Review by Ralph Greco, Jr.
Photos by Jim Snyde via Todd-Rundgren.com
The ‘Todd Is God” moniker still pretty much applies. I caught Todd Rundgren and his tight little band of expert players at a small theatre in the bucolic suburban setting of Montclair and the ‘Hermit of Mink Hollow’ still truly rocks.
He opened with a double shot of “I Saw The Light” and “Love Of The Common Man,” these heavier-than-recorded versions set us on a wide swatch of songs from throughout Rundgren’s career with lots of lead guitar as he warbled through some stuff slightly beyond what his voice can handle these days.
As always, Rundgren was in good humor, commenting on the heavy traffic coming down from Connecticut and on how well “seasoned” his audiences are these days. He seemed to be having a rather good time wailing his leads or lumbering back and forth on stage to give what he called his “Teddy Pendergrass” moments.
Rundgren hit on Utopia songs like “Lysistrata” and “Hammer In My Heart,” and even went further back to the Nazz tune “Kiddie Boy.” The crowd was on its feet during “Love In Action” and “One Word,” and the encore was especially killer with the heavy “Black Maria,” followed by “Lucky Guy” and ending with the expected “Hello It’s Me.” It was another one that proved a little rough for Rundgren’s voice, but he had the standing crowd singing along.
The thing with an artist who has been around as long as Todd Rundgren is that you could sit through another two hours and probably still not hear everything you want to hear. Nevertheless, I was pleased with what I did get.
With Jesse Gress on guitar, John Ferenzik on keyboards, the Tubes’ Prairie Prince on drums, and longtime stalwart and Utopia bandmate Kasim Sulton manning the bass (and singing lots of parts Rundgren couldn’t hit), it was a great evening of Todd Rundgren music to be sure.
