Photo Credit: Jim Snyder
Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren has been ahead of the curve tech-wise for his entire music career. The producer-performer recently announced a 25-city virtual tour with a twist. For safety reasons due to the pandemic, Rundgren and his band will be camped out in Chicago for the “tour.” They will tailor each show to the city they are “playing” each night, including images of local landmarks, stage props and catered backstage cuisine native to each locale.
The Madison/Milwaukee show is February 28, 2021, 8 p.m. Rundgren said Chicago was chosen as the home-base to make it easier to accommodate time zones.
Rundgren’s set will feature the album Nearly Human, the 1989 album that was recorded live in the studio, as well as other selections from his career. He began recording with The Nazz in 1968 and has produced artists as varied as Meatloaf, Grand Funk Railroad, The New York Dolls, Badfinger and XTC.
Rundgren said he has toyed with the idea of a virtual tour in the past and thought that it also makes sense now to travel less in concern of climate change as well as the pandemic. An early adopter of synthesizers, video and digital technology—he adopted the pseudonym TR-I, aka Todd Rundgren-interactive, in the ‘90s.
In a recent interview he talked about how this way of performing turns the accepted paradigm on its ear. An entire roomful of people can watch the show for the price of one ticket, he said. There is no need to hire a babysitter or pay for a meal and parking. If you get up to go to the bathroom you don’t have to miss a song, just turn the volume up, he laughed.
For each performance there are a limited amount of 19 Socially Distant In-Person Tickets Per Show.
