Todd & Band: Truth Buffalo Grass Mammon Fascist Christ I Hate My Frickin' ISP While My Guitar Gently Weeps God Said LiarSo when compared to most other shows, Temporary Sanity and Unloved Children were out while Love Science was in, and the Worldwide Epiphany encore was omitted.Todd Solo/Electric Guitar: Beloved Infidel Lunatic Fringe
Band alone: Green Onions
Todd & Band: Soul Brother Sweet Past Love Science Born to Synthesize Feel It For the Want of a Nail
Encores: Hello Its Me Just One Victory
It was fun milling with other Todd fans. In line before the doors were opened, I spoke with a couple of guys who had driven from Hilton Head, South Carolina. Todd Liars Tour book markers were passed out to the people in queue. Once inside, the people who set next to me seemed to never miss a show, the lady sat on stage at the tiki bar during the With a Twist tour concert in Atlanta.
I hadn't seen Rundgren live in quite awhile - since the Ra tour! I was accompanied by a friend who was a last-minute replacement for an out-of-town guest who couldn't make it. He was unfamiliar with most of the Rundgren songs in the show, so I was curious as to what he would think of the concert.
Seating was general admission, but we were able to procure seats on the 6th row in the center. The Roxy is an old movie theatre, quite intimate. The hall wasn't filled as there weren't a lot of people in the rear "standing room" section.
Of course, during the first half the band wore their various costumes. Prairie Prince had a rabbit marionette hanging in front of his bass drum, so as he played the vibrations would make it jiggle around. The sound wasn't terribly clear, and at times I had trouble hearing the keyboards. Liar sounded particularly muddy.
During the first part, I especially enjoyed Mammon, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and God Said. In the solo spot, Todd energizes Lunatic Fringe more by himself than the entire band did in the Red Rider original. Everything was strong in the second half, though Love Science, the jazzy arrangement & antics of Born to Synthesize, and For the Want of a Nail were particularly wonderful.
The crowd had kept seated until Nail, but for that song and the encores everyone was on their feet and the audience crowded the stage. I had phoned my wife (not a Todd fan, but she liked Todd & band on Letterman) and let her listen to Soul Brother, and during Just One Victory I noticed more than one person holding their cell phones up - recording on their answering machines, I presume?
One of the few downers of the evening was just when Todd stepped up to play the penultimate solo at the end of Just One Victory, probably the one single moment I was looking forward to the most, a string broke. He noticeably winced but gamely played through, of course, but surely altered what he had planned - it was different from all of the solos that I've heard on various recordings with that song and fell a bit short of the normal impact. However, Todd covered it admirably enough where I suspect that most people didn't even notice.
In the end, it was a very successful show, Todd was in fairly good voice and the band was tight. I enjoyed the lights and costumes, and my friend really enjoyed the concert too. He did mention God Said as a highlight.
So see the show and buy the CD!!!!
