Venue: Royal Festival Hall, London     Date: 15th July 2004

Setlist: Truth; Buffalo Grass; Mammon;  Facist Christ;  I Hate My Frickin' ISP;  While My Guitar Gently Weeps; God Said;  Liars;  Beloved Infidel (Todd solo); Lunatic Fringe (Todd solo);  Green Onions (Band); Soul Brother;  Flaw; Sweet; Past;  Science;  Born to Synthesize;  Feel It;  Want of a Nail.
Encores: Hello it's Me; Just One Victory

I really wish I had enjoyed this concert more. I had missed Todd's previous concerts in the UK and was looking forward to this, especially as I had been getting into his rather impressive Liars album recently.

I suppose I first got into Todd through his progressive albums like Ra, but I soon came to appreciate the rest of his repertoire and have long admired his chameleon-like capabilities. Through his extensive career he has also dabbled in power pop, rock, jazz and even salsa and bossa nova!

Unfortunately we missed the first number, The Truth, got there a little late and were made to stand outside and wait until the next number – just one of the first demonstrations at the inappropriateness of this venue for rock artists. When we were seated, we were sitting quite a way back in the terrace, and felt somewhat disconnected with what was happening on stage.  I liked and heard what I saw – the band were dressed up as Holy men, Mongolian warriors etc, and were contained in specially built pods behind the master of ceremonies Mr Rundgren himself. No complaints at all with Todd's voice and guitar playing ability, he was on fine form indeed in both departments. Good to see Kasim Sulton on bass, Todd's long-time collaborator from the Utopia days. He was joined by Jesse Gress on guitar, the wonderfully named Prairie Prince on drums and  John Fereznik on keyboards.  

From where I was sitting the audience reaction seemed somewhat divided between the people who were really digging it – small pockets of people dancing in their seats, and those who looked a little bored and perplexed. The latter were obviously those who had perhaps not heard Todd's more recent material, and his penchant for re-working some of his classic songs in different styles. 

Unfortunately during the gig we had to suffer the annoying distraction of a member of staff continually standing up in the aisle and blocking our view of the stage – he appeared to be blocking off the staircase and sending the understandably confused audience members to another exit. 

It was an interesting and occasionally fragmented set, with occasional rockers like Mammon and I Hate My Frickin' ISP alongside gentler acoustic numbers like Beloved Infidel and Lunatic Fringe. And I suspect many were not prepared for the full-on Philly soul style section that kicked off with Soul Brother, and saw Todd and the band kitted out in 70's style frilly suits and shirts. I had no problem with this, because I knew the material and it was very well performed. Todd was certainly enjoying himself during these numbers, tripping and dancing around the stage like a dervish.

The band continued in this vein for the next few numbers, including a jazzy version of Born To Synthesise, but ended the main set with the rousing crowd pleaser Want Of A Nail.

For the encores, Todd decided to bring out a couple of real old faves, Hello It's Me and Just One Victory. The audience stormed to the front of the stage and those that didn't stood on their feet. Wish it could have been like this all the way through. In fact had this been perhaps a smaller non-seated venue, I think the general atmosphere could have been much better.

To sum up; a good gig, could have been a great gig, but a questionable choice of venue.

John Morley 01/08/2004