Kick Out the Jams: Todd Rundgren and the Liars at the House of Blues, Sept. 12

How important has this guy been to music? Well, what was the first video ever shown on MTV? That's right, "Video Killed the Radio Star." But it ended a few minutes later and they had to show another one. Todd Rundgren's "Time Heals" was the second video ever shown on MTV, and a revolution was begun.

For ages, I've been vaguely familiar with Rundgren as that ridiculously prolific, experimental, super-influential writer/producer/musician/engineer sonic-science visionary almost nobody listens to. Many of us remember "Hello It's Me" and "Bang on the Drum All Day," a couple of highly accessible '70s pop tracks now relegated to oldies rotation, but little else. He's touring again with fresh stuff from Liars, the first album of all-new material in 10 years, and Sunday night's show was a two-hour lesson in applied history. This is an artist renowned for his strides in everything studio-related, not for live performance. Nonetheless, I found myself among a few hundred pretty hardcore fans--a cheerful 40-and-up crowd that seemed heavy on the computer programmers, yet with some kind of fun-lovin' Jimmy Buffet vibe going on as well.

Rundgren finally emerged in a black cowl, looking like a blond Ozzy. The other band members wore assorted holy man regalia and stood in front of white, monolithic LED light-slabs that ended up working beautifully despite the whole thing looking very Spinal Tap at first. Much of the energy came early, as the band reeled out newer songs and a cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," with Rundgren parading in a black denim skirt and tank top. During the course of the show, the mood onstage went from cool to warm, blue to red, and from techno to a loungey blue-eyed soul that he sustained more than comfortably, by now wearing pinstripes and an op-art tie.

I was won over. At 56, his rock 'n' roll scream and falsetto have lost nothing. Shrieks, hoots and shouts of "Todd is God!" went up from the floor, and I soon learned that to be a Rundgren fan is to specifically dig the longevity of his broad artistic self-concept. He's just fiercely independent Todd, free of genre allegiances, and hitting all over the map is the only style he'll ever know.--Dave Surratt