A crowd perhaps a couple thousand strong road tested the tight-cornering and hard-driving TRio. Todd's guitartistry floored it over a wide palette of colors, tones and shades trailing rainbow skidmarks via Foamy, Percy and a classic black and white Rickenbacker. Early sonic fireworks for the Fourth!
The sound was adequate to pretty good and there were no broken strings though Todd flubbed a lyric to his own disgust during an acoustic "Cliche".
The set ran slightly under two hours.
Todd wore his black pants and sleeveless t, Kaz also in black, but the infamous Matrix Kung Fu kick backdrop was not in evidence. Though Todd did do frequent jump kicks onstage tonight throughout the show The guitar was right on, especially on CIJTY, #1 LCD and the sequence beginning with B&W, into the Ikon (which showed it's Mahavishnu influences in TR's McLaughlinesque runs) into Open My Eyes and winding up with inspired performances of Yer Fast and Buffalo Grass. The momentum continued through One World and the encores of Hammer, Surf and WWE. Bang on the Uke is losing it's appeal however.
This was my first Ikon and Inspiration of this tour, though I missed hearing Mystified/Broke Down and Busted. Interestingly I saw the set list after a fan copped it after the show and Cast The First Stone was on it in addition to those played above and Temporary Sanity.
The rio mp3 player now has a little holder near the bottom of TR's mike stand. There were plenty of cameras in the audience and I was kicking myself for not bring the hi8 along because I saw at least one other camcorder.
The set list: I Hate My Frickin' ISP Couldn't I Just Tell You Love Of The Common Man Love in Action (very long break with TR's wry, teasing story about how "sometimes you CAN stop love" before TRio roars back into final chorus Fix Your Gaze #1 Lowest Common Denominator Trapped Secret Society There Goes My Inspiration Play This Game Cliche Bang On The Ukulele Daily Black and White The Ikon Open My Eyes Yer Fast Buffalo Grass One World Encores: Hammer in My heart The Surf Talks World Wide EpiphanyCLB was in the house, along with Jeff Goss (of Madison-based, Zappa-influenced band, The Weavils), Brent K from Colorado, MJ Adams from Milwaukee, cathE200 from Minneapolis (her only comment upon meeting me was a somewhat cryptic, "I'm a follower, not a leader.")
I also met two previously unknown to me South Bend area TR fans, a Jim who is a friend of Nearly Human bandmember Bobby Strickland and Doug who works for the local TV station.
Though Todd was said to be exhausted by Mary Lou, Indy fan (and former awizer) Ken Owen got a brief audience on the bus along with CLB, MJA, cathE and a lucky handful of others.
Ed Vigdor manning the PatroNet booth claims that the site isn't "really up and running yet" despite the "re-opening" but will be "soon." The Patronet flyers have also been changed. They no longer have blanks to fill out your credit card info, Ed sez too many folks refused to do it but said that those who did give cc info would still get subbed.
The new flyer offers clues about some of this "soon" (spare me the sarcasm please) available new content... (quoting now)
"Even TRTV subscribers will be impressed by this completely revamped world of Todd RundgrenCastle of Mysteries- A Creepy Old House, Madame Blavatsky's Secret Cabinet, the Magic Eight Ball and More
House of Fashion- See archives of Todd's many colorful stage costumes from throughout his career. You'll also be given the chance to submit your own photos for the gallery!
The Sty- A random collection of Todd's toys, trinkets and miscellaneous collectables.
The Tiki Room- Grab a Mai Tai, sit back and enjoy a full-length performance from the With A Twist tour.
Arcade- A collection of interactive games to keep you busy day or night."
