If you want to have fun, let go of the troubles in the world, hear some songs that were maybe not appreciated in the day as being SO good and catchy,(I mean, I liked those songs on the radio but never bought a Cars or Blondie record...but wow!... were those songs ever good and catchy last night!) and if you want to see a couple of extremely polished and professional bands, which include 2 amazing frontpeople... GO to this show.
This is a Todd fan base I am writing to, and yes,yes,yes Todd was incredible, as was the band. TR looked terrific, lean and understated, voice perfecto, playing top notch. Big ditto for Kasim...I loved when Kasim sang "Drive", his voice can make you cry - and could anyone be nicer and so humble about his mind-boggling talent? I just love seeing Todd and Kasim together, their chemistry is undeniable. They are so dear to my heart. (Biased reviewer that I am )
Elliot and Todd's guitar work meshed so well. The concert camera stayed on Todd practically the whole time and he remains the dynamic, sexy front man we all have known and loved, but as I mentioned before-he was understated, as he was in a band that was not "his" . He played his part well, yet did add his unique Todd-ness. (It was , of course, SO great to hear the Todd songs . As other reviewers have said, Black Maria was delicious. The Cars-fan audience may have been puzzled but they seemed to like it. Naturally the Todd freaks did...) Could have done without that Bang on the Drum thing but the audience came even more alive with that one, so what do I know?
Prairie and Greg were great and I don't want to leave out their contributions in making this show so enjoyable.
Proves that Todd was onto something ( as he usually is) when he decided to do this tour. My friend and I were commenting how he has not done a huge concert like this in a long time. Happy for him. Gathering from the audience size and seeming enjoyment, I would say this tour is a success. Todd seemed to have won over people who had no idea who he was ( and maybe still don't, as when he introduced the band he said everyone's full names but for himself he just said "I'm Todd" )
Sadly I would have to agree with a prior reviewer who said the sound was sub-par. True. Fuzzy and a tad muddy. Especially compared to Blondie's sound mix.
OK,Blondie. A huge reason to see this show,equal to seeing "our guys". I was totally and completely blown away. The Icon Debbie Harry was sublime. Her voice was rich, she was confident and warm ( and yes still knock-out gorgeous) and the band, MAN that band! Chris Stein looked handsome and healthy, their sound was incredible. Thick and heavy yet crisp guitars; that drummer-he was a show in himself, anchoring the beat and tossing /catching his sticks... Those songs ! I didn't realize I liked those songs so much. Debbie basically brought the house down. It was especially interesting to see the concession stand between sets. Jammed with Blondie T-shirt buyers, from fans in their 50's to a couple of braces-wearing 13 yr old girls that I talked to who were literally jumping up and down saying how much they love Blondie while wearing their just-bought T shirts!
I have a thing about ageism, and a subtext to this whole concert was that our society's focus on age is so so so so meaningless in so many areas of life ( maybe all areas ), and when it comes to music , it is obvious that with age these musicians and artists have gotten better, more confident and charismatic , more creative . Todd was leaping in the air just as he has always done. They were all inspiring, on so many levels.
This really was a tremendous show , well worth seeing for the pure, happy enjoyment.
It will have to tide me over until the next wonderful Todd Rundgren surprise.
