Daryl And Todd
I wasn’t supposed to return from my international travels til Oct 3rd but when I saw the last night of Daryl’s and Todd’s (Hall and Rundgren) double-billed tour was on Oct 1st, I changed my ticket. Paid the fee. YOLO. And every day it’s one day less.
You guys might have read about my obsession with Todd. (If not…here and here.) But FYI I’m a freak for Daryl Hall as well. And so … the 2 of them together is like sleeping with 2 of your favorite lovers at the same time. Insane! If my ears had eyes they be rolling to the back of my head.
I mean … I can NOT even listen to “Sara Smile” without my stomach falling out of my body. It’s THE song that brings me back bigly to the unrequitedest love of my life. We danced to it all night long. Every time the song was over he picked up the needle and started it again. We just danced. Nothing more! God! For hours. I mean … he must have felt something (I still tell myself). But not enough, I guess. Anyway… every time I hear that iconic motif at the beginning of (and throughout) “Sara Smile” I’m back in that frat house. Just kill me.
And Todd? I wrote the words to “I Saw The Light” in a letter to my HS boyfriend after I regretted breaking up with him. I hit it with a spritz of Shalimar and sent it in the mail. It did the trick. He took me back. But then I broke up with him again. 😳
Memories. That’s what songs bring back. The feels. The tastes. Those beautiful butterflies. I couldn’t wait to be re-united with the sonic nostalgia.
I treated my college friend Sherry to the concert for her birthday. She picked me up on the upper west side and we drove to Long Island (my motherland). We took a short snooze in the car pre-show because … well why not. I was jet-lagged and she was, ok — we’re both of a certain age. It was late! 8PM! But many of the ppl heading into the theatre had walkers and canes so gratefully that made us feel young.
Ever since I arranged for the tix my fantasy was that Todd and Daryl would be one on one (no pun intended) for the entire show. Like this clip of them doing “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference.” Both voices so Philly-inter-changeable. But as it turned out, Todd came out and played for an hour. Daryl followed. Oh well. I’ll take them any way I can.
I’ve seen Todd at least a dozen times. But something was off this time. I was waiting for the adrenalin to kick in on the 2-note pick-up before “I Saw The Light” but it didn’t. And I was wondering where the chills were on “Hello It’s Me” but they never arrived. I realized that Todd was playing with Daryl’s band. And Daryl’s band is amazing … with Daryl. They didn’t produce the same symbiotic magic with Todd. My friend Kasim (long-time bass player for TR) might be happy to hear the band was missed.
So I adjusted my expectations — I still enjoyed Todd being Todd. His operatic Todd-isms, (I often wonder how he gets all that sound to come out of his mouth without opening it up all that much), his arm gesturing, his Lurch-like strutting back and forth across the stage. He’s still God. He’s earned it. Originally I thought Todd should have had first billing. But then I reconsidered because …
Daryl. Smooth and vintage and … and … and … short!? When he emerged Sherry and I turned to each other with the same quizzical look — “Wow, he’s small!” Why had we always thought Daryl was tall? Because he was standing next to John. No biggie. We’re not ‘heightists.’ Just an observation between friends. The important thing is …
At 75 Daryl Hall is no worse for the wear. If anything he’s better. He takes his time. He’s super comfortable. He back-sings like nobody’s business. Lazy blue-eyed effortless soul. He’s friendly. Seemingly happy to be there (prolly cuz it’s his last night and tomorrow he can … rest!)
As you can imagine … I was waiting (im)patiently for Sara. I lurve “Rich Girl” but if it wasn’t on his set list, so be it. (Not a whole lotta H&O songs were.) But he HAS to do Sara! Do it, Daryl! Come On!
Not yet. With Daryl on the Baby Grand, he and guitarist Shane Theriot embarked on an unexpected cover of “Here Comes The Rain Again” (watch it here). I was like what? But it blew my mind. Dreamy. Alternative transitional changes. No disrespect to the Eurythmics (and the authors Annie and Dave), but I heard words I never heard in the original mechanical version. But now …
I’m ready, Daryl. Stop making me wait. Give it to me!
And he did. He slid into “Sara Smile” like a warm familiar kiss. But … it wasn’t … dum de dum dum … you know … the clone of the record for which I was jonzing. He jazzed it up — deprived me of hearing what I came for. Nothing can compare to a THE RECORD when it’s inextricably tied to a memory.
That said, he has a right to perform it any way he wants to. Playing a song tour after tour for 50 years, one needs to shake things up I imagine. But….
I forgave him … cuz when it was over he went back to the guitar and delivered “Every Time You Go Away” … another butterfly dropper. Jesus. (My Yugoslavian friend Vesna once asked me, “Shelly, — why every time she goes away she takes a piece of meat with her?” Sweet Vesna.) Paul Young made it doubly famous but Daryl is King.
Sure there were pitchy moments (but that’s called singing without auto tune), and attempts to hit notes you were once able to hit so easily (but that’s called life).
The show was over before I was ready. Aren’t they always? And then … and then … my fantasy came true. Daryl AND Todd came back out (of course they did) for more. 5’11” Todd Rundgren seated himself on a stool next to Daryl. Curiously, according to the interwebs Daryl is 6’1”. But surely Todd would have dwarfed Daryl had he been standing. I wonder if that was an artistic choice. AND … did Daryl lie to the interwebs?
But again, I forgive (we all have our vanities) because along came … “Wait For Me” — the biggest eargasm of the night. No flashing Lights. No dancers. Just a God-given beast of a ballad — a desperate yet gentle plea to a lover who he knows is slipping through his hands to change her mind. Come to think of it, it’s the same theme (and similar chord progression) as “Every Time You Go Away.” In fact I’d go as far as to say you could effectively mash the two. But I guess when a song it that good … write it again!
Check out at the very end when Daryl says to Todd (as a reaction to the crowd’s roar of approval) “good song.” No shit, Daryl.
I’m still processing this concert. It’s been a few nights and I’m still singing myself to sleep with “Wait For Me.” Still savoring the aftertaste. I hate to say it but I’m gonna: There’s a lot of good music out there BUT… they just DON’T write ‘em (or make ‘em) like they used to.
If I showed these clips to the kids I teach and told them this was my opinion of the gold standard they might drop my class. But only WE who have been there and have known this music, this bar, can understand the feeling, the songs, the power, the artists, the talent. How gifted. How RARE. The older I get the more I care.
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