An evening with Todd Rundgren is a stroll though a lifetime of eclectic musical choices. Recorded at the Ridgefield, CT Playhouse in December 2015, this latest live retrospective goes back as far as ’67 to relive his Nazz days as well as a tour through the mid ’80s, with one track from his last studio release, “Soothe,” from 2015’s Global.
“Kiddie Boy,” from his formative years with Nazz, is a far cry from the version he performed on his 2010 tour supporting an album of Robert Johnson covers with Todd Rundgren’s Johnson, that hard-rockin’ blues version abandoned here for a churchy, operatic performance, Rundgren prowling the stage, working the crowd like revival preacher.
Rundgren’s voice is still the impressive instrument of yore, but the body is getting un-rockstar like, a little pot belly bulging out of his shirt. He’s backed with the millennial lineup of the Utopia band, Jesse Gress on guitar, Prairie Prince on drums, and Kasim Sutton on bass.
All the ’70s stuff is here, opening with “I Saw The Light” from ’72’s Something/ Anything. He serves up more from that release over the evening, “Couldn’t I Just Tell You,” and “Black Maria” are sprinkled in with ’60s Nazz Cuts including classics like “Hello It’s Me,” from Nazz’ ’68 debut, as well as “Open My Eyes.”
The DVD/CD set gives you more action on the DVD, with seven more cuts including a soul medley, Rundgren crooning soulfully on Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’ ’66 hit “Ooh Baby Baby,” doing an impressive impassioned take on Curtis Mayfield’s ’64 hit “I’m So Proud,” and Marvin Gaye’s ’76 hit “I Want You,” with a little less funk and more operatics.
Rundgren’s Utopia is well represented with cuts including “Love In Action” from ’77’s Oops, Wrong Planet to “One World” from ’82’s Swing To The Right.
Seems a bit odd for Rundgren to bring in “Bang On the Drum” mid-set. You’d think that’d be the closer or an encore, but Rundgren has never done anything the way anybody expected. He gets a few of the faithful down in front movin’ and shakin’, but the majority of the packed house does their bouncing in their seats. But by the time he’s worked through his catalog almost two hours later, he’s got the whole room right in his face sweating and singing along on “Hello Its Me,” and the closer, “One World.”
It’s a comprehensive overview of the career of an eccentric rocker whose music has nibbled at our ears and nipped at our heels for over 4 decades,a one night stand you won’t feel bad about waking up with the morning after.
