Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren's Utopia - Blu-Ray, DVD and 2 CD Set
Review by Gary Hill
In 2018 Todd Rungren's Utopia reunited. Three original members (Rundgren, Willie Wilcox and Kasim Sulton) were joined by keyboardist Gil Assayas. On May 22nd, they played the Chicago Theatre, and this new set features that concert.
The band were on fire that night. I can't speak to the rest of the tour, but from what I saw here, these guys were at the top of their game. They worked through a killer set that included an old Move (or ELO depending on how you know it) song ("Do Ya"), "Something's Coming" from "West Side Story" and a lot of classic Utopia songs. The sound quality here is top-notch.
I always tend to expect innovation from Rundgren, and we get that here. The whole show just looks great, and the videography is so good, too. In terms of innovation, both Rundgren and Sulton have video cameras mounted on the head-stocks of their axes. That allows for some cool angles right down the fretboard. They don't go to that often, but when they do it is so surprising and effective. I particularly like when they split the screen between the two feeds.
This whole set is great, too. You get a Blu-Ray and DVD of the show. Those include interview segments. There is also a two-CD audio set of the concert. All of it comes in a great digipack. I really can't recommend this enough to fans of Utopia.
This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2019 Volume 3. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2019.
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