Review of 5/8 Philadelphia

I manage to see Todd Rundgren about once a year and this was one of the best live shows of the lot. Todd was inspired and energetic and the connection with the audience was authentic. For me, much of the Liars CD comes across as flat and mushy - good soulful tunes getting lost in the electro-layers. The live versions, however, are a completely different experience. Along with his incredibly tight and talented stage band, Todd sounded as clear and soulful as ever. He performed a great deal from Liars, plus other classics across a wide range of his career. The tribute to George Harrison (While My Guitar Gently Weeps) was masterful and well received. Other highlights were Born to Synthesize (with instrumental solos), For the Want of a Nail, Beloved Infidel (dedicated to Ralph Nader!), Lunatic Fringe - actually I shouldn‚t list individual songs; the show as a whole was practically flawless. The only drawback for me was an attention seeker sitting directly behind me who was determined to talk (yell) non-stop through the entire show in order to indicate to everyone around him how much he knows about Todd and his music. Otherwise, it was a great show with great fans. A very nice woman sat in the row in front of me with a bag of album covers. I hope she got some good autographs.