Todd Rundgren Brings His Me/We Tour to the Capitol Theatre in Clearwater
The Wizard brought his new tour to Clearwater with a 2-night gig over the Memorial Day weekend. The 38-date tour runs through July 3rd. This musical extravaganza is a love fest for TR fans. The setlist is a selection of deep cuts from Rundgren’s various 21 studio albums both solo and with Utopia over the years. Opening the show with the 1974 “I Think You Know” from the album simply titled “Todd”, you know this is going to be a special new experience by Rundgren. Never one to rest on his laurels, Todd’s tours are always fresh and creative. You are not going to get a same old greatest hits tour from one of rock’s foremost innovators.
Both nights were sold out at the great Capitol theatre in downtown Clearwater, always keeping it an intimate experience. The lighting for the show was constantly changing with the mood of the music and variety of tunes being played. The band has an amazing array of musicians who include Kasim Sulton, Todd’s longtime bass player who was also part of Utopia. Prairie Prince is on drums, who is also a member of the San Fran band, “The Tubes.” Sax & flute player Bobby Strickland brings sweet sounds to Rundgren’s soulful tunes and ballads. Gil Assayas on keyboards has been with Todd since 2018 and guitarist Bruce McDaniel from New Orleans rounds it out.
Back to the music, “Buffalo Grass” from Todd’s tech creation PatroNet is a fan favorite and had the Cap rockin’ out of their seats to one of many standing ovations throughout the night. The spiritual ballad, “Beloved Infidel” with Todd stepping up to the mic solo sans his guitar “Foamy” to lament for the liberation bell to be rung. From the 2004 Liars album, “Sweet” is a pop anthem about truth being sweet and TR gets the audience into a fun sing-along. “Honest Work” brings Todd, Kasim and Bruce together to pay homage to the 1985 album “A Capella.” Rundgren’s beautifully inspired song “Hawking” is a masterpiece tribute to the late Stephen Hawking, the audience sat in awe listening to this piece of amazing music. Rundgren’s guitar solos show his love and prowess of his years on the instrument from his early beginnings.
The encore brought Todd’s most famous songs in a fresh medley of “I Saw the Light”, “Hello It’s Me” and “Can We Still Be Friends.” He followed it up with one of his best Philly soul tunes, “The Last Ride”. He concluded the first night with “A Dream Goes on Forever” and on night two the closer was “Fade Away”, from the Hermit of Mink Hollow album. A great show from Todd & the band! I waited with fans for Todd to leave The Cap and met some interesting people. There was a guy with a copy of Meatloaf’s 1977 “Bat Out of Hell” album signed by Meat and he was waiting to have Kasim & Todd sign it, which he accomplished. At one time it was the biggest selling album of all time until MJ’s “Thriller” knocked it out. Todd produced the Bat record which is considered a rock masterpiece. Another fan had his book “The Individualist” an autobiography published in 2018. Todd strolled out and approached the fans. He chatted, signed autographs and took selfies. He was friendly and funny as he worked the small crowd. A genius, producer, writer, maestro, musician but most of all he is the wizard, the true star! You check out Todd’s Facebook HERE
You can check out the setlist here
Vicky Sullivan Photos