Live At The Old Waldorf (Gol)

Limited edition double gold colored vinyl LP pressing. This release once again proves that there were very, very few bands in the late '70s that could match the stylistic sweep, musical chops, and quality of repertoire wielded by Todd Rundgren & Utopia. This August 5, 1978 set at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco captures the band at the beginning of an extensive U.S. tour, but it had already been a busy year of touring for Todd, as back in May he had assembled an all-star band for residencies at the Bottom Line in New York City and the Roxy in Los Angeles. Performances from those shows that (along with a portion of an August 23 Utopia date from this tour) comprised the release of the double live LP Back to the Bars in December 1978, and fans of that album will find much to treasure here on this well-recorded release taken from the evening's stereo master tapes. Here you get a chance to hear Utopia back Todd on songs, like "Black and White" and "The Last Ride" (an epic version!), from which they were absent on Back to the Bars, and Live at the Old Waldorf offers such Utopia favorites as "Trapped, " "Abandon City, " "Back on the Street, " and "Gangrene" from 1977's Oops! Wrong Planet that did not appear on Bars. Even more importantly, the band is on fire this night, displaying the rare mixture of note-perfect arrangements and improvisatory verve that made Todd Rundgren & Utopia such a must-see concert draw during the era. One last note about this release: because Todd was such a dynamic live performer, there have been a series of authorized live "bootlegs" that have come out on CD in recent years, but very few have come out on LP; we have cherry picked what just may be the best of the bunch and put it on double gold vinyl inside a gatefold package limited to 660 copies. It belongs on your shelf right next to your other Rundgren records from the era... don't miss it!