Jay and Tammy, the gracious hosts of Honky Tonk House Concerts, are a friendly couple who have opened their house to music lovers for an up close, personal, concert experience. The house is your typical split level home with an attached garage and a family room under the bedrooms. The house could be found in any suburb built in the 1960's. This house is located in Streetsboro, Ohio. We started our experience in the garage and driveway at 7:00PM with a smorgas board of food and BYOB drinks. The food ranged from shrimp, fried Bar B Que chicken wings, macaroni and potato salad to chips and dip. The fans were very knowledgeable in music and a pleasure to talk with.
At around 8:00 the night of Americana music started with a teenage couple who performed 2 original songs. A nice gesture on Jay and Tammy's part to offer support to some local young budding talent.
Then Chris Castle took the stage or should I say the floor there isn't a stage just a few spotlights mounted and pointed at a spot against the wall of the family room. A very homey touch but a bit crowded. Chris is a local Americana/folk singer from Norwalk, Ohio who wears suits, weighs 115 pounds and drives and lives part time in a white cargo van. He is a story teller using song to convey his message. Most of his music was pretty quiet this night. I wish he would have cranked it up a notch and rocked a little. I don't know Chris's music that well and maybe he just has a quiet style. I liked the song "Both Ends of a Gun", a sad song with an up beat tempo. Chris played for about an hour then we all took a short breather outside.
Will Kimbrough the alien, was up next. Will uses a loop where he records a back beat strumming chords on his guitar, then plays a lead guitar over the top of the back beat he just created. Will came right out of the box with one of my favorite songs "Eden Prairie" playing guitar, harmonica and singing, showing why he is a talent that I enjoy seeing over and over again. Will is a great lyricist which is evident in "Nobody From Nowhere", a saying his father used to say. The next three songs are modern Americana music at its finest, "Horseshoe Lake", "Godsend", "Hill Country Girl". Then came a funny little song about a laundry mat "Wash and Fold". "He ain't Right" is a bluesy song with lyrics from Tommy Womack and music by Will Kimbrough. Now Will starts rocking with "Another Train". Will finishes the set with "Three Angels", a new song "Wings" and "Redemption Every Mothers Son". Wow that could have been the whole concert and it was just Will's first set.
During the break I heard one man complain that Will was unplugged and not playing his electric guitar. This idiot actually left the show. Yes, I love to hear Mr. Kimbrough play his electric guitar but to hear him unplugged is still a treat. You would have to be a fool to walk out on Will Kimbrough at any time.
My Honey Bunny and I go and buy an autographed copy of Will Kimbrough's last CD "Daddy for a Second Time". Will is standing around talking to all of us and signing autographs and just having a good time.
Will comes out and jams with his guitar and harmonica on "Piece of Work". He shows off his guitar prowess on "This Modern World". He talks about past friends who get mad and hold grudges then jumps into "I Don't Like It". He has a brief interlude into the old song "Tequila" during the song "Cape Henry". Will slows down for "She came from Philadelphia". He sings about corporate corruption in "Ed McGuire". Then he sings about a 15 year old prostitute who has eyes that look like she is 65, "Rotten Apple of Daddy's Eye", nice slide guitar solo. Will's vocals really shined on "Keep Your Eye On The Road". He gets everyone involved in a sing along in the next two songs"You Made Your Bed" you got to lay in it and "Yo Yo Ma", on both of these songs he was showing off his guitar work with slide and finger pickin. He slows the show down with "Good Night".
Will Kimbrough now brings a local folk artist named Joe Linstrum up to jam with him. Joe shows he can play guitar on Hank Williams "I'll Leave You Now". They then go back and forth exchanging licks on a song, Will called, "Get Rhythm". Joe and Will dig in for "I've Got Love to Spare". I never have seen Joe Linstrum before but I would not hesitate to see him again. The young man can play.
For a finale Will breaks out a banjo and Joe Linstrum is still seated in the spotlight and for a kicker Chris Castle sits off to Wills right with his guitar. Everyone who knows me knows I love a good jam session. The three of them jam out to "Thank God I Don't Have a Gun". They finish the evening with a Tommy Womack song "Vicky Smith". I'm in heaven. There were some magical moments during this jam session.
