Utopia
1981-08-25
Malibu Night Club
Lido Beach, NY

Todd Rundgren – Vocals, Electric Guitar, Ac. Guitar on “Cliché”
Roger Powell – Keyboards, Piano, Vocals
Kasim Sulton – Bass, Vocals, El. Guitar on “Rock Love”
John “Willie” Wilcox – Drums, Vocals

source/lineage- FLAC files folder share of Audience Recording captured on unknown equipment> Audacity> TLH> TTD

One World {cut}
Swing to the Right
Last Dollar on Earth
Set Me Free
Only Human
Rock Love
The Up
Love of the Common Man
Cliché
Always Late
The Very Last Time (cut in the middle)
Lysistrata
Back on the Street
Crazy Lady Blue
Time Heals
Healer
I Saw the Light {intro in progress}
Caravan
Love in Action
Last of the New Wave Riders
Couldn’t I Just Tell You
Love is the Answer
Just One Victory

Here's a show from the days when Utopia was an ongoing band releasing (or, in this case, waiting to release) new music. It came from a run of shows shared not long ago on another tracker via the generosity of someone who had some pretty rare material to offer. This date qualifies as rare because the recording is not on the Todd Connection boots page. There are still a few solo Todd shows and a '92 reunion gig from Utopia yet to come in bringing all of those shows over here. This 1981 show is a rough recording, and will remain a rough listen. That's even after employing tools from Audacity to get it into the improved shape you'll now find it. Those tools tracked the show, dealt with a booming bass from Kasim, and hopefully added a bit more overall clarity to the musical presentation.
This club was on the south shore of Long Island, and not too far away from Jones Beach or better known L.I. venues like My Father's Place. I saw Utopia in NYC's South Street Seaport about 6 weeks before this show, but I never went to any shows at Malibu. Things I've read and heard indicate Malibu could be packed to the rafters, and that there were often various promo nights to draw people in. The crowd and crowd noises on this recording make it appear that stories about the venue were pretty accurate. There's lots of chatter throughout the show, and regrettably that includes singing along to the point where a loud guy near to the recorder is nearly as prominent on Cliche as Todd himself. Crowd singers on some of the more beloved material (Love is the Answer) sometimes nearly drown out the excellent backing voices onstage. Beyond any of that, the opener, One World, has cuts from the start, and Road to Utopia, which presumably came after that, is totally missing. There's a cut in the middle of Very Last Time, which might relate to a tape flip, and I Saw the Light is joined in progress.
Taking all of that into consideration, this is pretty assuredly a "collectors only" kind of show.
It is however, a nearly complete Swing show, and the band does sound good playing this material. The Swing album followed Adventures, which had probably seen them reach their commercial peak, and Deface the Music, but a protracted dysfunctional relationship with their Bearsville label held Swing in limbo. It wouldn't be released until the end of February, 1982. As a fan from those days, that wait seemed eternal. Prior to the impasse involving Swing, either a group or solo album from the Utopia camp came along pretty regularly. We were used to new "product" heading our way with frequency and regularity. 6 of Swing's 10 tracks are played here, along with Time Heals and Healer from Todd's current solo album from that general time. There's even a holdover from the Beatles pastiche, Deface the Music, in Always Late. That in itself is kind of rare, as much of the Deface material was retired after the album's release and promo gigs unfortunately and tragically coinciding within weeks of John Lennon's murder.
Thanks again to the person who share this and the other shows at that other tracker (and their approval to have them worked prior to future shares), and to whoever braved the Malibu on that late summer night in '81 to generate this artifact. Check the samples for an idea of what you'll be hearing, and if you do choose to grab this, enjoy the journey back to these times.