At any rate, the venue -- this show was at a local theater (renovated from a high school theater), as a "special addition" to their season series (which includes Debbie Reynolds, Christopher Cross and Crystal Gayle), so I'm pretty sure that not everyone in the theater knew what they were getting into. The funny thing is, I think the beginning of his set was almost engineered to "flush out" those people -- within the first five songs, he does Fascist Christ, Mammon and Liar (I didn't keep a precise set list), which of course are a bit offputting to Debbie Reynolds fans. The ladies in front of us shyly said "Boo" when Todd made an anti-Bush statement, and they were gone by the time Liar was finished. If they'd just stayed through a few more, I think the rest of the night was something they might have liked more, but then again, if they can't understand the message, maybe it's better they go home. The place was run by "a bunch of Nazi old ladies," I heard someone say, and that was pretty accurate in our experience. The community volunteer old ladies who were supposed to be serving refreshments were beyond clueless (I saw one guy hand "the money lady" exact change, fanned out so she could see it was correct, then ask for two simple drinks -- two bottled waters, no one even had to pour anything -- and she was STILL confused). If they expected to make money off the drinks, I think they were probably disappointed, but not because no one wanted them.
The people with me agreed that the most fun with the live shows is the little mistakes and how Todd handles them. He never lets it get to him, just laughs and continues, and it's so much fun to watch! During his solo, I think just before he did Lunatic Fringe, he was goofing with the guitar and as he was talking & playing, a string broke -- he was in mid-sentence and he just blurted out "shit!" and turned around, trying to find someone backstage who was paying attention. It took a while, so he just wandered back & forth expecting that soon someone would notice there was no sound coming from the stage, but I didn't hear him yell or get angry because he was standing there, he just rolled with it. Once he messed up a chord and just looked over at Prairie and rolled his eyes and laughed. I know, what else can you do, right? Well, I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that other artists I've seen have let it ruin their attitude and they go off in a huff. It's nice to know Todd can just slide past it and say "oh well, that's the way it is!"
It is apparent that Todd loves performing live. He puts so much attention into every detail, and then he goes out there and plays with it a little more, makes it a little better every time. It is pure joy to watch someone with so much heart, so much soul, so much talent!
I believe I'm inToddicated!
