Concert Review: Todd Rundgren - Arena Tour The Barrymore Theatre, Madison
October 7, 2008
I had such a great time at Todd Rungren's recent "Arena" show at the Barrymore! It was one of those shows where I feel so grateful for the Madison music scene - where "those with ears to hear" enjoy $200 concert experiences for $20. You know what I'm talking about: the ability to easily see legendary musicians - both young and old - up close and personal in great little venues.
I hesitated to review the show, since I already gushed about TR in my preview. But I do want to tell those Rundgren fans down the road to "Enjoy the Show!" . . . The band consists of Todd on guitar / Jesse Gress on guitar / Prairie Prince on drums / the lovely Rachel Haden holding it down on bass / and another old friend - Kasim Sulton on guitar, keys "and things."
As you can see from the lineup, the current tour is guitar-heavy - which suits me fine, especially when it includes one of my real Guitar Heroes! Kasim added great rhythm color, and Jesse Gress was a really fine player also.
After opening with Love in Action, Todd played a number of oldie but goodies - including Black Maria (a personal favorite) and even way back to Open My Eyes. Then he played the Arena album in its entirety, before closing the show with the ever-popular Couldn't I Just Tell You and Just One Victory.
Todd is continuing the Arena Tour through the end of the year. The remaining dates are as follows:
Nov 6 2008 Academy 2 Manchester UK
Nov 7 2008 Picture House Edinburgh UK
Nov 9 2008 Amager Bio Copenhagen
Nov 10 2008
House of Culture Helsinki
Nov 12 2008 Traddgaarn Gothenburg
Nov 13 2008 Kulturbolaget Malmo
Nov 15 2008 TROMP Eindhoven
Nov 16 2008 Harmonie Bonn
Nov 18 2008 Rolling Stone Milan
Nov 20 2008 Trabendo Paris
Nov 22 2008 Waterfront Norwich
Nov 23 2008
The Forum London
Dec 17 2008 Birchmere Alexandria,VA
Dec 19 2008
Boulton Center Bay Shore, NY
Dec 20 2008 Infinity Hall Norfolk, Connecticut
Dec 23 2008
Bearsville Theater Woodstock
Dec 26 2008 Blender Theater New York, NY
Dec 27 2008 Blender Theater New York, NY
Dec 30 2008 Rams Head Annapolis, MD
I picked up Arena at the show, and have been enjoying it since. As usual, credits are pretty simple: Produced, Performed and Written by Todd Rundgren. TR fans will not be disappointed. . . Here are a few tracks for your listening pleasure - including as a bonus Black Maria from Something/Anything?:
As you can see from the lineup, the current tour is guitar-heavy - which suits me fine, especially when it includes one of my real Guitar Heroes! Kasim added great rhythm color, and Jesse Gress was a really fine player also.
