Kent,
I haven't written a concert review for Forgotten Hits in several years, but I had to mention the show I saw here in Clearwater, Florida, this past Tuesday night at the beautiful Ruth Eckerd Hall.
It was the "It Was 50 Years Ago Today" tour, featuring five legends ... Todd Rundgren, Micky Dolenz, Christopher Cross, Joey Molland (from Badfinger) and Jason Scheff (who played in Chicago in the Peter Cetera role). I believe it was only the second stop of the tour but because of the rock veterans these guys are, the show went down beautifully.
The show was a tribute to the Beatles' 1968 release, "The White Album." In all, 23 songs from that classic LP were played along with two songs each by the five rock icons from their own careers. The show lasted almost two and a half hours with a 20 minute intermission. There was no opening act.
A four piece backing band (drums, keyboards and a terrific lead guitar) helped flesh out the sound. It started out with all five headliners singing "Back In The USSR" and from there each guy was featured on a song, starting with Scheff on "Dear Prudence." The songs were not played in the order they are on the record which, in my mind , made it even more interesting, not knowing what was coming next.
During the middle of the first set, each member did a couple of his own personal hits such as Micky singing "I'm A Believer " (how many tines has he played that song) and "Pleasant Valley Sunday."
The star of the show, in my opinion, was easily Todd Rundgren. He did a great guitar solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and then, during "Bungalow Bill," he came out dressed in a jungle outfit with a super-soaker gun, squirting the audience while singing. He sang "Sexy Sadie" dressed as the Maharishi.
Micky came out and a gave a short heart-felt speech about how much the Beatles songs have meant to him and that they are classics that will be remembered through the sands of time and then immediately went into "Why Don't We Do It In The Road."
However, the biggest surprise of the night to me was Christopher Cross. Watching paint dry was more exciting than seeing his dour and anti-charismatic personality, but let me tell you, the man could sing and finger-pick the guitar. He did the acoustic "Blackbird," "I Will" and "Mother Nature's Son" exquisitely, with a beautiful tenor voice, and helped out Jason Scheff on "Julia."
Joey Molland of Badfinger fame played the rocking "Baby Blue" and "No Matter What," and cruised through a great version of "Savoy Truffle." Scheff was on stage for the entire show, playing bass with the band and sang "Glass Onion," "Piggies" and a couple of others. The four members of the backing band also provided backing vocals and were outstanding on their instruments.
The finale was "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." I have to admit that this is not one of my favorites, but the guys were all on stage for this song, each one taking the lead on a verse, and to these ears, it sounded great in sort of a ska style.
I have to say that this was an outstanding and very entertaining show. All five headliners were enthusiastic and at the same time reverent and respectful of the classic songs they were performing. I understand this show will be in your area next week and all I can say is it's a don't miss concert.
Rich Turner
Palm Harbor, Florida
We are seeing this show tomorrow night at The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles. The show is a complete sell-out ... but Ron Onesti was able to get them to agree to come back and do a SECOND show in December, thus extending the original tour plans. (We're going to THAT one, too!!!)
I've seen Micky Dolenz countless times ... Christopher Cross three or four times, Jason Scheff with Chicago close to a dozen times and Joey Molland with the ORIGINAL Badfinger back in the '70's ...
But I have NEVER seen Todd Rundgren before (not even as part of Ringo's All-Starr Band), so I am REALLY looking forward to this! (Based on a couple of reviews I've read, Todd steals the show on more than one occasion!)
Watch for OUR review in the days to come.
Meanwhile, here's a review of a similar show Todd did last year in honor of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" anniversary tour ...
Regarding the White Album show coming up, I haven't seen it, but I did see a similar show with the acts doing the Beatles' Sgt Peppers album. If the White Album show is anything like it, you are going to LOVE it.
Sgt Peppers had Todd Rundgren, Denny Laine, Bo Bice, Lou Gramm and Christopher Cross. The first half of the show, each artist did their own songs and then, after the intermission, they all came out in full Sgt Peppers regalia and did a fabulous job on performing the album.
We had amazing seats, but even better than that, we were two of ten who had tickets to the meet and greet. Lou didn't show up, but I was able to meet the other four, who couldn't have been nicer. (Well, on second thought, Christopher Cross was actually super weird.)
The highlight was meeting Todd, as I've always been a huge fan of his, and, additionally, we actually have a mutual friend, who I wanted to mention to him. He walked in, and for the first time in my life, I became totally star struck. When the moment came to meet him, I completely lost my mind. I stammered about seeing him on July 4th years ago in Central Park, realized I was losing it, made a joke (thank goodness he laughed), but I never mentioned our mutual friend and lost all my street cred in the music world. <sigh>
Hope all is well in your world ... and enjoy the show!
