“City in my head, Utopia. Heaven in my body, Utopia. Into the sky it rises now…” Man, who would have thought that we’d be able to hear Todd Rundgren sing that line live on stage in this day and age? That’s right, 70′s era prog-rock was alive and well at the Carolina Theatre this past thursday night. Todd Rundgren reunited with members of his 1974 incarnation of Utopia to relive all the bombastic and overblown musicality that 70′s prog-rock was known for. I’m pretty sure there were a good number of fans at the venue that were totally confused by all this prog and I won’t go into that particular issue here since I addressed it in a previous post. But for fans of this era of Utopia, it was a dream come true.
From the very get-go when the curtain rose to reveal Rundgren and the rest of the band in colorful psychedelic garb, it was obvious we were in for a unique treat. The band dove straight into this progfest with a faithful rendition of “Utopia Theme”. Too bad Rundgren didn’t have much of a tour budget because with the “Spinal Tap-ish” instrumental passages, it’d be a perfect spot to drop a miniature stonehenge down from the rafters. 
And it couldn’t be considered a Todd show without some flubs, gaffes and senior moments. With the complexity of this type of music, it was inevitable. Things came to a crashing halt when Todd lost his place in the middle of “Utopia Theme”. He had to stop the band and start the passage over. Actually that whole song was a bit shaky. Not sure what was going on. Kevin Ellman seemed to rely heavily on John Siegler to figure out where the changes were. But once they got to “Freak Parade”, things got much tighter. I guess they weren’t quite “warmed up” at the start of the set.
I do have to note that John Siegler was rock solid all night. Loved his playing and he appeared to be the most enthusiastic out of everyone there. He was “so into it”, Siegler ended up breaking a bass string by the time they got to “the Wheel”. Todd proudly points out that he hadn’t broken a guitar string so far in the tour but “the bass player did instead”.
Todd’s other quip of the night was that we were all getting a high “note to dollar” return on our ticket purchase. With all the complex riffs and runs he had to play on the guitar all night, we were definitely getting money’s worth… well, at least in terms of notes played.
other random thoughts:
Ralph Schuckett didn’t crack a smile up until their ending bow after “Just One Victory”. I suppose without Moogy Klingman there, all the major keyboard parts landed on Shuckett’s shoulders. So, all that seriousness is understandable since he’s got so much to play. Kasim Sulton appeared to have picked up some of the slack on keys. He spent the bulk of the night behind the keyboards to support Schuckett. Even Jesse Gress helped out on keys during some parts in the set. But Moogy played a major part in the original material so his presense was definitely missed. (our thoughts are with you, Moogy!! hopefully, Klingman will be able to join the band at the three New York area gigs.) It’s a shame Jesse Gress didn’t help out on guitar. Gress is a monster on guitar and for him to be relegated to backing vocals, percussion and some keys is just so odd. I guess Rundgren wanted the challenge of playing all the guitar parts himself???
All in all, it was a great show. Yes, it wasn’t perfect and the band was missing a major component of the 74-era Utopia sound (Moogy) but to see and hear these guys play “The Ikon”, “Freak Parade” and “Freedom Fighters” was well worth the price of admission.
highlights for me included: Todd singing the “You Don’t Have to Be Afraid” section of “the Ikon” (my favorite part of the 30-minute song). Also, “the Wheel” was a welcomed change of pace after all that PROG. and of course “Freedom Fighters”, “Freak Parade” and “Just One Victory”.
retroGrade: A
(hell yeah, I’m biased. come on, it’s Todd Rundgren, damn it! the man has gone above and beyond to bring “something completely different” for his small but loyal fan-base. the man could simply just tour his tried & true setlist endlessly but obviously he enjoys the challenge of changing things up. kudos to Todd for going the extra mile.)
Oh, and a big thanks to the Carolina Theatre for sponsoring the Todd show. It has been apparent that local concert promoters haven’t been all that interested in bringing Rundgren around here since the last Todd concert in the triangle back in 2004 at the Cat’s Cradle. Hopefully with the number of fans that showed up at this show, promoters will consider bringing him back on his next tour.
Here’s the setlist:
Utopia Theme
Freak Parade
Heavy Metal Kids
Another Life
Something’s Coming
Seven Rays
Do Ya
The Wheel
The Ikon
Freedom Fighters
Just One Victory
Utopia 2011: Todd Rundgren, Kevin Ellman, Ralph Schuckett, John Siegler, Jesse Gress, Kasim Sulton (and Moogy Klingman for 3 shows)
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Live At Montreux Track Listing:
