Great show, great energy, no sound problems and Todd's voice was in the best shape ever. His and Jesse's guitar licks burned little holes in me all the way to the marrow. Not since 1995 Individualist tour have I seen this level of rockin' energy from Todd's stage. Liars tour was great with cool eye candy, but this tour is flat-out guitar rock.
Why the inclusion of covers (Lunatic Fringe, Walls Came Tumbling Down(?)) in his set I don't know, but Todd knows what he wants to play and he must enjoy those tunes. The band did play them well. I would have preferred a substitute of one of the following -- Open My Eyes, Trapped, If Not Now When, Jealousy, Unloved Children, Public Servant, Death of R&R or Everybody's Going to Heaven (hey, I can dream, can't I?) -- any of which would have fit perfectly into the vibe of this set and blew the crowd away. But that's just me.
Select banter bytes, paraphrased: "We're here to satisfy, unless of course there was a particular song you wanted to hear." "We don't want to offend anybody...we want to offend everybody" and "We're not anti-religion. We certainly don't think it's a coincidence that 99% of people stick with the religion they were born into" (sarcastic preambles to Mammon and Fascist Christ). "Back when I was a young sharecropper and my friends and I were sharing some crop..." (preamble to blues-ish medley of Mystified/Broke Down, which got a delightful reception from the pot-friendly Austin crowd).
If you're on the fence about this tour and dig the rockin' guitar-god side of Todd, you must see this show. And bring a Todd virgin (this should be required procedure for all TR fans). I did and now the world has a new Todd-head. The only song my friend recognized was "I Saw the Light" and I think he was a bit surprised by the rest.
Oh, and don't forget to peruse the merchandise. After admiring the yellow T-shirt with the Fool guitar on the front and a montage of that image on the back with "My Tour, My Music," my wife bought it for me. It also has TR's signature on the sleeve. Thanks, honey!
Chris Landes
singring@mindless.com