Sher
I haven't written a concert review for Forgotten Hits in several years, but I had to mention the show I saw here in Clearwater, Florida, this past Tuesday night at the beautiful Ruth Eckerd Hall.
It was the "It Was 50 Years Ago Today" tour, featuring five legends ... Todd Rundgren, Micky Dolenz, Christopher Cross, Joey Molland (from Badfinger) and Jason Scheff (who played in Chicago in the Peter Cetera role). I believe it was only the second stop of the tour but because of the rock veterans these guys are, the show went down beautifully.
The show was a tribute to the Beatles' 1968 release, "The White Album." In all, 23 songs from that classic LP were played along with two songs each by the five rock icons from their own careers. The show lasted almost two and a half hours with a 20 minute intermission. There was no opening act.
A four piece backing band (drums, keyboards and a terrific lead guitar) helped flesh out the sound. It started out with all five headliners singing "Back In The USSR" and from there each guy was featured on a song, starting with Scheff on "Dear Prudence." The songs were not played in the order they are on the record which, in my mind , made it even more interesting, not knowing what was coming next.
During the middle of the first set, each member did a couple of his own personal hits such as Micky singing "I'm A Believer " (how many tines has he played that song) and "Pleasant Valley Sunday."
The star of the show, in my opinion, was easily Todd Rundgren. He did a great guitar solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and then, during "Bungalow Bill," he came out dressed in a jungle outfit with a super-soaker gun, squirting the audience while singing. He sang "Sexy Sadie" dressed as the Maharishi.
Micky came out and a gave a short heart-felt speech about how much the Beatles songs have meant to him and that they are classics that will be remembered through the sands of time and then immediately went into "Why Don't We Do It In The Road."
However, the biggest surprise of the night to me was Christopher Cross. Watching paint dry was more exciting than seeing his dour and anti-charismatic personality, but let me tell you, the man could sing and finger-pick the guitar. He did the acoustic "Blackbird," "I Will" and "Mother Nature's Son" exquisitely, with a beautiful tenor voice, and helped out Jason Scheff on "Julia."
Joey Molland of Badfinger fame played the rocking "Baby Blue" and "No Matter What," and cruised through a great version of "Savoy Truffle." Scheff was on stage for the entire show, playing bass with the band and sang "Glass Onion," "Piggies" and a couple of others. The four members of the backing band also provided backing vocals and were outstanding on their instruments.
The finale was "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." I have to admit that this is not one of my favorites, but the guys were all on stage for this song, each one taking the lead on a verse, and to these ears, it sounded great in sort of a ska style.
I have to say that this was an outstanding and very entertaining show. All five headliners were enthusiastic and at the same time reverent and respectful of the classic songs they were performing. I understand this show will be in your area next week and all I can say is it's a don't miss concert.
Rich Turner
Palm Harbor, Florida
We are seeing this show tomorrow night at The Arcada Theatre in St. Charles. The show is a complete sell-out ... but Ron Onesti was able to get them to agree to come back and do a SECOND show in December, thus extending the original tour plans. (We're going to THAT one, too!!!)
I've seen Micky Dolenz countless times ... Christopher Cross three or four times, Jason Scheff with Chicago close to a dozen times and Joey Molland with the ORIGINAL Badfinger back in the '70's ...
But I have NEVER seen Todd Rundgren before (not even as part of Ringo's All-Starr Band), so I am REALLY looking forward to this! (Based on a couple of reviews I've read, Todd steals the show on more than one occasion!)
Watch for OUR review in the days to come.
Meanwhile, here's a review of a similar show Todd did last year in honor of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" anniversary tour ...
Regarding the White Album show coming up, I haven't seen it, but I did see a similar show with the acts doing the Beatles' Sgt Peppers album. If the White Album show is anything like it, you are going to LOVE it.
Sgt Peppers had Todd Rundgren, Denny Laine, Bo Bice, Lou Gramm and Christopher Cross. The first half of the show, each artist did their own songs and then, after the intermission, they all came out in full Sgt Peppers regalia and did a fabulous job on performing the album.
We had amazing seats, but even better than that, we were two of ten who had tickets to the meet and greet. Lou didn't show up, but I was able to meet the other four, who couldn't have been nicer. (Well, on second thought, Christopher Cross was actually super weird.)
The highlight was meeting Todd, as I've always been a huge fan of his, and, additionally, we actually have a mutual friend, who I wanted to mention to him. He walked in, and for the first time in my life, I became totally star struck. When the moment came to meet him, I completely lost my mind. I stammered about seeing him on July 4th years ago in Central Park, realized I was losing it, made a joke (thank goodness he laughed), but I never mentioned our mutual friend and lost all my street cred in the music world. <sigh>
Hope all is well in your world ... and enjoy the show!
Sher
Here's a picture of me (the one with the deer-in-the-headlights look) and Todd ... with Denny Laine photo-bombing us.
