it is now 'the morning after', and it all feels like an incredibily bad dream. to say that todd was horrendous is putting it mildly. the master of missed opportunities has struck again! it seems that many of the long time fans had high expectations for this tour, based on the stunning success (fan wise) of the Liars album and tour. Maxwell King center was beautiful, and also seemingly sold out. Ethyl started things out on a classy note, six songs in approximately 35 minutes. They were extremely professional, and seemed blown away by the very appreciative response. Much was made by all performers regarding opening night. Joe was next, and was the picture of grace and class. He referred continually to a thick song book atop the piano, and said a couple of times as he flipped through it that he had no idea what to play. But everything he did play was flawless, and dead on. 11 songs, 1 encore. Then a 20 minute intermission, with everyone so psyched to see what Todd had come up with for this show, as we all know he had at least six months (or more) to prepare. This was seemingly not the usual "pack em in and pay the rent" situation. WRONG!! It was worse than any of us could ever imagine. He came out with an unbelievable attitude, and it was all downhill from there. I can't bring myself to list the songs here, you can find that elsewhere. Suffice it to say that it was the setlist from hell, everyone seemed stunned. Todd attempted to play some piano (of course) and after 3 tries of song of the viking he actually turned to the stagehand to ask him if he could 'fix it'. It' s called rehearsing. The show got so bad that some of us couldn't even watch, we went out into the lobby to commiserate, and sneak glimpses of the monitors that were set up by the bar. After 11 or so botched songs, the whole entourage came out for Prentending to Care (right Todd) Guitar Gently Weeps, and Black Maria. The entire Todd portion of the show was a complete slap in the face, and we actually thought it was cool to go to the show knowing nothing of what was to happen. Surprise, surprise. Too late to back out of some of the future shows now. Airport runs to be made, family to visit, etc. etc. Approach this show with caution, and set expectations seriously low. dan in florida.
