Todd Rundgren at the German House, Rochester, NY, 10/20/09

Fantastic show. I didn’t really like the Arena album when I first heard it, but after listening to the album a few times, I figured out that it would be great to see live. The players were Todd, Jesse Gress on guitar, Sara Lee on bass, Prairie Prince on drums, and Kasim Sulton playing keyboards and rhythm guitar. The band launched right into Love in Action, then paused to say hello. Todd mentioned that his back hurt, but that didn’t stop him. All the players were sweating hard by the middle of the show, but they continued to play with enthusiasm. They played hard, yet were very relaxed with each other and with the setting. Even Kasim Sulton smiled some! The band was tight, with Jesse Gress and Todd trading guitar solos. Sara Lee was excellent on bass, fitting right in. The sound was not great, it was hard to hear the guitar solos, but everything else about the show was superb. The set list included Black & White, Black Maria, Open My Eyes, Trapped, I Saw the Light, Mad, Afraid, Mercenary, Gun, Courage, Weakness, Strike, Pissin, Today, Bardo, Mountaintop, Panic, and Manup. The encores were Couldn’t I Just Tell You and Just One Victory. Well worth the effort – I’m glad I went to see Todd again!