Credit: Danny O’ConnorTodd Rundgren kicks off a North American spring tour tonight in Napa, California, that will take him across the continent during the next month. In recent years, the eclectic singer/songwriter has presented his music live in a variety of ways, including performing with just a DJ and two dancers while supporting his electronica-influenced 2015 album Global, but Rundgren says that the new trek will feature him playing “more familiar material” and in a way that will be more recognizable to fans.
Rundgren tells ABC Radio that with the shows, which are dubbed “An Evening with Todd Rundgren,” he gives his audience a chance “to take a breather, because I’m always doing something kind of unusual or I’m promoting a new record and they don’t always get to hear the so-called greatest hits that they sometimes come to hear.”
Todd also explains, “Sometimes I like to take the old material and rework it so that it fits in with whatever it is I’m doing, and so, I am technically playing the songs they want to hear but not necessarily the way they want to hear them. This is the way they want to hear them. If you have a tendency to complain after the shows, this is the one you want to come see.”
Rundgren says another interesting aspect of this trek is that he plans to play a different set every night.
“We’ve got a master list of about 50 songs, and about an hour before the show I come up with a set list,” he points out. “So, if people are following us around and watching several shows in a row they won’t see the same show.”
Rundgren will be accompanied on the tour by his longtime backing band, which includes bassist Kasim Sulton, drummer Prairie Prince, guitarist Jesse Gress and keyboardist John Ferenzik.
After his solo tour winds down at the end of May, Rundgren will once again hit the road as a member of Ringo Starr‘s All Starr Band, something he’s been doing regularly since 2012. He tells ABC Radio that following the All Starr Band outing, which runs from June 3 to July 2, he probably won’t be doing any more touring for the remainder of 2016.
Here are all of the dates for Rundgren’s spring solo tour:
4/27 — Napa, CA, Uptown Napa Theater
4/28 — Monterey, CA, Golden State Theater
4/30 — Vancouver, BC, Canada, Vancouver Playhouse
5/1 — Snoqualmie, WA, Snoqualmie Casino-Ballroom
5/4 — Pasadena, CA, The Rose
5/5 — Agoura Hills, CA, The Canyon Club
5/7 — Las Vegas, NV, The Foundry
5/8 — Phoenix, AZ, Celebrity Theater
5/10 — Austin, TX, 3TEN at ACL Live
5/12 — St. Charles, IL, Arcada Theatre
5/13 — Carmel, IN, The Center for Performing Arts
5/14 — Saginaw, MI, Red Room at the Dow
5/16 — Kent, OH, Kent Stage
5/17 — Kent, OH, Kent Stage
5/19 — North Tonawanda, NY, Riviera Theater
5/20 — Greenwich, RI, Greenwich Odeum
5/21 — Princeton, NJ, McCarter Theatre
5/23 — Sellersville, PA, Sellersville Theatre
5/24 — Brooklyn, NY, Brooklyn Bowl
5/26 — Newton, NJ, Newton Theatre
5/27 — Newark, NJ, NJPAC
5/29 — Pawling, NY, Daryl’s House Backyard
5/30 — Pawling, NY, Daryl’s House Backyard
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