Will was on top of his game tonight. He talked and joked with the crowd. Played his music with expert precision. Seemed very relaxed and in a good mood. Mr. Kimbrough is always polite and will talk with you if you approach him. Tonight he seemed eager to talk to people. He told some good stories about his life and his music. You got to love an entertainer like this.
It is now after 1:00 AM when they finish. A hat is sitting on the bar and you can throw any amount of money that you think the show is worth into the hat. I tossed in $40 for me and my Honey Bunny. If I wasn't unemployed I would have thrown in more money. Over four hours of music in a small intimate setting where the artist will talk with you and sign autographs. Great!
Tammy and Jay thanks for the experience.
I give the show Five twirls.
Shows are judged on a five twirl system. Moth catcher hand motions count as half a twirl.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Browns Vs Baltimore 2009
OMG! Are the Browns terrible? Yes. An emphatic YES! Braylon Edwards off sides again. Brandon McDonald too small to cover the big wide receivers again. Elan to slow to help over the top again. Brady Quin with no long passes down field again. A coach who claims to be behind his quarterback, replacing the quarterback mid stream again. No Massaquoi (Massaquoi 1 reception) or Robiski again. No containment by the defense again. Edwards our number one receiver with only three catches again(actually this is an improvement). Me, vomiting by half time again.
While I was vomiting in a trash barrel next to the couch because of the nauseating play of the Browns I heard one of the analyst say "I saw the Browns last week in person and they actually look worse in person than on TV". I am unemployed and having to pay for over priced, premadonna athletes and coaches who would not be in the BCS rankings for the national championship if they played in the NCAA makes me sick. GIVE ME BACK MY MONEY. Boy am I glad I dumped some of my tickets before the season started.
Randy, Mangini was going to be the answer to all of our football problems. You had to have him. You could not wait two or three weeks to talk to Shanahan. Noooo, Mangini is the Man. Randy, Please sell the team. You and your family have tortured us long enough. Next year you are going to have to get the Rolling Stones to play during the game if you want anyone to show up.
Our defense looks as bad as our defensive coordinator. Rob Ryan is a disgusting pig of a human being. This pregnant looking, long haired, autistic, swine of a person could not demand respect from any creature on earth much less a bunch of over paid athletes. If you don't respect yourself how can you expect others to respect you. Rob Ryan, you are disgusting, your father should be ashamed of you. Your own brother was smart enough not to hire you. Randy how could you let this goof into your organization?
Is Daboll calling for little dink and dunk passes or is it that pretty boy Brady Quinn just can't perform at the NFL level. Brady Quinn, Brady Quinn, Notre Dame, Notre Dame, now we see why everyone else passed on this no talent hack. I can't believe that we traded up to grab this guy. Brady do us a favor and go and model underwear. You are not a NFL quarterback.
Mangini replaced almost half of last years team with his own players. Twenty four new players on a 53 man roster. He has no excuses. The players he has are the players who have the character to play for a hard nose coach like Mangini. He brought in old Jets players who were going to nurture the younger players. Doesn't look like his idea worked very well. I told you early on that I was skeptical of Mangini but if he wins I would love him. He ain't winning Lucy.
Bright spots of the game. Harrison can run and catch the ball. Zastudill, the punter, is MVP three weeks in a row. Furrey is a decent number two receiver. Too bad that we do not have a number one or number three receiver to help out. Pittsburgh lost to Cincinnati. The game ended before I totally dehydrated myself.
While I was vomiting in a trash barrel next to the couch because of the nauseating play of the Browns I heard one of the analyst say "I saw the Browns last week in person and they actually look worse in person than on TV". I am unemployed and having to pay for over priced, premadonna athletes and coaches who would not be in the BCS rankings for the national championship if they played in the NCAA makes me sick. GIVE ME BACK MY MONEY. Boy am I glad I dumped some of my tickets before the season started.
Randy, Mangini was going to be the answer to all of our football problems. You had to have him. You could not wait two or three weeks to talk to Shanahan. Noooo, Mangini is the Man. Randy, Please sell the team. You and your family have tortured us long enough. Next year you are going to have to get the Rolling Stones to play during the game if you want anyone to show up.
Our defense looks as bad as our defensive coordinator. Rob Ryan is a disgusting pig of a human being. This pregnant looking, long haired, autistic, swine of a person could not demand respect from any creature on earth much less a bunch of over paid athletes. If you don't respect yourself how can you expect others to respect you. Rob Ryan, you are disgusting, your father should be ashamed of you. Your own brother was smart enough not to hire you. Randy how could you let this goof into your organization?
Is Daboll calling for little dink and dunk passes or is it that pretty boy Brady Quinn just can't perform at the NFL level. Brady Quinn, Brady Quinn, Notre Dame, Notre Dame, now we see why everyone else passed on this no talent hack. I can't believe that we traded up to grab this guy. Brady do us a favor and go and model underwear. You are not a NFL quarterback.
Mangini replaced almost half of last years team with his own players. Twenty four new players on a 53 man roster. He has no excuses. The players he has are the players who have the character to play for a hard nose coach like Mangini. He brought in old Jets players who were going to nurture the younger players. Doesn't look like his idea worked very well. I told you early on that I was skeptical of Mangini but if he wins I would love him. He ain't winning Lucy.
Bright spots of the game. Harrison can run and catch the ball. Zastudill, the punter, is MVP three weeks in a row. Furrey is a decent number two receiver. Too bad that we do not have a number one or number three receiver to help out. Pittsburgh lost to Cincinnati. The game ended before I totally dehydrated myself.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Browns Vs Vikings 2009
Well here we are with a brand new season of the Cleveland Browns. Here are some of my thoughts about the whole Browns experience on game day.
The City of Cleveland needs to enact a law that says, any parking facility that charges $20.00 or more needs to supply 1 porta potty for every 35 spaces in their parking facility. The parking lots and this includes City owned and County owned lots are raping the people on game day. That's fine, it is capitalism at its best, supply and demand economics. But to pay $25.00 and have to smell urine from all of the people peeing between cars or in bushes because there are no bathroom facilities is disgusting. You can't expect people to come downtown and start tailgating at 9:00 AM and not have to relieve nature until they get into the stadium at 12:30. People are publicly urinating all over the parking lots. In the middle ages people did not have lavatory facilities and disease ran rampant. I park in a City of Cleveland Parking lot where the old Naval Reserve station was. I pay $25.00 to park and the closest bathroom is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. C'mon Cleveland lets be a little proactive on this issue. If anyone knows who I should contact on this issue at the City of Cleveland please let me know. I have written the Browns back in April about this very issue, obviously to no avail.
Well the what I like to call the Romeo Mangini era of Browns football has begun. Mangini was going to implement a tougher more disciplined form of football in Cleveland. I still see stupid penalties being made, wide receivers should never be called for off sides that's Romeo Ball. I see a discord between quarterback and receivers, QB's throwing out patterns and wide receivers running in patterns. Dropped passes all over the place, Edwards 1 for 6, Royal 3 for 7, yeash. Where is the discipline? I know it is just one game but it looked a lot like the past nine years.
I am no football genius but when the Browns get to the six yard line and Jamal Lewis smashes for three yards on first down leaving you second and three don't you try that play again in some form or another. Not Mangini, he has no confidence in his offense, he goes to his trick play and lines up in the "wildcat". OK try the "wildcat" once but once it was stuffed so bad don't you go back to regular football. Not our boy Eric he tries it a second time. As soon as I saw Cribs in the back field I started groaning, I knew that the play was going to be stopped. It had no chance of succeeding the first time why would you try it again. How about a role out where the QB can run or pass the ball. How about smashing Jamal Lewis off Tackle again, where he gained three yards before. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Brian Daboll offensive Coordinator could prove to be a problem.
All I have been hearing for two years is Brady Quinn, Brady Quinn, Brady Quinn, Brady Quinn. OK, OK enough already Brady Quinn is no Mark Sanchez. I was a Derek Anderson man myself, but in the preseason I admitted that the team seemed to run smoother with Quinn at QB. How is it that your starting Quarterback is not a captain on your team? The Quarterback needs to be your leader. Quinn does not look for the deep ball. Quinn is dinking and dunking, short passes. Good for a QB rating, terrible for winning games. The defense never got stretched out Sunday, they only had to cover 15 yards from the line of scrimmage. I believe only two balls were thrown and caught longer than 15 yards, disgusting. There were two other pass plays that netted more than 15 yards but they were short passes that Jamal and Furrey then turned into long gains with their running abilities. I heard one guy on the way out of the stadium yelling at people with Quinn jerseys on telling them to take him back to Notre Dame. A little harsh for this early in the season. Just remember that a lot of teams who needed QB's passed on Quinn on draft day.
