Clearly human, clearly rockin'
Cleaveland, Ohio, 22nd Feb 2021
Ever the pioneer, legendary musical supremo, Todd Rundgren decided to connect with fans by doing a virtual tour during the coronavirus pandemic. This was not a new idea for Todd, he'd been thinking of doing something similar for a while and the world being on pause seemed a perfect time to get a band together and present a series of geo-fenced shows.
All the shows are performed live from Chicago and broadcast with a local flavour of the cities on each date of the tour. A few lucky local VIP's are also able to sit (socially distanced) among a virtual audience on video screens. It may seem a bit surreal, but after the last year of interacting with other humans through Ipads and Zoom calls, it doesn't seem that strange. One good thing about virtual gigs is that you get the chance to see shows you may not otherwise have been able to see, all from the comfort of your own home. Fans will remember Todd'sNo World Order' interactive music album, so it's no surprise that the forward-thinking musician is making the best of the bad situation. For creatives like him, it's a perfect storm: technology and a captive audience hungry for a live music fix.
While the 'Clearly Human Tour' is tailored for each city on the tour, fans outside the tour area can still join in, including international fans, but for UK audiences it will mean dosing up on the caffeine for the 1 am showtime – it is however definitely worth it. Although, the dayglow psychedelia of the staging and the costumes should be enough to keep you awake: do not adjust your screens!
The show, as the title suggests, is based around Todd's 1989 'Nearly Human' album, there are also some tracks from his Utopia days too. Unlike much of his other work where he plays all the instruments, 'Nearly Human' makes a perfect live piece as it gives the maestro time to interact with the band and the virtual crowd. The spiritual nature of the album also makes it perfect for a world where many feel lost, isolated and disconnected.
Todd asks “remember what fun use to be? Let's have some freakin' fun!” His show certainly knows how to have a good time and rouse a crowd, even virtually. You can't fault the energy and the larger than life show makes brings us back to happy days of live gigs. As a facsimile, it's a pretty good recreation. Even down to an Evangelical encore, where you'll be more than happy you attended Todd Rundgren's genre-hopping rock n' roll sermon.
Below is a list of the 25 concerts. Please click on http://toddrundgren.nocapshows.com
for further details.
Todd Rundgren Clearly Human Virtual Tour
Feb 14: Buffalo, NY
Feb 16: Albany, NY
Feb 17: New York City, NY
Feb 19: Virginia Beach, VA
Feb 20: Pittsburgh, PA
Feb 22: Cleveland, OH
Feb 23: Detroit, MI
Feb 25: Indianapolis, IN
Feb 26: Chicago, IL
Feb 28: Madison/Milwaukee, WI
March 1: Minneapolis, MN
March 3: Kansas City, MO
March 4: St. Louis, MO
March 6: Nashville, TN
March 7: Dallas, TX
March 9: Houston, TX
March 10: Austin, TX
March 12: Denver, CO
March 13: Salt Lake City, UT
March 15: Phoenix AZ
March 16: San Diego, CA
March 18: Los Angeles, CA
March 19: San Francisco, CA
March 21: Portland, OR
March 22: Seattle, WA
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