Post by classic rock revival on May 7, 2011 21:39:00 GMT -6
Todd Rundgren's Johnson
Two songs into his show at the Beaumont Club on Saturday night, Todd Rundgren paused to explain his latest live excursion, Todd Rundgren's Johnson.
To loosely paraphrase: I know I have lots of loyal fans who will support me no matter what I do.
True that. Saturday's crowd wasn't large by any standard -- about 300 people -- but it sure seemed like everyone in the place was an evangelical devotee. He rewarded them for their loyalty.
Todd Rundgren's Johnson is Rundgren's tribute to bluesman Robert Johnson, specifically, and to the blues in general, especially the kind in which skinny white British men became famous practitioners (to paraphrase him again).
His setlist mixed several Johnson standards, like "Stop Breakin' Down Blues," "Kind Hearted Woman Blues," "Come On In My Kitchen" and "Travelin' Riverside Blues," with some of Rundgren's own material, which he transformed into rock/blues numbers.
One spectator compared what Rundgren did with his own material on this tour to what Devo once did to the Rolling Stones' hit, "Satisfaction": turn it on its side and give it a twist, without completely deconstructing it. It's an apt comparison.
Rundgren performed only one of his "hits" and it was dandy: a scuffed-up version of "I Saw the Light," which was his first encore. Otherwise, he indulged his hardcore fans with tracks old and new: the Nazz numbers "Kiddie Boy" and "Open My Eyes"; "Bleeding" from the "Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren" album; "Black Maria" from "Something/Anything"; "Born to Synthesize" off "Initiation"; and Soul Brother" off the 2004 "Liars" album.
TRJ performed as a four-piece: Rundgren on rhythm and lead guitar, Jesse Gress (guitar), Prairie Prince (drums) and Kasim Sulton (bass). And though at times the mood in the place felt like the old Grand Emporium, for much of the two-hour show, Rundgren and his band kept things at least interesting, if not enrapturing. Most of the songs were delivered succinctly -- no extended jams -- and though the volume was up high, the sound in the place was surprisingly clean, considering the size of the crowd.
This band has been on the road for two weeks now; it sounds as if it has found its footing: a sound that is honed but not polished. Most impressive was Rundgren's voice, whether he was howling and screaming through "Hellhound" or getting soulful, as he did during "Born to Synthesize."
The crowd was small but boisterous and involved all night, whether he was indulging them in some wisecracking chit-chat about the various flavors of blues, reinterpreting a Johnson tune, feeding them a favorite like "I Saw the Light," tearing through the longest, jammiest number of the evening, "Mystified/Broke Down and Busted," or feeding them deep-catalog songs that only the loyalists know and love, like "No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator," which got a big response, and "Tiny Demons." My accomplice for the evening remembered that song as the B-side on a 45 rpm that came inside the "Healing" LP. Yes, it was that kind of show and that kind of crowd.
Setlist: I Believe I'll Dust My Broom; Stop Breakin' Down Blues; Kiddie Boy; Soul Brother; Walkin' Blues; Kind Hearted Woman Blues; Bleeding; Black Maria; Last Fair Deal Gone Down; Open My Eyes; Mystified/Broke Down and Busted; Unloved Children; I Went To The Mirror; Come On In My Kitchen; Hellhound On My Trail; No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator; Born To Synthesize; Traveling Riverside Blues; Cross Road Blues. Encore: I Saw The Light; Tiny Demons; Boogies.
Review by: Timothy Finn
Two songs into his show at the Beaumont Club on Saturday night, Todd Rundgren paused to explain his latest live excursion, Todd Rundgren's Johnson.
To loosely paraphrase: I know I have lots of loyal fans who will support me no matter what I do.
True that. Saturday's crowd wasn't large by any standard -- about 300 people -- but it sure seemed like everyone in the place was an evangelical devotee. He rewarded them for their loyalty.
Todd Rundgren's Johnson is Rundgren's tribute to bluesman Robert Johnson, specifically, and to the blues in general, especially the kind in which skinny white British men became famous practitioners (to paraphrase him again).
His setlist mixed several Johnson standards, like "Stop Breakin' Down Blues," "Kind Hearted Woman Blues," "Come On In My Kitchen" and "Travelin' Riverside Blues," with some of Rundgren's own material, which he transformed into rock/blues numbers.
One spectator compared what Rundgren did with his own material on this tour to what Devo once did to the Rolling Stones' hit, "Satisfaction": turn it on its side and give it a twist, without completely deconstructing it. It's an apt comparison.
Rundgren performed only one of his "hits" and it was dandy: a scuffed-up version of "I Saw the Light," which was his first encore. Otherwise, he indulged his hardcore fans with tracks old and new: the Nazz numbers "Kiddie Boy" and "Open My Eyes"; "Bleeding" from the "Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren" album; "Black Maria" from "Something/Anything"; "Born to Synthesize" off "Initiation"; and Soul Brother" off the 2004 "Liars" album.
TRJ performed as a four-piece: Rundgren on rhythm and lead guitar, Jesse Gress (guitar), Prairie Prince (drums) and Kasim Sulton (bass). And though at times the mood in the place felt like the old Grand Emporium, for much of the two-hour show, Rundgren and his band kept things at least interesting, if not enrapturing. Most of the songs were delivered succinctly -- no extended jams -- and though the volume was up high, the sound in the place was surprisingly clean, considering the size of the crowd.
This band has been on the road for two weeks now; it sounds as if it has found its footing: a sound that is honed but not polished. Most impressive was Rundgren's voice, whether he was howling and screaming through "Hellhound" or getting soulful, as he did during "Born to Synthesize."
The crowd was small but boisterous and involved all night, whether he was indulging them in some wisecracking chit-chat about the various flavors of blues, reinterpreting a Johnson tune, feeding them a favorite like "I Saw the Light," tearing through the longest, jammiest number of the evening, "Mystified/Broke Down and Busted," or feeding them deep-catalog songs that only the loyalists know and love, like "No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator," which got a big response, and "Tiny Demons." My accomplice for the evening remembered that song as the B-side on a 45 rpm that came inside the "Healing" LP. Yes, it was that kind of show and that kind of crowd.
Setlist: I Believe I'll Dust My Broom; Stop Breakin' Down Blues; Kiddie Boy; Soul Brother; Walkin' Blues; Kind Hearted Woman Blues; Bleeding; Black Maria; Last Fair Deal Gone Down; Open My Eyes; Mystified/Broke Down and Busted; Unloved Children; I Went To The Mirror; Come On In My Kitchen; Hellhound On My Trail; No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator; Born To Synthesize; Traveling Riverside Blues; Cross Road Blues. Encore: I Saw The Light; Tiny Demons; Boogies.
Review by: Timothy Finn
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