After the first half of football I thought that the Moral Compass was going to have to eat crow, squawk. HA, Ha I don't have to, Rob Ryan's defense fell apart in the second half. Boy in the first half our defense looked all world, holding Adrien Peterson the best running back in the NFL to just 25 yards rushing, sacking Brett Favre with cornerback blitzes. Wow, I am impressed. But then in the second half Minnesota made some adjustments and the Browns defense made none. Yep the idiot son of Buddy Ryan showed his true self to the world. The Browns defense became the sieve that we have come to know and expect in Cleveland.
Look, I have been saying all along, "if Mangini wins I will love him but, he has done nothing so far to show me that he knows what he is doing". A rookie offensive coordinator, a losing defensive coordinator and a head coach that wants to be Bill Belicheck but does not have the brains. I am expecting a season for disaster. After seeing the first game I am still holding to my 6 and 10 prediction. I also predict that we will see some good football from the Browns but our coaching will end up blowing a few more games for us. Hey we all know the Cleveland Cheer "NEXT YEAR".
The City of Cleveland needs to enact a law that says, any parking facility that charges $20.00 or more needs to supply 1 porta potty for every 35 spaces in their parking facility. The parking lots and this includes City owned and County owned lots are raping the people on game day. That's fine, it is capitalism at its best, supply and demand economics. But to pay $25.00 and have to smell urine from all of the people peeing between cars or in bushes because there are no bathroom facilities is disgusting. You can't expect people to come downtown and start tailgating at 9:00 AM and not have to relieve nature until they get into the stadium at 12:30. People are publicly urinating all over the parking lots. In the middle ages people did not have lavatory facilities and disease ran rampant. I park in a City of Cleveland Parking lot where the old Naval Reserve station was. I pay $25.00 to park and the closest bathroom is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. C'mon Cleveland lets be a little proactive on this issue. If anyone knows who I should contact on this issue at the City of Cleveland please let me know. I have written the Browns back in April about this very issue, obviously to no avail.
Well the what I like to call the Romeo Mangini era of Browns football has begun. Mangini was going to implement a tougher more disciplined form of football in Cleveland. I still see stupid penalties being made, wide receivers should never be called for off sides that's Romeo Ball. I see a discord between quarterback and receivers, QB's throwing out patterns and wide receivers running in patterns. Dropped passes all over the place, Edwards 1 for 6, Royal 3 for 7, yeash. Where is the discipline? I know it is just one game but it looked a lot like the past nine years.
I am no football genius but when the Browns get to the six yard line and Jamal Lewis smashes for three yards on first down leaving you second and three don't you try that play again in some form or another. Not Mangini, he has no confidence in his offense, he goes to his trick play and lines up in the "wildcat". OK try the "wildcat" once but once it was stuffed so bad don't you go back to regular football. Not our boy Eric he tries it a second time. As soon as I saw Cribs in the back field I started groaning, I knew that the play was going to be stopped. It had no chance of succeeding the first time why would you try it again. How about a role out where the QB can run or pass the ball. How about smashing Jamal Lewis off Tackle again, where he gained three yards before. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Brian Daboll offensive Coordinator could prove to be a problem.
All I have been hearing for two years is Brady Quinn, Brady Quinn, Brady Quinn, Brady Quinn. OK, OK enough already Brady Quinn is no Mark Sanchez. I was a Derek Anderson man myself, but in the preseason I admitted that the team seemed to run smoother with Quinn at QB. How is it that your starting Quarterback is not a captain on your team? The Quarterback needs to be your leader. Quinn does not look for the deep ball. Quinn is dinking and dunking, short passes. Good for a QB rating, terrible for winning games. The defense never got stretched out Sunday, they only had to cover 15 yards from the line of scrimmage. I believe only two balls were thrown and caught longer than 15 yards, disgusting. There were two other pass plays that netted more than 15 yards but they were short passes that Jamal and Furrey then turned into long gains with their running abilities. I heard one guy on the way out of the stadium yelling at people with Quinn jerseys on telling them to take him back to Notre Dame. A little harsh for this early in the season. Just remember that a lot of teams who needed QB's passed on Quinn on draft day.
