I've Been Waiting So Long, Now So Long to A Hero

[FourAces]

When I was growing up music played an important role in my life. At the young age of 17 I briefly worked as a disc jockey when progressive radio was king.

 

One of my top ten favorites has always been Todd Rundgren. I noticed he was playing at the House of Blues last night. At the last minute I headed to Mandalay Bay (landlord to the HOB) bought a ticket and waited with anticipation for the show to begin.

 

This was to be my 5th time seeing Todd live. Each of the previous performances were brilliant.That was not to be the case this evening.

 

With a stellar backing band Todd hit the customized stage right on time. As with all TR live shows the setup was very unique.

 

But there was no gratification like in the past, there was no fond reflections while he sang a familar song, there was only a very angry TR. Not angry at the audience or the evening but angry about our world.

 

The set he launched into was made up of all new material. It was an hour into the set before I heard a song I actually knew. Ironically it was a Beatles, "While My Guitar Gentley Weeps." It was another 20 minutes after before he even acknowledged the audience.

 

"Thank you," he said. "I hope you're all registered to vote. And I hope that you all do the right thing at election time and return George Walker Bush (scattered cheers and applause, while the remainder of the audience couldn't believe what they thought they were about to hear ... then after a long pause) to Crawford, Texas." This at least was typical TR humor. I smiled for a second.

 

Then he began the second of three songs I would actually know and again it wasn't a TR song. This time he broke into, "Lunatic Fringe," by Red Rider.

 

More songs about the problems many of us face in our lives at this time, then that was it. Huh? I thought to myself. I love new material but what is with the new direction? And all this anger from a man who sang, "Love is the answer," just didn't feel right.

 

Todd began the encore with a negative ramble about how far we have come in life and how we are looking at each other to better ourselves. Then he went on to explained that no one knows anyone's name that next time you see that former friend who you have no clue about just walk up to him and say, hello it's me ... hence the third song I knew.

 

After leaving the HOB I felt like a little part of my youth had been stolen.

 

RT

 

"We've been waiting so long, We've been waiting so long ....

[Ignoto]

Maybe you should have checked the recent reviews. You sound like the people in the Las Vegas crowd who thought Linda Ronstadt was just going to sing her golden oldies.

 

==It's easy to imagine Al Franken's satirical barb Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them perched on Todd Rundgren's nightstand. After all, deception of every kind is at the center of the songs that fill the pop legend's most recent album, the aptly titled Liars (Sanctuary).

 

"When I started writing material for this record, I didn't have a whole concept yet," the 56-year-old rocker recently explained to Manhunt.com. "But the first song I did was 'Wondering.' It was my reaction to the 2000 presidential election, and the completely surreal nature of it. It really made me see that we go through life thinking certain things are true, and then reality is thrust upon you and you realize you've been living a lie, a complete lie--that you don't seem to be able to count on anything anymore."

 

Liars is packed with prevarications: the little white lies we tell our loved ones to avoid hurting their feelings; the half-truths we tell our friends; the big, black lies we tell ourselves. Once Rundgren started thinking about the vein of dishonesty and self-delusion that runs through our lives, he realized he'd tapped into a veritable mother lode of fabrication.==

 

 

 

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/09.08.04/rundgren-0437.html

[FourAces]

Interesting article. Thanks for the link.

 

RT