Todd warned the audience that they would play some older cuts from his catalog and then they would “punch us in the face” with his new material “that we probably haven’t heard before.” He hoped that we had a lot of memory in our cell phones to record it all.
Black Maria was hot with a great solo. (I plan to upload the video on YouTube.) Open My Eyes was a nice diversion. Todd made sure to close most of the songs with a scissor kick and a solo at the front of the stage. Later in the set, Todd mentioned that it was Rachel’s birthday. Kasim started playing the lick to Birthday by the Beatles, but no one seemed to pick up on it.
The band played Arena in its entirety and then finished with Couldn’t I Just Tell You and Just One Victory as encores. This finally got the subdued audience on its feet.
Overall, the band seemed somewhat on autopilot with no real magical moments that I’ve experienced with other Todd shows in the past.