I was pleasantly surprised to get "after-show" passes and and it was undoubtedly a real treat to meet the man behind the music after all these years. After the show we were told by Security that "they" wanted a few minutes and then we'd be taken inside. We didn't have to wait very long, maybe 10-15 minutes or so.
Once inside we waited for about another 5 minutes and Todd came strolling out in a T-shirt proclaiming "Darryl Hall and Todd Rundgren --- Fighting Cocks in Philly", with 2 funny looking, ah- hem, "birds" in the graphic design. Ironically, only Todd fans arrived for the after-show get together...not a Darryl or John fan in the bunch, so I guess we know who's "dog" won that fight! lol
Arriving with my Something/Anything CD to get his autograph, I forgot to bring along a decent writing instrument (doh!) and handed OH a regular pen...Godd called out for a Sharpie which was quickly produced and saved the day. He did sign it with a "2001", but do you think I was going to point out the boo-boo??? lol. Hell no! "Um, excuse me, but it's 2002..." yeah, right.
Todd posed for 2 pictures with myself and my friends. Gio Bruno had driven in from Little Rock for the show and was there with his wife and son...such a small world! Gio recognized my name when I was spelling T-I-A-N-N-E for the autograph and introduced himself...once he said his name, I kind of did the knock upside the head "I could have had a V-8" routine because of course his name and face were familiar to me, but I'd been in my own little world. Gio said he was going to catch the Indianapolis Rib Festival free show the next day. You can visit Gio's TR page at http://www.aristotle.net/~brunogv/index4.html
He gladly accepted my 11 page Guestbook print-out from http://toddrundgren.homestead.com with comments from 87 adoring fans. He seemed genuinely interested in our conversation regarding one fan on the list who signed 2 months ago, diagnosed with terminal cancer and wanting to hear from Todd. He thanked me for the messages and hopefully he'll get in touch with the man.
Todd's in the process of building a new house in Hawaii for the family...there was some talk of the kids...the Hall & Oates tour...the Indy Rib Fest. He said that they were moving on that night to Indy for the next day's show.
I asked to see his famous wedding ring tattoo and he gladly showed it to all of us. The design only covers the front of his hand. He made a joke, repeatedly turning his palm over, saying "married, divorced, married, divorced..." We all laughed.
He was very relaxed and approachable, just a genuinely nice fella who came out to meet the fans. Very down to earth and chatty!
More later on the actual show, and I hope to have pictures up soon as well.
THANKS TODD FOR A GREAT EVENING - I'LL REMEMBER IT ALWAYS!!!
