Clearly, again Rundgren wears his heart on his sleeve exposing his most vulnerable of talents which once again has captured my imagination and that place where ONLY TR's music can bring me - He has not chosen the "safe" road, but winds up proving his mastery is without parallel. This is a challenge and he brings all the elements together with profound determination.He is just a pleasure to listen to. I cant imagine how he can play those guitar lines and sings completely opposing melodies on vocals simultaneously. I was first exposed to this dynamic when trying to play "Manic Depression" on guitar while singing it, (in 3/4 time) but the vocals follow the guitar part closely. Some of the stuff Todd was doing you would need 3 players to accomplish.
Jesse and Kasim were excellent at covering the late, great Moogy Klingman on keys. The back up vocals were perfect. Kevin Ellman was very organized as well. Ralph is a world class player with a lot of feeling and very under recognized . Ralph is such soothing treat. What can I say about John Siegler. He has been such an inspiring musician through out this tour. His love for music is emanating through his performance.
Last but certainly not least MOOGY, who as Todd said "should be with us here on stage but fate had other plans for him" and that Moogy was a driving force as a founding member of Utopia.He was there in spirit. The fans were chanting "Moogy Moogy" as the band eased into "Just One Victory" dedicated to Moogy by Todd.
Ironically Moogy got just one Victory at the reunion of Utopia in January of 2011- that would have been his last live performance with the band. The entire tour is a testament to the strength of the musical bond between all the guys on stage there last night and the entire Todd Rundgren "family" of musicians that make it possible to create all this fine music. The music is provoking and hypnotic and inspires one to think about concepts and emotions and ties in with multi-dimensional musical talents and after having said is just a lot of fun . to !!! Fare thee well Mark, his family has suffered a great loss at this time of year and I hope they can get through this ok !!!