After the first half of football I thought that the Moral Compass was going to have to eat crow, squawk. HA, Ha I don't have to, Rob Ryan's defense fell apart in the second half. Boy in the first half our defense looked all world, holding Adrien Peterson the best running back in the NFL to just 25 yards rushing, sacking Brett Favre with cornerback blitzes. Wow, I am impressed. But then in the second half Minnesota made some adjustments and the Browns defense made none. Yep the idiot son of Buddy Ryan showed his true self to the world. The Browns defense became the sieve that we have come to know and expect in Cleveland.
Look, I have been saying all along, "if Mangini wins I will love him but, he has done nothing so far to show me that he knows what he is doing". A rookie offensive coordinator, a losing defensive coordinator and a head coach that wants to be Bill Belicheck but does not have the brains. I am expecting a season for disaster. After seeing the first game I am still holding to my 6 and 10 prediction. I also predict that we will see some good football from the Browns but our coaching will end up blowing a few more games for us. Hey we all know the Cleveland Cheer "NEXT YEAR".
Monday, September 7, 2009
Todd Rundgren Akron Civic 9/7/09
My friend Pooch took me to the Todd Rundgren "A Wizard A True Star" concert at the Akron Civic Theatre tonight. What a wonderful theatre. The theatre has been reconditioned and looks just beautiful. The first time I ever saw Todd was at the Akron Civic Theatre back in 1974, Todd did most of the A Wizard A True Star album solo, just Todd and a real to real on stage. He just blew me away that night. This show was good but not great.
Todd and part of the band play the first set in front of the stage curtain. Kasim Sulton on bass, Roger Powell on keyboards and Prarie prince on drums. The band is dressed in white T shirts and black pants. The first song is "On the Road to Utopia", Todd sings he is barely audible, the sound is terrible. OK sound men usually take a song or two to get the sound right. Kasim Sulton sings "Libertine", the sound is bad. Roger Powell sings the next song the name might have been "vacant city"? I don't know it. Sound is still bad. "Fist Pump" sounds terrible. "Landslide" is just OK.
First set the sound men screwed up bad. Todd was best when he was the front man with a band behind him. When he tries to be a band and highlight other members of the band it comes off weak. The firsts set was a bunch of Utopia songs that never were my favorites to begin with then throw in a bad sound man and it becomes terrible. Todd has no repartee with the audience. The band just played and sounded bad. Thank God for the break.
The curtain opens with "International Feel" playing. The stage is all in smoke Todd is in an astronauts suit and three keyboard players,Gregg Hawkes, Bobby Strickland who also plays sax and flute and Roger Powell, a drummer Prarie Prince, a bass player Kasim Sulton and a guitarist Jesse Gress, are on platforms at different elevations dressed in all white tuxedos with tails. There is a movie screen above the stage that will show images pertaining to the album or individual songs through out the night. Three keyboardists are on one side of the stage with the rest of the band on the other side of the stage leaving Todd the middle of the stage for his theatrical performance. Remember that AWATS came out about the same time when theatrical performances were the norm for rock bands. Bowie was doing Major Tom and The Spiders From Mars. Genesis was into costume changes in the blink of an eye. Alex Harvey was doing his theatrical performances of his music. Jethro Tull was performing "Thick as a Brick". So this is an old time concert with music and a theatrical performance as well.
Todd tries to sing "Never Never Land" but his microphone is not working. He finally grabs Kasim Sulton's microphone and finishes the song. "Tic Tic Tic" is played but the sound quality is bad. "You Need Your Head" again the microphone keeps cutting out. For "Rock and Roll Pussy" Todd has on a green velvet jogging suit but his pants keep falling down and he keeps struggling to pull them up, it is very distracting. For Todd to be the Wizard of technology that he is, his crew is failing miserably at the technical side of the production.
