Quickly about the opener. Rod Cook. I have seen him before with Laura Love (Who's fantastic) but not solo. Very nice. It occurred to me that he has kind of an acoustic Robben Ford vibe happening. I was happy to see him open for Todd. He is a gifted guitar player and singer and the audience appreciated him warmly. It's got to be hard to get up and do a solo set for a bunch of waiting Toddfans.
This was the 4th time I have seen TR and man it was THE BEST. The Power TRio is it! Kasim is the ultimate bassist and supreme vocalist. He sang lead on a couple Utopia tunes like Trapped! The drummer Trey Sabatelli, I'd never heard of, but he was extemely competent and does 3rd vocals. Then Todd himself playing NOTHING BUT GUITAR! No sequencing, No Broadway or lounge music or accapella arrangements, No computer digital interactive bullshit, No Syntheprizes - No Keyboards at all! Just Pure Rock Guitar and lots of it. He hasn't done this since Utopia ended in the Late 80's. Since I'm so big on Utopia I was all over it. They played a great version of the old Nazz tune "Open My Eyes", They played the IKON from the early 70's progrock stuff, lot's of Utopia like Love in Action and Hammer in my Heart and Fix your Gaze, Play This Game. The one acoustic number, Todd by himself, Cliche, was so nice - dead on heartwrenching ballad. Of course Black And White was steller. The 2nd encore, a meltdown version of Worldwide Epiphany, just roared. I could go on. Todd sang his heart out and was losing his range by the end, but he played, and I mean PLAYED that guitar. He's a magnificent guitarist.
OK I guess you get my drift. Seattle was a great show. I know it's not enlightening to most of you, but hey I'm new here.
This is the show I have wanted to see for years. Don't get me wrong, I love (almost) all of his ground-breaking conceptual trips, explorations and technology (Hey I'm a geek too) and pretty much everything he does - it's all part of the package that is Todd. But I think he's at his best as a singer/songwriter/musician in a band and that's my opinion. I'm glad to see him returning to more straight ahead stuff and fresh songs. He played some tunes from his forthcoming album and it all sounds good. I'm looking forward to it. I may even become a "Patron".
