Pictured Todd Rundgren. Photos by HesterJanis Ian (right) and fan Holly Miller at her Chicago gig.
'What becomes a legend most...1'
Todd Rundgren at the House of Blues
Janis Ian at the Old Town School of Folk Music
Though Todd Rundgren and Janis Ian seem drastically dissimilar, they have a lot more in common than meets the eye. Both started their careers in the 1960s while in their teens (he with the Nazz, she as a Greenwich Village folky), both have weathered decade-long career ups and downs, and both have embraced independence and flexibility in continuing. Their new CDs, Rundgren's Liars and Ian's Billie's Bones, were a long time coming, and they offer both familiarity and freshness.
Rundgren hasn't released anything new in a decade, though he has toured recently with Ringo Starr, Hall and Oates, and (of all people) Kenny Loggins. The 'Liars Tour' was pure Todd for the faithful, with him augmented by longtime co-horts Kasim Sultan and Prairie Prince, an LED light system, and enough costume changes to rival a Wigstock blowout.
Dressed from head to toe in black (he kept his shoes on for the entire show) Rundgren and his band roared through Liars with thunderous fury. As a show it was invigorating, neurotic, and downright angry, but like the CD itself, slightly disappointing. Rundgren, though not only a ROCKSTAR, a top-notch producer (Patti Smith, Badfinger, the N.Y. Dolls, the Tubes, the Psychedelic Furs), a techno-whiz who has revolutionized music and how we receive it (only Michael Neismith comes close), and on occasion a dyed-in-the-wool goofball (check out Liars' cover with him dressed as a bunny stealing Easter eggs), is also an outspoken liberal. As a concept album about truth, lies, and the liars who tell them, in this current political climate it feels odd that Rundgren didn't get specific or, well, political. As a result Liars is merely good, not timely, not barbed, more a missed chance to leave blood on the floor (like say Al Rose).
Onstage there were moments of transcendence (when he strapped on a Stratocaster and tackled 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' or just about any time he did pick up a guitar, which wasn't often) and fun (the costume changes, 'Hello It's Me' tossed off late in the show) but Rundgren needs more nerve to make Liars roar like it needs. It's early in the tour ... .
Ian's SRO show couldn't help but get heady early on. It's one thing to hear her on a recording, quite another to experience her live. Accompanying herself solo on guitar, her playing is still disarmingly supple, her voice clear and resonant, but there's a shade of experience that gives both new and old material an added gravity. A lot of it has to do with hearing her at the OTSFM. Obscenely clear acoustics and comfortably intimate, the space has the effect of enlarging Ian's quiet confessionals into mini-arias. The fine new Billie's Bones got a healthy sampling with the disturbing 'Matthew' (about Matthew Shepard), 'My Tennessee Hills' (her duet with Dolly Parton, and the recently completed 'I Hear You Sing Again' (co-written with Woody Guthrie). And of course there were the classics ('Between the Lines,' 'A Good Day for Dying,' 'Society's Child,' 'Boots like Emmy Lou's,' 'At 17'), but to top herself Ian only had to open her mouth.
Live, her self-deprecating wit tends to make her appearances more than mere shows. Of course there were stories about Parton, Ian's desire to play the Grand Old Opry, the intimidating prospect of finishing an incomplete Guthrie song, getting married, getting older, her comparison to Britney Spears ('she's rich ... slut'), and as a closer a gently twangy reading of 'These Boots are Made for Walking.' The show served as a disarmingly intimate get together with Ian in a rare way. The fact that she has remastered/repackaged most of her discography (visit her Web site at www.janisian.com for info) bodes well for the next several generations.