Todd Rundgren's Utopia 1975-07-13 Cobo Hall, Detroit, MI

Todd Rundgren's Utopia - July 13th 1975
Cobo Hall, Detroit, MI, US

Setlist:

01. Star Spangled Banner - Utopia Theme (15:24)
02. Sunset Blvd. - Le Feel Internacionale (6:36)
03. Freedom Fighters (4:29)
04. Don't You Ever Learn (7:39)
05. 7 Rays (8:38)
06. Heavy Metal Kids (4:21) [channel replacement done on R, replaced w/ L @0:00-4:09]
07. The Ikon '75 (6:16)
08. The Wheel (8:18)
09. Real Man (4:24)
10. Born to Synthesize (3:38)
11. Death of Rock'n'Roll (3:40)
12. Eastern Intrigue (5:11)
13. Initiation (6:53)
14. Fair Warning (8:28) [fixed overlap; cut @4:36, left untouched]
15. Vegas Medley (9:11) [cuts in - tape change cut eliminated]
16. No. 1 Lowest Common Denominator (7:32)
17. Intro (3:35)
18. Freak Parade (12:25)
19. The Last Ride (4:50) [cuts in]
20. Mr. Triscuits (10:55) [R channel replaced w/ L @0:00-4:25]
21. Something's Coming (3:08)
22. Open My Eyes (5:22)
23. Sons of 1984 (3:31)

Total time: 154:25 min.


Notes:

Tracking, EQ, repairs, re-master by fartherobliv (JF), January, 2014.

This is a special treat. Super rare, and in very few (if any) collector's hands until now. It is two master cassettes that I believe Frank Bubnick had been holding on to from a 70s 'snail' mail trade... Back when a 'trade' was even to be made! He gave them to me a while ago, and I've always thought these poor sounding primitive tapes could be a great audience recording, if put in the right hands to fix it up (So many classic 70s fan recordings have made at the famous Cobo Hall in Detroit). Well, my/our friend~ Joe franks (Fartherobliv) took my transfer of this recording and did just that. The mastery he performed has made this a VERY good listen. The exact date of this show is arguable but we know it took place between July 4th & July 14th (the first dates of the 1975 Tour in support of Initiation). And Willie had just replaced Kevin Ellman on drums. My tapes are scribbled with July 13, so I'm going with that

About the work Joe did, he says: "Sound is steady and mostly consistent, and listenable. Clean and nice after the EQ. HMK has some hectic sound at first 2 min then clears up (repairs noted below). The Ikon 75' as I call it (which is just the jam part slightly extended) gives us a nice deviation, HOWEVER it has none of the momentum of the previous year, and only gives us extremely short solos before stopping. I do enjoy the Side A Initiation medley especially here, it sounds as fresh as it would ever be at any time, definitely a very nice aspect of this show. The Vegas Hits Medley is missing the beginning intro, but the other tape flip has been edited out on this remastered version to keep it continuous. I'm a sucker for the Vegas Hits Medley, it's charming, and for me a highly enjoyable aspect of this show. Some of the dialogue that Todd says is hard to hear, the Freak Preamble is its own track, in case someone would want to skip that part. Freak Parade is quite awesome. TLR is missing the beginning. Then we get Mr Triscuits, which is another highlight. This show has Killer moments for sure. Thanks so much Warren, and to Frank B."

You'll ENJOY this! (-- Warren)

Link