"Dog Fight Giggle" finally is a song that comes off without a hitch. The screen above the stage is flashing pictures of the right wing and left wing reporters such as Rush Limbaugh, Steven Colbert, John Stewart, Sean Hannity, George W and Obama. I think it is pretty funny.
Todd comes back out on stage in a red velvet smoking jacket, the band misses its cue to start playing and Todd stops them. "Start on my down beat" he tells them. "I thought this is the show we would do last night" he tells the audience. I take it that he is referring to all of the mistakes being made. Mistakes that should have been corrected the night before. A one, two, and they start into "You Don't Have To Camp Around". "Flamingo" has the screen above the stage shooting flamingos out of everywhere. Out of Todd's mouth, big ones, small ones, dancing across the screen. "The Zen Archer" brings Todd back out in a partially uncovered top with gold feathers running down his arms. Another costume malfunction as Todd sings and fixes the medallion on his chest at the same time. "Just Another Onion Head" and "Da Da Dali" have an obese Todd in a ball cap, bow tie and suspenders.
for some reason at this point "When the Shit Hits the Fan/ Sunset Boulevard" and "Le Feel International" are not played. These are the first songs not to be played in order of the album.
"Sometimes I Don't Know What To Feel" is done beautifully. Kasim comes down off of his platform and sings "Does Anybody Love You?". Todd reenters the stage in an orange tux befitting of Bill Murry doing his lounge act on Saturday Night Live. The Medley of songs is a highlight of this concert. Todd's voice is as good as ever. He sings, "I'm So Proud", "Ooh Baby Baby", "La La La Means I Love You" and "Cool Jerk". They ask everyone to dance like cool jerks at the end. "Hungry For Love", has Todd in a chefs outfit with a mustache. "I Don't Want To Tie You Down" has Todd in a red robe on a smoke filled stage, back lit so all you see is his silhouette.
Todd comes out for "Is It My Name" in a silver shiny outfit straps on a Gibson guitar and begins to wail on his guitar. Todd saved the missing songs for this part of the show so that once he strapped on his guitar he could rock out until the end of the show. Here is where he plays "When The Shit Hits The Fan/Sunset Blvd" and "Le Feel International". Wow we are smoking now. The concert is finally in full swing and it is almost over.
The encore of course is the only song left. But first Todd introduces the band and his wardrobe girl Michelle. Michelle Rundgren perhaps? The anthem for any one growing up in the seventies, "Just One Victory" is then played. Of course the guitar tech forgets to bring out Todd's guitar. Michelle has to run off stage a couple of times to try and get Todd's guitar on stage. Todd finishes and exits the stage.
I would not want to be back stage right now. Todd seemed very perturbed when he was exiting the stage. Heads should roll for this show. The sound was bad, miscues from the band and the guitar tech, inexcusable. This show was being filmed for a DVD, what a disaster. There were some highlights but there were a lot of mistakes.
I have to rate this a three twirl show. Sorry Todd I expect more from you. The tickets cost top dollar the show should be top notch. The concept is great and some of the music was performed exquisitly but overall too many distractions from the poor technical quality.
Todd and part of the band play the first set in front of the stage curtain. Kasim Sulton on bass, Roger Powell on keyboards and Prarie prince on drums. The band is dressed in white T shirts and black pants. The first song is "On the Road to Utopia", Todd sings he is barely audible, the sound is terrible. OK sound men usually take a song or two to get the sound right. Kasim Sulton sings "Libertine", the sound is bad. Roger Powell sings the next song the name might have been "vacant city"? I don't know it. Sound is still bad. "Fist Pump" sounds terrible. "Landslide" is just OK.
First set the sound men screwed up bad. Todd was best when he was the front man with a band behind him. When he tries to be a band and highlight other members of the band it comes off weak. The firsts set was a bunch of Utopia songs that never were my favorites to begin with then throw in a bad sound man and it becomes terrible. Todd has no repartee with the audience. The band just played and sounded bad. Thank God for the break.
