With Chicago Theatre around the corner, Todd Rundgren’s reunited Utopia ramps up in Milwaukee

Photos provided by Richard Kerris

Demand has steadily mounted throughout the past 32 years for Utopia to reunite in North America, and while Todd Rundgren’s never been one for nostalgia, the leader, bassist Kasim Sulton, drummer Willie Wilcox and keyboardist Ralph Schuckett finally acquiesced. Though Schuckett never wound up making it to the tour due to an unspecified health issue, Gil Assayas ably stepped up to the challenge with minimal notice and the band played on.

Everyone stayed on their feet for “One World” and an encore of Rundgren’s own “Just One Victory,” which didn’t necessarily indicate if this group would be an ongoing pursuit, yet found Utopia victorious for this reconvened season at the very least.

When Utopia pulled up to a packed Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee, which some surely used to supplement the Chicago Theatre stop on May 22, time melted away as the foursome defrosted a blizzard of progressive/psychedelic rockers such as “Utopia’s Theme,” a slice of “The Ikon” and “Another Life.” With the exception of The Move’s simplified by comparison “Do Ya,” the 70-minute front half was filled with everyone’s instrumental wizardry across more decidedly cerebral cuts (“Monument,” “Overture: Mountaintop And Sunrise/Communion With The Sun”), accompanied by a floor-to-ceiling screen filled with floating eyeballs, smoking pyramids and other album-oriented imagery.

By part two, Utopia ditched its flashy stage clothes and multi-level configuration of musicians for a streamlined look and sound but no less satisfying display of its power pop period. That meant “The Road To Utopia,” “Set Me Free,” “Love In Action,” “Hammer In My Heart” and what turned out to be a higher number of selections than the prior part, despite a slightly shorter run time.

Indeed, this is one of few acts that could go from filling the entire side of an album with a single track and eventually getting covered by yacht rockers England Dan & John Ford Coley, but even if “Love Is The Answer” bared little resemblance to its experimental era, it was received with a standing ovation. Everyone stayed on their feet for “One World” and an encore of Rundgren’s own “Just One Victory,” which didn’t necessarily indicate if this group would be an ongoing pursuit, yet found Utopia victorious for this reconvened season at the very least.

Todd Rundgren’s Utopia performs at the Chicago Theatre on Tuesday, May 22. For additional details, visit Todd-Rundgren.com, TheChicagoTheatre.com and LiveNation.com

For additional information on Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, visit Todd-Rundgren.com.

For a list of upcoming Live Nation shows, visit LiveNation.com.

For a list of upcoming shows at the Pabst Theater, visit PabstTheater.org.