New songs tonight:
Hammer in my Heart - guitar
The Wheel - guitar
Between songs when Todd had on his black acoustic, some guy yelled "don't play The Wheel". Todd then pulls it out of his back pocket and blows us away with a stellar Wheel! Reverse psychology works - I've been wrong all these years. Todd - DON'T play The Verb to Love! DON'T play Wailing Wall!
The other new song was HIMH. Tonight's version was one of the best ever. He nailed it - raw emotion running wild!
The rest of the show was a mixture of songs already played this tour. Excellent Tiny Demons tonight. No Hawking. Todd commented that he was on Theraflu tonight - mixed with other OTC drugs. The mixture was dead on! Todd ran through his set with vigor and exceptional piano and guitar play. Although his vocals were shot at times - he pulled out every song. Pretending to Care was another standout.
Joe had a great set. His new song tonight was Eleanor Rigby. He nailed it! Actually, I did hear Joe make a mistake on the piano during Citizen Sane - rare events like that stand out - Joe never hits a sour note - what an accomplished singer and piano player he is! To be honest, I've never been a Joe fan - never heard much of his music. After these Florida show, I will be buying a few of his CD's.
Todd spent at least 20 minutes at the bus with his fans. Signing everything presented to him, talking to everyone. Signing shirts and albums and ticket stubs. Very gracious!! Liars DVD targeted to hit stores in July - per Todd after show. It's pretty much done, just waiting for final tweaks and artwork. Ethel members mingled with fans after the show too. Very nice people - met Ralph. No Joe - musta took a back door! Rumor is that Ethel is working on 2 Joe songs and 1 Todd song.
I've seen Todd solo approx. 40 times since 1982 - tonight was a top 5 show. It wasn't note perfect as per the 1982 tour, but came damn close! I swear you can close your eyes and take a trip back to vintage solo Todd - Cliché, LOTCM, etc. all sound fresh but retain the same emotion as when new. Todd is putting his heart and soul into these shows. As Todd leaves Florida, he departs with a tour that has been improving dramatically with each gig. The kinks have been worked out - to those of you being treated to an upcoming show outside of the Sunshine State - ENJOY!
Jim from Tampa
