Photos provided by Shore Fire Media

In every facet of Todd Rundgren’s 50-plus year career, which includes conceptual solo work, teaming with Nazz, Utopia, The New Cars and Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band, plus producing the monumental Meat Loaf, Hall & Oates, Grand Funk Railroad, Badfinger, New York Dolls, XTC and many more, he’s always been ahead of the curve.

The absurdly belated 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominee is easily amongst the earliest artists to ever embrace digital audio and video technology, computer software, multiple aspects of the internet, downloading and an artist subscription service before they reached the mainstream, making it all the more fitting he’s leading the charge on livestreaming while the world is locked down.

Prior to the pandemic, Rundgren was actually already sculpting the idea to save on the wear and tear of travel, allow attendees a concert experience from the comfort of their own homes and solve the problem of not being able to get into a sold out show.

All of those ideas finally came to fruition on the “Clearly Human” Virtual Tour, a run of 25 performances shown exclusively and tailored to just as many specific cities (geo-fenced by the zip code closest to American ticket buyers) on the NoCap platform.

By sheer coincidence, they’re all being beamed from a private, undisclosed location right here in Chicago in front of both fans shown on screens and less than 20 socially-distanced audience members (who paid a premium price and must present proof of a negative COVID test).

Rundgren gave several shout-outs to this extremely loyal region amidst a generous two-hour set, enhanced by a lavish production, crisp sound, seven tight musicians and three lively background singers, (but also subject to the drawbacks of buffering, dropped signals and anyone’s home entertainment gear that isn’t up to snuff for the optimal online experience).

Together, they confidently tore through much of 1989’s soulful “Nearly Human” album, a fitting choice given its themes of loss, doubt, and ultimately, a sense of healing everyone could embrace given the hellacious circumstances leading up to this point.

Though Rundgren’s voice was better in his younger days, the consummate showman picked up steam as the set wore on with his own gems “Parallel Lines,” “Can’t Stop Running,” “Just One Victory” (a Windy City exclusive dedicated to surprise guest/lifelong Rundgren enthusiast Mayor Lori Lightfoot), “Can We Still Be Friends” and “The Want Of A Nail,” plus Utopia’s “Secret Society” and “Love In Action.”

The brassy, splashy show dug even deeper for several “A Cappella” and “2nd Wind” obscurities, leaving a little room for Rundgren’s commercial calling card, “Hello It’s Me,” but skipping fellow radio regulars “I Saw The Light” and “Bang The Drum All Day.”

While it couldn’t replace the real deal, the “Clearly Human” Virtual Tour easily matched a high-budget DVD or TV special and is worthy of either format in the future, though hopefully sooner than later, this all-around innovator will be able to actually take the show on the road to faithful in the flesh.

For additional information on Todd Rundgren, visit Todd-Rundgren.com.

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