Todd Rundgren’s Unpredictable Tour dropped into the Greenwich Odeum last night (July 15, 2022) and gave the audience everything they could hope for. Beginning with the ass kicking Open My Eyes from his first group Nazz from 1968. He then played a mix for the next 5 songs and eventually sat and engaged the audience. He talked about the joy of returning to concert settings and his appreciation for the (sold out) crowd. He said,”if ya wanna talk about hard working bands, show me your miles” as he is ramping up plenty on this run - no easy feat for a guy who has just turned 74! Rundgren was very engaging and playful, suggesting he was changing his set in the moment (“The band doesn’t even know what I’m about to play”). He is not the most graceful performer and awkward in his movement but a wonderful player, performer and writer. He recently completed an artist-in-residence at Notre Dame, for any who wonder about the depth of his creativity and musical genius. He played a couple off the beaten track covers beginning with Don’t Bogart That Joint adding that it’s hard to know these days which states are legal or not. He rolled that into Strawberry Alarmclock’s Incense and Peppermints and noted that the crowd had just made their ticket money back by hearing the one hit and not having to sit through the whole album that they never heard or cared about. Using his theory, I think I racked up about $250 last night that I didn’t have when I entered The Odeum.
Rundgren made some political statements that had me on edge for a moment not knowing exactly where he was leaning or how the crowd might respond. He made a very Pro-Women statement which was not immediately clear. He then smoothed everyone out with a cover of Muskrat Love. Remember that one by America? He did not make a goof of it which would have been easy. He indicated that the writers didn’t know s*** about muskrats and began a treatise on their appearance, behavior and smell. He suggested folks look it up in Wiki to confirm what they are all about which I’ll not repeat here (PM me if you really have to know).
After tripping over and getting hung up in his guitar stand way too many times (a gag bit, I believe), they removed the stand and he carried on unaffected. He did indicate after the first couple of hangups that it would happen a lot.
Rundgren wound down the set and it was done, almost. He’d not yet played Hello It’s Me! After a brief pause the band returned to the stage for their encore and dutifully engaged the piece, beautifully as all sang along. Everyone appeared to have a great time and left with smiles. I strongly encourage those who have read this far to take a look at the schedule of events at https://www.greenwichodeum.com/calendar/ and plan a visit soon. A more warm, intimate and hospitable venue can not be found. Cheers!