A few months ago I saw that he would be playing at Westbury as actually a substitute show for Larry King who had cancelled so I jumped on the chance to get tickets as it has been a few years since I last saw a Todd concert. I even talked my wife into going with me which was a miracle as she is not a Todd fan and getting her out on a Sunday night is not easy to begin with. Most times I go to a concert I read the reviews and set lists but this time I wanted to be surprised, and boy was I.
The show was played in the half round which in essence is ½ of the theatre as it is a full circle. I would say it was well attended. The crowd certainly looked older then at past shows and, well, sorry but a bit medicated, just not sure of the type of medication.
As anyone that visits this website knows Todd is a capable of so many types of genres and that is part of what makes him the incredible talent that he is. I just did not think he would actually play song after song of what I call dissident sounding mini jam session rock, hence, his early Utopia stuff . For me it was fine and I was actually entertained by it to a certain extent as I am a progressive rock guitarist but for peeps like my wife, or other innocent bystanders, this was an irritating way to spend a Sunday night. I'm thinking that when a concert like this is promoted they might want to indicate that it is a progressive rock event or something like that. I won't take a platform here on what the artist should play but for anyone expecting anything close to his catalogue this is not the ticket to buy.
His outfit, the music, and the vibe was weird to say the very least, but I liked it. I gotta tell you as a musician I WAS IMPRESSED that anyone, let alone a guy in his 60's can remember all of the transitions and chord changes. The music, and this might be funny for a lot of you, sounded like a hybrid of Styx and Jeff Beck.
Well, this will be the last Todd show my wife will attend, she assured me of that, and while the crowd for the most part seemed to like it and was enthusiastic there were those that came wanting to hear "Love of the common man" or maybe even "Set me free" left disappointed. As for me, I'm not on any medication, I left in good health, I have job etc... so it's all good. rrgitars@yahoo.com
