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Todd Rundgren’s Utopia
Masonic Auditorium
SF, CA
May 30, 2018
By Dan Wall
Set 1: Utopia Theme, The Ikon, Another Life, Do Ya, Freedom Fighters, The Wheel, Back On the Street, Something’s Coming, Monument, Overture-Mountaintop and Sunrise/Communion With the Sun, The Last of the New Wave Riders.
Set 2: The Road to Utopia, Play This Game, Swing to the Right, Trapped, Set Me Free, Love in Action, Hammer in My Heart, Princess of the Universe, I Will Wait, Rock Love, Love is the Answer, One World.
Encore: Just One Victory. 2 hours, 30 minutes with 20-minute break.
In a year when saying goodbye to your favorite band or musician is becoming more commonplace, it’s nice to be able to say hello to one once again.
It’s been 32 years since Todd Rundgren and Utopia have done a proper tour of the States, but you wouldn’t know it by the performance the band gave at The Masonic in San Francisco on May 30.
Not only is the core of this group all but ready to collect retirement, but the only new guy in the band, keyboardist Gil Assayas, has only been in the group for the past two months. Despite all this, the band put on a classic performance of 24 songs that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours.
Mr. Rundgren has always been a wizard and a true star in the Bay Area. In the 70’s, he made regular tour stops here with this band and as a solo artist (anyone who saw his run of 12 shows at The Old Waldorf in 1978 will never forget them), as well as producing SF natives The Tubes “Remote Control” record back in 1979.
The first half of this show had Rundgren’s imprint all over it, as the band played the first hour under the guise of a progressive rock band (ala Genesis, Yes and King Crimson), exactly the way Utopia started in 1973. Without nailing down one sound, Utopia started off playing lengthy, complex musical pieces that featured very little vocal work. This was a far cry from the sound Rundgren first showed off to his audiences, when he rode the top of the charts with songs such as “I Saw the Light” and “Hello It’s Me.”
For Utopia’s first proper tour here since the 80’s, the band played two different sets. For the first, the band set the risers for longtime drummer Willie Wilcox and Assayas on far sides of the stage, letting Rundgren and his right-hand man, bassist Kasim Sulton, work the middle of the stage.
Starting with a 15-minute version of the first song from the band’s debut album, “Utopia Theme,” the quartet worked its way through many of those early pieces, with Rundgren’s biting guitar and Assayas’ keyboards providing much of the musical muscle. To break things up, the band pulled out The Move hit “Do Ya,” a cover of Leonard Bernstein’s “Something’s Coming” and a beautiful campfire-sing-a-long to “The Wheel,” while just about everything else played during that first hour was longer and allowed the band to explore its more adventurous side.
It was all played out with the band’s penchant for flamboyant dress and a video screen presentation (at the back of the stage and on both risers) that featured both colorful slides and video. Rundgren was always a computer geek at heart, and you could tell by the way this set was presented that Rundgren pulled out all the most modern touches for his visuals and the lighting. The sound was crystal clear as well. The first set closed with a brilliant “The Last of the New Wave Riders,” as the band dashed off for a 20-minute break-and a stage redesign.
When the show resumed, garage band Utopia appeared. The risers were gone, with Wilcox now placed center stage at the back, with Rundgren in the middle, flanked by Sulton and Assayas, all now dressed down in jeans and less sparkly shirts. This is the set-up that just about every band in planet has played on at one time, and helped the boys move into the more melodic rock side of the Utopia sound.
For those of you reading about Utopia for the first time, you should know that after 1977’s “Ra” album, Utopia dropped the longer, progressive pieces and become a straight-up pop-rock band, much like the band’s heroes from the 60’s (The Beatles, The Kinks, The Move, etc…). Thus, this show was structured just like the band’s career, with the band sticking to the hits for the remainder of the show.
Highlights from this hour were plentiful, but for me it was “Love Is the Answer,” a song that topped the charts for England Dan and John Ford Coley in 1979 but didn’t make a dent in the charts for our boys (go figure), that stole the show and hearts of all in attendance. Simply one of the most beautiful songs ever written, I get chills every time I hear it, but played live with Rundgren tearing his heart out singing it is an experience I won’t soon forget. “The Road to Utopia,” “Set Me Free,” “Love In Action” and “One World” were also special, but nothing played at this show was less than superb.
The encore was the only Rundgren song from a solo album- “Just One Victory”- the customary last song and a tune that Rundgren fans know by heart.
Todd was incredible on this night, his voice still strong well into year 69, and his guitar playing proved he is an excellent soloist as well. Sulton is a rock, as well as Wilcox, the king of rolls. The real shock was just how well Assayas has worked his way into the band after being named as a replacement for original keyboardist Ralph Schuckett when the later opted out of the tour back in March. The youngster looked like he has been in Utopia for years, with his solos and synthesizer work being a definite highlight. And the band’s clear, concise four-part harmonies were spot on during both sets.
New music might come, and another tour might happen, but since this was the first time in 32 years, this will always be remembered as the big comeback tour for Utopia.
And they nailed it!
