Todd Rundgren – AWATS Live – Chicago webcast
Since I was one of the many that wasn’t able to physically make it to one of the 7 U.S. AWATS shows, I had to settle for watching the shows online via live webcast. I was initially a bit wary about plunking down money for a “glitchy” feed or other streaming-type issues but thankfully the live webcasts were very well done and practically glitch-free. Kudos to Todd (along with Todocast and NewTek) for providing fans an alternative way to see the shows.
Now that I’ve seen it, I can understand why he arranged for the broadcasts. The man went the extra mile this time around in terms of stage presentation. After years of seeing him on low-budget-no-nonsense tours, the AWATS shows were a refreshing surprise. Not only were there multiple costume changes but also video screens, smoke-machines, lasers and a stellar backing band. OK, OK, this is nothing when compared to something like U2′s 360 Tour but STILL a truly welcomed treat for us Todd fans.
I caught the two Chicago gigs via webcast this past weekend and it was well worth the $20. It featured multi-camera views of the concert and good sound right off the soundboard. Todocast also provides the webcast as an archive so for those that didn’t catch the show live can still watch the shows after the fact. I haven’t personally checked out the archives but from what I understand, a “1 meg” archived stream is available for viewing which is an even better quality stream than the initial live broadcast (which was at 700K).
Both shows were great to watch but if I had to pick, I’d say the Sunday show (Sept 13) was the stronger of the two. Todd had some guitar issues at the end of the AWATS set on Saturday that sort of dampened the mood a bit. No guitar issues on sunday plus the opening Utopia set was tighter as well.
So if you haven’t seen it yet, you still have time to watch the pay per view from TodoCast. I believe the “1 meg” archive just got posted today and will be available “on demand” for approximately a week.
highlights of the show included: seeing Roger Powell play keyboards on stage again after all these years, “I Don’t Want to Tie You Down”, the “I’m so Proud” medley which featured Bobby Strickland preachin’ about the Cool Jerk, Todd in the Nicky Nichols outfit during “Zen Archer” and “When the Shit Hits the Fan/Sunset Blvd”
and for those that are curious, here’s the opening Utopia set list:
Road To Utopia
Libertine
Abandon City
Back On The Street
Hammer In My Heart
Trapped
The Ikon
Caravan
The Last Of The New Wave Riders
*UPDATE 17Sep09*: the webcast archives will be available for on-demand viewing until Sept. 30th.
I’ll probably watch the 1 meg archived version before it expires. I’ve heard that it’s a different edit from what was seen live.
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I haven't looked for it but I've read that there might be a torrent for it somewhere.
The DVD of the Stamford show should be out next year. there's talk that Todd might include some footage from the Akron and Chicago webcasts on the DVD as well.
Do you know if the Chicago shows are still available anywhere?
no back up singers like the "Nearly Human" days. but Michele Rundgren did make an appearance for the encore! :)
did he have women back-up singers for this tour?
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