Review - HOB Orlando

by Michael Kazazis (Switch to
)
1/26/2003

A little late on this review. From other postings, you pretty much know the set list. Here are the things that stood out for me:

- The crowd....sizeable and quite a mix! As Todd fans, we're certainly aging. I'd put the average age in the 40's with just a sprinkling of teens and 20-something's. In the old days it was always easy to spot a Todd fan. Not so anymore. But Orlando had a great showing and I think Todd was very pleased at the near capacity crowd. And it certainly was a vocal crowd, "Todd, I want to have your baby!" It was fun to see how that comment distracted Todd. He was still chuckling as he was a verse or two into Lysistrata.

- The standout songs....definitely Love in Action and Hello It's Me, both big surprises. Todd used acoustic guitars all evening and for Love in Action (as well as Hammer in My Heart), he added on some distortion (not really a combination I would recommend). Anyway, Love in Action had the audience all singing the choruses. And then during the solo section, Todd was doing his trademark kickline kicks which got everyone even more excited (nice touch). Hello It's Me was beautiful! I'm glad that Todd is showing a little more respect for this classic and the emotions/memories that it brings to use. His treatment was very straightforward (none of the Twist or swing tempo), just a simple, honest rendition which was beautiful (thanks Todd!).

- Gizmos/...he had the MP3 player. During I saw the Light, we were actually trying to figure out if he was lip-synching (my wife thought that  he was). The tonal quality of his voice was just so different from some of the raspiness on the other songs. I'm not sure why the MP3 player gives him so many problems in starting up songs (maybe its an Apple....just kidding). But thankfully he left out the loopy gizmo. 

- There Goes My Inspiration. I love the song, but I think that Todd should consider dropping it for now. He really struggles with this one and we can all feel the pain he must be experiencing in hitting some of the notes.

- T-shirts. Have Gun Will Travel...$25. Not a lot of activity at the t-shirt stand. Miss the old days of anticipation to see what kind of buttons, shirts and goodies would be sold. And I also miss the bootleg shirts from the NYC pier shows....had a friend who actually bought one that had Roger "Power" on it!

OK...now for my only two complaints:

- It's often amusing to hear Todd's quips and commentary. As soon as he started Hammer in my Heart, I knew that we'd hearing something about Townsend. But he also comments sometimes on various political happenings (remember the "Reagan Knew" stickers all over his keyboard?). I just think the comments about George Bush, Iraq and terrorists were inappropriate. They didn't get bigtime laughs ( except from those fans who laugh so loud at every single word the he says...they really sound silly). I saw lot's of people feeling a little uncomfortable when he was making those "jokes". I don't want to argue the left vs. right thing, but the comments did remind me unfortunately of the Baldwin/Striesand stupidity. 

- Smoking. When did smoking become so popular again? I was choking all night because of all the inconsiderate smokers who were chain-smoking all evening. I don't mind when people smoke, but when they are inconsiderate and blow it right in your face...yuck! 

That's it. I hope everyone does get out to support Todd on this mini tour. I do think he's doing a great job and its especially nice to see all the pre-show publicity he's getting in all the papers. Not sure who's doing his PR these days, buts it's probably more exposure than I've ever seen him get! Keep up the great work.


Other reviews for overall Solo dates 2003

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