ClearwaterShow

I read the five reviews of Melbourne that were posted, so I had some concerns about Clearwater gig. There were less goofs and gaffs, but it is difficult to know whether Todd is laughing at himself when he forgets lyric, plays something wrong on the piano etc. or is he laughing at himself for performing them. I wonder just what the motivation for the tour is. There is not a new CD to promote, and though there were many enjoyable moments {Cliches, and Love of the Common Man sound great on guitar}, but other songs such as Black &White which deserves a full on rock treatment, and especially Black Maria & to some degree While My Guitar Gently Weeps, are missing something. Yes, Ethel were good, but it seemed really strange to hear them sawing away at that very dynamic solo {BL. Maria} that to me is Todd‚s showcase, and probably best solo, while he strummed vigorously on an acoustic guitar.

I really enjoyed last years Liars tour, and was disappointed to only hear one song from that CD. I am not one of those who want to hear Todd play his catalog into the ground. I woke up this morning and found myself singing songs from the Liars CD, not the tunes played last night. IŒll be interested to see how the tour evolves and hope that by the end of it, Ethel has learned some more of Todd‚s songs, because I think if the set list of last night is an example, then they should be included more to bring something fresh to those songs. How about some acoustic versions of those songs from Liars ? I would love to hear Sweet, with Ethel playing behind it.

I‚ve been to many Todd shows, and most of the time people I have gone with who are casual fans, are surprised and really impressed. I couldn‚t really tell what the person I went with last night thought of the show. For me it wasn‚t really bad, but fell in the middle someplace. For those who have followed him a long time one of the reasons we like him so much is, because he is so talented. We also know to that Todd seems to have a love/hate relationship with his material and at times it seems as if we like his music, more than he does.

g. reese