None of the little annoyances that were noted in other reviews seemed pop up this night. Todd's voice was in fine form, he didn't break any strings on the Black Tak, no forgotten lyrics, and there were no technical flubs that I could discern.
It seemed to be an older crowd, and they were very quiet and attentive- I felt a little self-conscious letting out a yell at some of his high points(and there were many High points, not yells)- maybe that's a good thing. The little folding chairs set up for the show gave it a kinda high-school auditorium feel, but the sound quality was excellent. Todd was nattily attired in the black/grey(?) sharkskin suit, and the skunk hairdo reminded me of Terri Nunn from Berlin. Tood appeared to be in good spirits and peppered the show with anecdotes and almost nothing that could be construed as "political" comments- I hate Bush and his cronies too, but am getting a little tired of hearing it from artists.
The break down was what I expected- guitar, piano, MP3's, maracas, ukulele, and back to guitar. Here's the "inexact"set list- I know he played "One World" and a song I couldn't identify, but they were scrawled on the back of my set list and can't remember where in the set they fit, but I feel this is fairly accurate:
Lysistrata I Don't Want to Bring you Down (preceded by nose blow and the booger joke) Black and White ( about as rockin' as you can get on an acoustic) Love of the Common Man Beloved Infidel Healer Lunatic Fringe (kind of loses it's novelty when you know it's coming, but still enjoyable) The Viking Song Compassion (very soulful) Free, Male, and 21 It Wouldn't have Made any Difference Bang on the Ukulele, Daily You've Got to Hide Your Love Away I've Just Seen a Face Born to Synthesize (a really cool arrangement reminiscent of the Benny Golson jazz standard "Killer Joe") I Saw the Light ( nice backing from the MP3) Influenza Can We Still Be Friends? The Wheel - (luckily noone was yelling for it throughout the show- "Dark Star, Jerry!) What's Going On (also a very soulful rendition, getting back to the Philly sound) A Dream Goes on Forever (this song is in the movie "Rock and Roll High School", isn't it?)Three encores, and for 25 bucks, it was about a buck a song- a bargain!
We'd all love to see Todd rock out on the electric, put together a band or heaven forbid reunite Utopia for a tour at least, but Todd is Todd and he'll always pander to the fans only so much. If you're even just a casual TR fan, I highly recommend you go see him if he's in your area. The smiles and look of satisfaction on the departing crowd (and on my face) told you all you needed to know.