The curtain opens with "International Feel" playing. The stage is all in smoke Todd is in an astronauts suit and three keyboard players,Gregg Hawkes, Bobby Strickland who also plays sax and flute and Roger Powell, a drummer Prarie Prince, a bass player Kasim Sulton and a guitarist Jesse Gress, are on platforms at different elevations dressed in all white tuxedos with tails. There is a movie screen above the stage that will show images pertaining to the album or individual songs through out the night. Three keyboardists are on one side of the stage with the rest of the band on the other side of the stage leaving Todd the middle of the stage for his theatrical performance. Remember that AWATS came out about the same time when theatrical performances were the norm for rock bands. Bowie was doing Major Tom and The Spiders From Mars. Genesis was into costume changes in the blink of an eye. Alex Harvey was doing his theatrical performances of his music. Jethro Tull was performing "Thick as a Brick". So this is an old time concert with music and a theatrical performance as well.
Todd tries to sing "Never Never Land" but his microphone is not working. He finally grabs Kasim Sulton's microphone and finishes the song. "Tic Tic Tic" is played but the sound quality is bad. "You Need Your Head" again the microphone keeps cutting out. For "Rock and Roll Pussy" Todd has on a green velvet jogging suit but his pants keep falling down and he keeps struggling to pull them up, it is very distracting. For Todd to be the Wizard of technology that he is, his crew is failing miserably at the technical side of the production.
"Dog Fight Giggle" finally is a song that comes off without a hitch. The screen above the stage is flashing pictures of the right wing and left wing reporters such as Rush Limbaugh, Steven Colbert, John Stewart, Sean Hannity, George W and Obama. I think it is pretty funny.
Todd comes back out on stage in a red velvet smoking jacket, the band misses its cue to start playing and Todd stops them. "Start on my down beat" he tells them. "I thought this is the show we would do last night" he tells the audience. I take it that he is referring to all of the mistakes being made. Mistakes that should have been corrected the night before. A one, two, and they start into "You Don't Have To Camp Around". "Flamingo" has the screen above the stage shooting flamingos out of everywhere. Out of Todd's mouth, big ones, small ones, dancing across the screen. "The Zen Archer" brings Todd back out in a partially uncovered top with gold feathers running down his arms. Another costume malfunction as Todd sings and fixes the medallion on his chest at the same time. "Just Another Onion Head" and "Da Da Dali" have an obese Todd in a ball cap, bow tie and suspenders.
for some reason at this point "When the Shit Hits the Fan/ Sunset Boulevard" and "Le Feel International" are not played. These are the first songs not to be played in order of the album.
"Sometimes I Don't Know What To Feel" is done beautifully. Kasim comes down off of his platform and sings "Does Anybody Love You?". Todd reenters the stage in an orange tux befitting of Bill Murry doing his lounge act on Saturday Night Live. The Medley of songs is a highlight of this concert. Todd's voice is as good as ever. He sings, "I'm So Proud", "Ooh Baby Baby", "La La La Means I Love You" and "Cool Jerk". They ask everyone to dance like cool jerks at the end. "Hungry For Love", has Todd in a chefs outfit with a mustache. "I Don't Want To Tie You Down" has Todd in a red robe on a smoke filled stage, back lit so all you see is his silhouette.
Todd comes out for "Is It My Name" in a silver shiny outfit straps on a Gibson guitar and begins to wail on his guitar. Todd saved the missing songs for this part of the show so that once he strapped on his guitar he could rock out until the end of the show. Here is where he plays "When The Shit Hits The Fan/Sunset Blvd" and "Le Feel International". Wow we are smoking now. The concert is finally in full swing and it is almost over.
The encore of course is the only song left. But first Todd introduces the band and his wardrobe girl Michelle. Michelle Rundgren perhaps? The anthem for any one growing up in the seventies, "Just One Victory" is then played. Of course the guitar tech forgets to bring out Todd's guitar. Michelle has to run off stage a couple of times to try and get Todd's guitar on stage. Todd finishes and exits the stage.
I would not want to be back stage right now. Todd seemed very perturbed when he was exiting the stage. Heads should roll for this show. The sound was bad, miscues from the band and the guitar tech, inexcusable. This show was being filmed for a DVD, what a disaster. There were some highlights but there were a lot of mistakes.
I have to rate this a three twirl show. Sorry Todd I expect more from you. The tickets cost top dollar the show should be top notch. The concept is great and some of the music was performed exquisitly but overall too many distractions from the poor technical quality.
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