An Evening with Todd Rundgren: Damned If I Do Tour Concert Review
- Lukas Filcek
- Aug 24
- 5 min read
Back in July, I had the privilege of being able to interview the renowned Todd Rundgren as he was on his Damned If I Do Tour. It was an interview that went pretty dang well all things considered. I feel as though I was really able to get the idea of what this guy's all about, and I found myself interested in what he was all about. Following the interview, I was able to get my name on the guest list for his show at Bell's Beer Garden right here in Kalamazoo on July 17th. What a wonderful treat that was, and a nice show it ended up being.
Odd as it may sound, this was actually my first time going to see an artist live at Bell's. I had been to the Beer Garden before, this year on Oberon Day when they had a DJ. But that wasn't a concert, that was more or less a festival that happened to have a guy mixing stuff on his laptop. The difference here though, is that I was actually going to Bell's with the intention of seeing live music, as opposed to getting some citrusy-ale down my gullet. With that said, the Oberon was certainly a plus, but more on that later.
I got in line to enter the venue with my super-mega-ultra concert bestie Eden, and we were hoping to have a good time. I remember we were uncertain if the restaurant itself was open, since their website said they were closed on Mondays. I am happy to report that the interior of the restaurant was open that night. I would assume they do this whenever they have a concert, but I can’t say for certain. Feel free to toss an orange in my face if I’m wrong.
This older gentleman behind us in line heard our discussion about whether or not it was open, and he told us that we would have a good time either way and that “Only good vibes are allowed here.” A younger woman next to him, who I would assume is his daughter, complimented my outfit. I was wearing new jeans that I had just gotten from the thrift store. Not long after that, an eccentrically dressed lady in front of us turned around and asked us if we wanted to touch her stone. “I heard you were talking about vibes and I wanted to share this with you.” She explained that the stone supposedly carried good luck. Just within the line, before having entered the concert, I felt a nice sense of community and shared values. These people really did feel like they were around for each other which is great.
We got to the end of the line and I was able to tell them I was on the guest list. Let me tell you right now; NOTHING inflates your ego like being able to say that and then enter a paid entry location for free. I would have taken a picture of the list itself, but it contained personal information about attendees which had to remain anonymous. Just know that it happened, and that I’m kinda a big deal around here. B)
Once we got in, we both went to get a drink. We both got a Tropical Oberon and man… that feels so good in near 80 degree weather with low humidity. For those unfamiliar, this is the classic Oberon but with passionfruit, pink guava, and mango flavors. Highly recommended to lovers of the base, citrus-infused ale.
We both got our drinks, and headed out by the stage to await the show's start. Upon a short moment of looking around us, we found it funny that we were among the youngest people there. I had talked with a few people at the show, and found that for many, this was not their first time seeing Todd perform live. One man I had talked to said that this was his 43rd time seeing him, but his first time seeing him without his wife. I didn’t find it necessary to pry further. Just know that this blog post is dedicated to this man and the life that he continues to live.
At about 7:00pm, Todd and his band come out onto the stage. All things considered, he has good stage presence being 78 years old. He wasn’t doing any backflips or shooting himself out of a cannon or nothing, but he was having fun and you could tell. He also had a good comedic sense about him, which was nice. During an acoustic part of his set, he verbally debated about what they would do if a train came by during the song. There’s a train track that runs behind the stage at Bell’s, and a train had already passed that night before the show. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” he said. At another point, Todd was just about to play his biggest song Hello It’s Me. Before starting, he bragged that he had a song that everyone knows. “Not every artist can say that,” he started. “Name me one Kid Rock song. They call him the Mar-A-Lago cowboy!”
I regret to inform you dear reader, that I am in fact a Todd Rundgren larper. I had not known of this man’s existence until recently and therefore do not have an intimate knowledge of his discography. Because of that, I cannot accurately relay the information of what songs he played or the order in which he had played them. All I can tell you is what I know and what I have learned.
He started with the song Evrybody, which was pretty fun. He had us clapping our hands, waking ourselves up and whatnot. A good exercise for all of us out there. He obviously played his most popular song Hello It’s Me, which peaked at number 5 on the billboard charts back in One song that really stuck out was called Down With the Ship, and this was Eden’s favorite song. It had a slide whistle and featured him doing a caribbean accent. Whether or not that’s politically correct is for you to decide, I’m just stating the facts. It was memorable at the very least. What was really cool was his encore, which consisted of a medley of some of his oldest classics. I know this because I saw someone online tell me that it was a medley of some of his oldest classics. Again, I wouldn’t know. I’m a larper. But overall, the music was good. Some fun jams, some slow jams, not a jelly in the bunch.
Around the middle of the show and after the pee break (yes, there was an actual pee break and Todd himself called it that), he thanked us for coming out to the show. That’s not unusual, but I remember the way he did it really stuck out. “I’m not sure if you heard or not, but we’re at war right now.” Tundgren announced to an audience that booed in response. “And because of that war, everything is expensive as s***. And you chose to spend your expendable income here. And for that I personally thank you.” This was a very aggressively early 70’s way of saying it, and it was red meat to the audience attending the show. He thanked us again at the end of the show after the encore, and I swear that he was literally pointing straight at me and Eden as he said it. Whether this was due to our location being near the center-front of the audience or him recognizing my face from the Zoom interview last month is anyone’s guess, but it was really cool.
A special thank you to Todd Rundgren and Bell’s Brewery for having me join you last week. If you’re curious about the interview I conducted with Todd, you can read it right here.
