Friday, June 12, 2009

word on the street. must read...

More AWATS shows!
Hey European fans. The Paradiso AWATS show in Amsterdam goes on sale today

Monday 8 February 2010
Paradiso, Amsterdam
http://www.paradiso.nl


Word on the street is that there will be more US AWATS shows booked just following the Akron show.

TODD live from Oslo .. possible broadcast ?

You might see Todd live on the internet, check it out tomorrow.... concert starts 19:00 GMT

http://www.nrk.no/festival/

http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/klipp/377243


this was brought to my attention by long time utopian Bart V

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Roger Powell sees reuniting with fellow Utopia band members as a great opportunity

Roger Powell sees reuniting with fellow Utopia band members as a great opportunity
Musician Todd Rundgren will perform his entire "A Wizard, A True Star" album live for the first time ever on September 6th, 2009 at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, Ohio. Keyboardist Roger Powell will be a member of the AWATS band for the Akron gig.

Akron Civic Theatre, Akron OH. Todd Rundgren will perform AWATS here on 9/6/09
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Jun 10, 2009 – Musician Todd Rundgren will perform his entire "A Wizard, A True Star" album live for the first time ever on September 6th, 2009 at the Akron Civic Theatre in Akron, Ohio. Roger Powell will be a member of the band along with Jesse Gress, Kasim Sulton, Prairie Prince, & Greg Hawkes. Todd, Kasim, and Roger were all part of the popular 70's band Utopia whose last concert together was 17 years ago billed as a reunion titled "Redux".

Powell played keyboards and synthesizers for Utopia from 1974 until its disbanding in 1985, playing, writing, and singing on ten of the band's eleven albums. For its live shows, Powell created the Powell Probe; the first remote, hand-held polyphonic synthesizer controller, which featured a custom-made shell used to access a complex stack of sequencers and other peripherals offstage. He was also the protege of Robert Moog (who created the Moog synthesizer), the composer and player of several solo albums, a touring musician with David Bowie and others, and an author who wrote a Keyboard Magazine column on synthesizer technique.

When recently asked on an online Blog Talk Radio program about reuniting with some fellow Utopians, Roger said he thought it was a great opportunity. "I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be fun to see everybody again - - - to see not only the guys in the band but also the loyal and true and dedicated fans who have stuck with Todd and our music over the years."

The AWATS in Akron concert is being presented by RundgrenRadio.com. Ticket prices start at $50 and are available at http://www.AWATSlive.com and http://www.Ticketmaster.com. Additional information can be found at http://www.AWATSlive.com. Todd and his band will perform other songs from his vast catalog before embarking on the full album presentation.

Over 85% of the tickets have already been sold for this Todd Rundgren "A Wizard, A True Star" theme concert in Akron and a sellout is expected by the end of June. Hundreds of fans from all over the USA will be visiting Akron to attend this "A Wizard, A True Star" gig. Some Todd Rundgren fans from 4 other countries - - - Japan, United Kingdom, Scotland, and Canada - - - will also be in attendance.

Todd will also be performing "A Wizard, A True Star" in London (Hammersmith Odeon) and Amsterdam (Pardiso) in 2010.

"A Wizard, A True Star" was Todd’s follow up to his most commercially successful album, “Something /Anything?” which included popular hits like “I Saw The Light” and “Hello It’s Me”. Instead of going with a similar sound Todd Rundgren went in a completely different direction with his electrical psychedelic album "A Wizard, A True Star". Rundgren chose to abandon stardom and, with it, conventional pop music. He began a course through uncharted musical territory, becoming a pioneer not only in electronic music and prog rock, but in music video, computer software, and Internet music delivery as well.

Although the album wasn’t a big hit with critics and didn’t reach near the sales as Todd’s previous album, it’s the clear cut favorite of Todd’s most avid fans and is considered a very influential album to thousands of musicians. Todd’s manager, Eric Gardner of Panacea Entertainment, said, “It was Todd’s 180 degree turn after 'Something/Anything?' much to the dismay of the record company and much to the dismay of radio. Back then they were hoping for a follow up of 'Something/Anything?' something in the same vein. 'A Wizard, A True Star' is actually a record that’s near and dear to Todd’s heart because it was so contrary”.

"A Wizard, A True Star" was listed in the 2006 musical reference book, “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die”. In 2003, British music critic Barney Hoskyns wrote in MOJO magazine, "Rundgren’s 'A Wizard, A True Star' is simply the greatest album ever made”.

Todd Rundgren has released over 30 albums either as a solo artist or with his bands Nazz, Utopia, and The New Cars while producing acclaimed, successful records for artists as diverse as Badfinger, Meat Loaf, Grand Funk Railroad, the New York Dolls, and XTC. Despite Todd's incredible accomplishments and influence on the music industry, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame committee - - - in Akron's neighboring town of Cleveland - - - has failed to induct him. Ironically, one of the reasons Ohio was chosen as the place to host this concert was because of the strong Todd fan base in Cleveland.
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Tuesday, June 9, 2009

AWATS AKRON SHOW ALMOST SOLD OUT

Only 19 seats left for AWATS Akron on the www.rundgrenradio.tix.com site! Ticketmaster needs to step it up a notch but they only have 300 or so left. Packed house like it should be for the Toddster!

Monday, June 8, 2009

MORE AWATS TALK.....

some of the information below is incorrect. but its a hopeful suggestion that more USA shows will appear in time. THE USA AKRON SHOW IS WHAT LEAD TO THE EUROPE DATES!! Doug im watching your back for you while your on vacation.. !!!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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`A Wizard, A True Star' Coming In September

Posted on Monday June 8, 2009 at 12:01 PM

Three weeks after announcing a 2010 London date where he'll perform his 1973 album "A Wizard, A True Star" in its entirety, Todd Rundgren expands the concept to the U.S.A.

Rundgren is planning about a week's worth of September dates to bring A Wizard… to the stage. The album, which features virtually no dead space between tracks with each song beginning as soon as the previous tune ends, showcased Rundgren's various musical muses and resulted in cover versions of "Cool Jerk," "Ooh, Baby Baby," "La La La Means I Love You," and "I'm So Proud." The album also included tracks that would become Rundgren standards, such as "Sometimes I Don't Know How To Feel," "Just Another Onionhead" and "Just One Victory."

The September shows will also include two members of the Utopia lineup from the late 1970s: Kasim Sulton on vocals and bass and Roger Powell on keyboards and vocals.

Securing Powell's appearance at the September gigs proved to be a little difficult mainly because he just started working for game designer Electronic Arts. In fact, the reason for Rundgren doing only a week's worth of A Wizard … shows in September is because Powell has only a week off from work.

Right now, only the first date for the September run is nailed down – Sept. 6 at the Akron Civic Center in Akron, Ohio. The date is promoted by the two fans who run RundgrenRadio.com and has already sold more than 2,000 tickets.

Along with the U.S. gigs, Rundgren is also taking A Wizard, A True Star across the ocean in 2010 for a performance in London at the Apollo Hammersmith on Feb. 6, and a Feb. 8 show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam.

If Rundgren likes how the U.S. shows are received, he may go back to his extensive catalog and pull out another album for the start-to-finish treatment.

Which brings us to the comment thread below. Which album do you think Rundgren should perform in its entirety after he completes the A Wizard, A True Star shows? Yes, he does have a lot of albums to his credit, including several under the Utopia moniker. But we think you can probably slim that list down to a few excellent choices. How about it?

--Jay Sm

POLLSTAR
http://www.pollstar.com/blogs/news/archive/2009/06/08/671353.aspx

UK’s Sunday Times newspaper

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