny and Todd's voice really started to come around here. Hit me Like A Train-Great song and I am really amazed and pleased at the variety of style on the new album. I know it's all the Patronet stuff but it really is nice to hear the flavor. Open My Eyes-Wow! A Nazz chesnut. What everybody has been saying is right on the mark. This was hot! Mystified/Broke Down and Busted/Mystified-Todd's guitar work was kick ass on this one! One World-Utopia nostalgia washes over me again. The fans begin to dance in the aisles.At this point some guy ran up to the stage and begged Todd for one more song. When Todd came back out for WWE, he quiped "Does anyone else have anything to say. This is open mic night at the Zoo."Encores Ikon-Someone blew a number right next to us here so the song was propelled to a higher level. Todd breaks his sixth string of the night prompting a bass solo by Kaz that was great. He was great all night. Hammer in My Heart-Very Tight. Everybody dancing at this point.
World Wide Epiphany-Very powerful. And a great choice for the last song.
All in all it was a great show. Hearing all the old songs made me think of the first couple times I saw Todd in 1980, 81 etc.. all of which were with my dad. He took me to my first concert ever which was Utopia at Poplar Creek in Chicago on the Adventures in Utopia tour. He passed away very young (in 1988) and whenever I hear Todd I think of him. Last night at the zoo, I could feel him smiling down from heaven.
