In all fairness, this was the first show of a new band so it was due to be rough in spots but that didn’t appear to bother the faithful. As already noted by another reviewer here this was certainly the show for all the Todd fans who complain they do not get enough of Todd + electric guitar. He never took it off except to change for another. The monochrome sound of 2 guitars, bass (and occasionally some under mixed Chapman stick c/o Tony Levin) and the rock solid drumming of Jerry Marotta began to wear on me after a while though. For all those wanting a soul ballad moment you had to wait until the first encore, Hawking, which despite stripped of it’s backing layers, still managed to cast a spell that melted the crowd..
Standouts for me include Black Maria and Black and White (a must given this type of line up), the cover of Red Rider’s Lunatic Fringe (a pleasant surprise even if it looks like he is pandering to his Canadian audience a bit), One World and the aforementioned Hawking (with Todd in good voice). Of all the tunes from Liars I’d rather heard something other than the bombastic Mammon but it was indicative of the overall sound of the evening leaving I Saw The Light sounding seemingly out of place even if it is an obvious crowd pleaser. Maybe not the best situation for a ”live” newbie in which to catch Todd in all his former glory for but the faithful ate it up all the same as was evident in the warm reception to the evening’s closer, a solo rendition of Love of the Common Man.
Ironic moment of the evening had Todd singing I Hate My Frickin’ ISP while several cell phones took his picture. Instantaneous, downloadable.
