Review of Campbell show

You never forget your first Todd moment. Mine happened to be strolling into Blossom Music Theatre as the first strains of "Last of the New Wave Riders" blared into my happy eardrums. That was July of 1980 and 20-some Todd concerts ago. I have seen Todd mostly at his best and at his worst (the Palo Alto show in 1998 was a low point IMHO). The Campbell, CA show at the Heritage Theater would be my wife's second opportunity to see Todd. She loves much of his studio work and I wanted to assure her that Palo Alto was a fluke.

I knew that with "Liars" being heavily featured, that there may be some uncomfortable moments for us Jesus freaks in the crowd. As Todd (not so gracefully) ages and perhaps tries to be more profound, it seems to me that he is shaking his fist at God, as is his freedom to do. The progression from Mammom to Fascist Christ to God Said created a heavy sadness within my spirit and was a real downer for the first half of the show. I almost got up to leave, but I'm really glad I stuck around for the second wind, because it totally rocked. The whole "Born to Synthesize" jazz improv groove thang was top notch and I especially enjoyed Kasim's retro-riffs. By the time "Just One Victory" rolled around, I was ready for another hour of "dusties". Overall, not a terrible evening (it sure was great to see Kas again after all these years ), but certainly not among my cornucopia of delightful Todd memories, albeit perhaps my last...