First, the mix was muddled, with the vocals only intermittently audible. The low end was far more prominent than appropriate, and most of the higher frequencies where overwhelmed. The keyboards varied in volume throughout the night from barely present to overpowering and ear-piercing. Feedback was fairly common. While I can understand on the first show of a tour that there will be mix kinks, it should generally get better during the night, not worse.
The band was amazingly disorganized. There were long gaps between songs, where the musicians appeared to be discussing what song was next and what key to be playing in. There were a number of miscues, with at least three songs needing restarts, at least one of which had to be restarted 3 times. Wow.
When Todd played Lunatic Fringe while the band was changing into the pimp suits, I was struck by the fact that one of the best guitarists in the world was playing (and singing) worse than many local bar bands. While I can accept (but not like) the fact that Todd changed the style of some of my favorite songs from the original to "Holiday Inn lounge style", I at least expect professional quality in the musicianship. That expectation was not met. I was also kinda dissapointed by the funk break the band used to soak up time while Todd changed. Those guys coulda done a lot better.
On the plus side, I was impressed by both the costuming and the lighting. The panels behind the band members were spectacular, and alleviated the tedium of a show I probably should have skipped.
