AMG Review of Live at the Royal Oak [Video/DVD]

Greg Prato
All Music Guide

Few artists have rejected burgeoning mainstream commercial success as many times as Todd Rundgren has -- either as a solo artist, or as a member of Utopia. Utopia's 1980 release, Adventures in Utopia, was a surprise hit, as the band that once specialized in complicated prog-rock shifted their focus to new wave-ish pop songs. But just a few months after the release of Adventures came its follow-up, the Beatles parody "'Deface the Music,'" which successfully rid the band of their new Top 40 audience. Taped in 1981 at a stop in Detroit, the home video/DVD #Live at the Royal Oak contains highlights from Utopia's recent pop direction, classics, and material from a just-released solo Rundgren album and forthcoming Utopia set ("'Healing'" and "'Swing to the Right'"). Surprisingly absent is material from the aforementioned "'Deface'" (perhaps John Lennon's recent death put a damper on the proceedings), but the band hands in a memorable and enjoyable performance. Dressed from head to toe in army fatigues (with Rundgren playing Eric Clapton's legendary psychedelic Gibson SG), Rundgren and company bash out such Utopia standards as "One World," "The Very Last Time," "Caravan," and "Love in Action," plus the early solo Rundgren gem "Just One Victory" and the undisputed highlight of the whole video, the upbeat Something/Anything ditty "Couldn't I Just Tell You." While it could have been an even stronger video if songs from Deface were included (also noticeably absent is their hit single from a year before, "Set Me Free"), Live at the Royal Oak is a fine snapshot of early-'80s era Utopia in concert.