Baltimore show 4/23/05

A Saturday night gig with Todd- does it get better than that? He played at a new venue called Ram's Head Live in Downtown Baltimore. It's a really nice general admission place, as long as you're OK with relatively no seating- you can get up close to the action if you want.There was a pretty good crowd to see the show, but inexplicably, there was quite a loud buzz of conversation throughout the room through the whole show.

Todd's cold didn't seem to be bothering him anymore, and his vocal range seemed normal to me. He actually sounded in pretty good voice as he hit the notes he usually hits and then some. His playing was focused without any notable flubs- a really strong performance overall. The setlist went something like this:

Lysistrata (I don't really feel this one as an opener, but I guess TR thinks
 it's relevant right now)
I Don't Want To Tie You Down (very nice)
Black & White
Tiny Demons (beautiful)
Viking Song
A Dream Goes On Forever (Yay!)
Free, Male, & 21 (performed 'cause he was feeling good- TR said)
Hello It's Me (nailed it- great)
Bang On the Drum All Day
Hide Your Love Away
Love Of The Common Man
Afterlife (it was the historic first live performance of this song "south" of
 the Mason Dixon line- TR joked)
One World

Encore was the same stuff as always. TR and Ethel sounded somewhat tentative playing with each other, but it was quite exciting nevertheless. Pretending To Care is stunning with the strings playing the background vocal parts and TR singing the lead to perfection- the highlight of the show, IMO.