I have no doubt this line up can make some great music
-- I just wish they'd call themselves Cartopia.

Mike Bennett

--- Kerry Kompost <kerry_kompost@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Via the wonders of the internet, I received – via
> Kasim Sultan’s mailing list – an invite to a
> “mystery
> show” in Burbank which  transpired this past
> weekend.
> My girlfriend, Nipper Seaturtle, and I opted to
> attend
> the Sunday evening performance as the Friday show
> was
> likely to be a real packed-to-the-rafters,
> star-studded, Hollywood event. I figured the Sunday
> show might be a little more low-key, perhaps
> offering
> a better chance to hang with the band (I’ve never
> met
> Todd but I’d love to; perhaps one of these days).
> 
> Unfortunately, we missed the first song (and, for
> the
> record, I believe the setlist was the same for both
> shows, which I believe has already been posted), but
> we eventually made our way to Studio Eleven and
> found
> ourselves in the midst of a hundred and fifty or so
> people (I’m terrible at guessing audience sizes). It
> was a full-blown set with lights, crew, you name it.
> I
> felt a tangible sense of electricity buzzing in the
> air (most likely due to the high winds and low
> humidity we’re currently experiencing in Sunny
> Southern, but I’d like to think otherwise).
> 
> I have been a fan of The Cars since the debut album
> blasted like a hurricane through my teenaged world;
> that first record was nothing less than a
> revelation.
> Before The Cars, my friends and I were listening to
> Rush, Frampton, ELP, KISS, Pink Floyd, Styx,
> Supertramp; you know, classic ‘70’s arena rock. The
> Cars ushered in an era of new sounds, new
> approaches,
> or so it seemed to those of us growing up far off
> the
> beaten track in then-rural Colchester, Vermont. In
> our
> world, after The Cars came Joe Jackson, The Knack,
> Elvis Costello, Pretenders, The Police, all those
> quirky new wave bands; the Cars ushered in an
> entirely
> new scene, and none of us were ever the quite the
> same.
> 
> Much later in life – in fact, about seven years ago
> –
> I discovered Todd Rundgren largely via Auditeer Pat
> Bueltimer. Years ago, I had sent Pat one of my demo
> albums, and he suggested I check out Nazz and Todd’s
> solo stuff, which I soon did, courtesy of an
> excellent
> TR mix tape that Pat so thoughtfully provided. I was
> familiar with “I Saw the Light” and I especially
> LOVED
> “We Gotta Get You a Woman” as a youngster, but I was
> totally ignorant of the vast majority of TR’s
> extensive catalog. From the opening piano chords of
> “Take the Hand”, well, I was smitten, beguiled,
> enchanted, blown away. I've been a TR geek ever
> since.
> 
> 
> Nipper, on the other flipper, finds the music of The
> Cars to be bland, a-melodic, and somewhat boring.
> She
> experienced the Punk Explosion(tm) firsthand, and I
> believe she’s always considered The Cars to be
> Johnny-come-lately’s. She’s also been a hardcore
> Todd
> fan since Day One, so, you know, she’s definitely
> biased. 
> 
> I can see her point (there, just under the cascading
> blonde fall she sometimes wears). I mean,
> melodically
> speaking, there’s really no comparing Todd to The
> Cars. Part of the whole point of The Cars was to
> cloak
> the music in a sort of cold, futuristic vibe, which
> necessitated a somewhat flat vocal approach. As
> such,
> there aren’t a lot of the soaring vocal melodies
> that
> are a hallmark of TR’s body of work. I see no
> problem
> with either approach, frankly; hey, whatever works.
> 
> I was pretty much blown away by how seamlessly TR
> fit
> into The Cars mold. Nipper kept saying that his
> voice
> was under-utilized, and it was, no question about
> it;
> if TR had been wailing serious Philly-soul vocals
> over
> those squarewave analog riffs, I’m not sure the
> blend
> would be palatable (unlike his work with Utopia,
> where
> the blend of future-past is nothing if not
> astonishing). That said, TR fit the music perfectly
> –
> I thought it was a match made in heaven. Whoever
> suggested the pairing deserves serious kudos. 
> 
> I won’t go into detail over the performance other
> than
> to say that the band was fantastic, loose-yet-tight,
> relaxed, and obviously having fun. A highlight for
> me
> was Elliot Easton’s and Rundgren’s harmony guitar
> solo
> on “I Saw the Light”; that was an extremely cool
> moment. Easton was a monster, nailing his
> quasi-countrified solos note-for-note (I’d have
> loved
> to hear a little more spontaneity, honestly), and
> Prairie Prince drove the bus with taste and a
> seriously deep groove. Kasim, well, what can you
> say?
> The dude is a world-class vocalist and bassist, and
> he
> had his moments; his harmony vocals were
> pop-perfection. Greg Hawks pretty much just did that
> thing he does, and flawlessly at that (great
> old-skool
> analog sounds!). If I could've changed one minor
> thing, it would've been that TR play more freaking
> lead guitar -- however, that said, The Cars are
> Easton's territory and TR respectfully allowed him
> the
> six-string spotlight. Total respect, how cool is
> that?
> 
> The crowd was alive and into the performance,
> quieting
> down between songs as Los Angeles audiences tend to
> do. During one quiet moment, TR said something like
> “....and then a pall came over the crowd.” Nipper
> yelled back “You mean Paul McCartney?” which
> prompted
> titters of scattered laughter from the crowd. I
> swear,
> Winona Ryder was standing next to us; it turned out
> not to be her, but, still, this woman was a
> dead-ringer. We hung out with her and her boyfriend
> for a while, making new friends in the process,
> everyone enjoying the music.
> 
> After the show, it was a bit of a Star Search
> situation; we ran into Weird Al and his girlfriend
> (we’d met him a couple of times prior at They Might
> Be
> Giants shows). It was a cool moment for me to be
> able
> to tell him that I deeply enjoyed his Frank Zappa
> homage “Genius in France”, and he seemed truly
> grateful for the compliment. Shortly thereafter,
> Kasim
> came out and we got to chat him up for a few
> moments.
> I asked him who had written the new tune “But Not
> Tonight” and he said it was basically a band
> composition, and that there were plenty more in the
> works. Kasim said he liked my shirt, which was kind
> of
> funny, because Nipper is a Power Thrift Shopper and
> she has my eternal gratitude for dressing me like a
> rockstar (LOL). I offered Kasim the shirt off my
> back
> but he graciously declined. We got to hang out with
> Prairie Prince, who we were introduced to via my
> friend Victor (of The Quarter After and The
> Blondes),
> and he was a blast to talk to; so many great
> stories!
> Nipper told him of our plan to one day assemble a
> crack band for the sole purpose of playing The
> Tubes’
> “Remote Control” in a live setting; Prairie handed
> her
> his card and said “Call me when you put this
> together.” I’m not sure if he was kidding or not,
> but
> it was pretty insane. Prairie introduced us to a
> gentleman whose name escapes me now, but who had
> worked with Yes during the fantastic Trevor Rabin
> years. I got a chance to gush like an idiot to this
> guy over my Brokeback Mountain-esque obsession with
> all things Trevor Rabin. Fanboy! Later, Greg Hawkes
> took a moment to thank us for coming, and expressed
> unbridled excitement about the band and upcoming
> tour.
> 
=== message truncated ===


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