Baltimore review of Allstars

Review by Bill Hoyt (Switch to
)
6/26/2012

It was a fun night with Ringo and the Allstars here in Baltimore. The Meyerhoff is the Baltimore Symphony's headquarters, so I was expecting good sound, and for the most part I wasn't disappointed. My son, my friend and I were about 4 rows from the end of the venue, way, way, up, and we could hear everything pretty well.

Ringo looked really spry for the 71 years he has nearly lived He ran on and off stage, and danced along with his numbers. Everything was crowd pleasing: "Yellow Submarine", "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Don't Pass Me By", "Photograph"... what a treat to hear Ringo sing these songs.

The Allstars put on a decent and tight show. My favorite numbers were the Santana tunes; these were the most appealing. I recognized "Black Magic Woman", and there were two others played, and the third of these was simply smoking!! The Allstars really jammed on this tune (sorry I can't identify it by name, but I'm hoping they keep it in the set for future shows). Richard Page led the Allstars through perfect renditions of "Kyrie" and "Broken Wings": very well done. He added an acoustic tune that I didn't recognize, but that was enjoyable as well. Steve Lukather served up "Rosanna", "Africa", and "Hold the Line". I have never figured out how Toto made the leap from the guitar driven "Hold the Line" to the keyboard based "Africa", but hey, they have probably sold a gazillion records, so what do I know? Steve was responsible for the majority of the guitar solos and unfortunately they could not be heard up where we were. This didn't seem to be an issue for Gregg Rolie's keyboards; we could hear his solos. It's always irritating when artists are jamming and you can see fingers moving quickly all over frets, but are not able to hear it. Let's hope that issue is straightened out for future performances.

As far as Our Hero is concerned; he was having a blast. He was playful and clearly enjoying himself. The songs: "I Saw the Light", "Bang the Drum All Day", and "Love is the Answer". "Love" was especially nice to hear and it fits in well with Ringo's habitual peace signing and with the huge Peace Sign that served as a stage backdrop. "Drum" was a hoot; Todd was jumping back and forth from foot to foot. It's evident in his antics how these tours are good fun for him, giving him a chance to play with other pros and to jam on songs that he wouldn't normally play.

So, if you have tickets for the show, you won't be disappointed. TR is having fun. Best of all, my six year old, who has been listening to me blather on about Todd since he was an infant, finally got to see him. I know I've done something right as a parent, because when a stage hand brought out a particular green guitar, my son exclaimed "Dad, there's Foamy!!" Mission accomplished!


Other reviews for Todd Rundgren Dates
6/24/2012 - Meyerhoff - Baltimore, MD

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