The point of these live "unpredictable" shows is that Todd Rundgren and the band, and presumably those in attendance "have no idea what's coming next," except that he does, and so do many of the fans in attendance. Okay, I guess that's not completely true.
After opening the show with a cover of Cheap Trick's "Hello There," the band fell right into "Hello It's Me." I didn't know that would happen. But for the next 100 minutes, it was business as usual. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
At the completion of "Hello It's Me," a terrific solid version with Todd's voice as strong as ever...always a concern for me...he offered this, "We are playing the show in reverse order. You're all free to leave now. We've played the hit." Particularly snarky last night, even for Todd, Rundgren and his band, Kasim Sulton, Jesse Gress and Prairie Prince, were as good as I needed them to be. Again, Rundgren's voice was a powerhouse, sounding as good as ever, and once that has been established, I can breathe more easily and just enjoy the show.
As for the show itself...is it "unpredictable" that "Love Of The Common Man" was played or is it "ironic" to play "Love Of The Common Man" at an "unpredictable" show? Either way, as much as I love this song, it needs to be retired, as does the bossa nova version of "I Saw The Light." On the other hand, full band versions of "Cliche" and "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" are a rare treat, especially when they are as solid as they were last night. Some rocking Utopia staples also made the set, but I won't spoil too much of the set, for the few who might be reading and planning on attending.
But here's what made me angry.
When I saw the first "unpredictable" shows in 2011 or 2012, it was a thrill to hear some oddball covers, like Clarence Carter's "Patches" or "96 Tears," by ? & The Mysterians. They were played straight, or at least as straight as Todd can be. Last night, it wasn't one or two covers, it was seven! And all of them were novelties. Johnny Preston's "Running Bear," "Muskrat Love" and the horrific "In The Year 2525." (My friend went nuts for "In The Year 2525." I was happy to see her enjoying herself. Me, not so much.) But it wasn't that the performances of these songs were bad. On the other hand, they were as solid as anything else in the set. But I get the impression that Rundgren was taking the piss out of both the songs and the audience. Does he really like "Muskrat Love?" From the way he broke down the lyrics and pointed out that the songwriter "picked the wrong rodent to write about," I think not.
I became angrier with each cover, thinking about those precious minutes that could have been devoted to some of the man's great, rarely played tunes.
That being said, there was enough bookending the comedy (?) to make the show worth the time. So if you're a long time fan, or a fan who has strayed, I suggest not missing these shows, if only to witness the man singing like it was 1973 all over again.
