web1_softball-340488_960_720.jpg

Tunkhannock secures spot in softball World Series

web1_120934775-1de629d11d374385859022303c937109.jpg

Avenatti: 3 women paid ‘hush money’ for Trump relationships

<p>Longtime fans of Todd Rundgren&#8217;s music have learned never to expect the same thing twice. That&#8217;s because the renowned multi-instrumentalist, avant-garde composer and producer has touched on everything from pop-rock balladry to experimental psychedelia, synth-laden progressive rock and hard rock in his long and storied career.</p><p>An Unpredictable Evening with Todd Rundgren, the artist&#8217;s current tour, will land in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday for an 8 p.m. performance at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts.</p><p>The tour, Rundgren said in a recent phone interview, is different than the meticulously planned, high-production shows he and his bandmates in reunited progressive rock outfit Utopia performed during a series of gigs that ended in June.</p><p>&#8220;This, in some ways, is much less about the theatrical elements and much more about the music itself,&#8221; Rudgren said. &#8220;It&#8217;s unpredictable in that the list of songs that I use for my starting point includes a lot of material that isn&#8217;t mine. I&#8217;m not just celebrating my music but music that, in general, had an influence on me, music that people can be nostalgic about &#8230; songs that people have never heard before and songs from my catalog.&#8221;</p><p>Rundgren and his band will have a song in mind to begin each set on the tour, but what follows is never predetermined.</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t know what songs we&#8217;re playing or what order we&#8217;re playing them in,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think another reason people enjoy this show is I talk more than I do with more theatrical shows. In those contexts, I&#8217;m more assuming a character. In the &#8216;unpredictable&#8217; context, I&#8217;m being myself more or less.&#8221;</p><p>As Rundgren progresses from tour to tour, a network of musicians he works with frequently provides a sense of consistency. Bassist Kasim Sulton, for instance, is both a member of Utopia and plays in Rundgren&#8217;s band; fellow Utopia bandmate Roger Powell has played in both outfits; and drummer Prairie Prince has performed from both catalogs.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s that level of familiarity,&#8221; Rundgren said. &#8220;In some ways, the parts are interchangeable. &#8230; It&#8217;s not much of an adjustment for me.&#8221;</p><p>Rundgren&#8217;s latest studio album, 2017&#8217;s &#8220;White Knight,&#8221; was a departure from his creative process on other recent albums in that he deliberately sought a collaborative process with other musicians.</p><p>Living on the Hawaiian island Kauai since the 1990&#8217;s, the Upper Darby native has chosen to be a one-man band and studio presence on late-career records, an approach he approximated as early as 1973&#8217;s cult-masterpiece &#8220;A Wizard, A True Star.&#8221;</p><p>On &#8220;White Knight,&#8221; Rundgren pooled ideas with greats like Joe Walsh, Daryl Hall, Donald Fagen and later-generation soundlab scientist Trent Reznor.</p><p>&#8220;The process worked out so well that I&#8217;m continuing to do it,&#8221; Rundgren said. &#8220;It was a pretty successful record for me. I&#8217;m doing more collaborations with other artists and talking with my label about forming an imprint to release these collaborations, ones I might be involved in and some I might be fostering.&#8221;</p><p>Always the innovator, Rundgren has been at the forefront of studio experimentation, listener-interactive albums and audience-interactive live shows throughout his career. Technology is still something he embraces and looks forward to embracing.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m looking into some different ways to present a live show,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Using some developing, virtual technologies like VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality), I think it would be interesting for me to have performances that could be streamed live and listeners or audience members could change the context of performing. For instance, I could be sitting on your coffee table singing a song if you look through your device.&#8221;</p><p>Tickets are available for Rundgren&#8217;s Kirby Center performance at the venue box office, online at kirbycenter.org and by phone at 570-826-1100.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_AP_518079111324.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Todd Rundgren&#8217;s latest album, 2017&#8217;s &#8216;White Knight,&#8217; featured collaborations with Joe Walsh, Donald Fagen, Daryl Hall and Trent Reznor.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_AP_518079111324.jpg</photo0><caption0>Todd Rundgren&#8217;s latest album, 2017&#8217;s &#8216;White Knight,&#8217; featured collaborations with Joe Walsh, Donald Fagen, Daryl Hall and Trent Reznor.  </caption0><photoCredit0>Photo by Evan Agostini | Invision/AP </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_AP_116260785270.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Todd Rundgren has touched on a variety of sounds throughout his diverse career. His albums have reflected everything from pop-rock balladry to effect-heavy psychedelic rock to synthesizer-driven progressive rock. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_AP_116260785270.jpg</photo1><caption1>Todd Rundgren has touched on a variety of sounds throughout his diverse career. His albums have reflected everything from pop-rock balladry to effect-heavy psychedelic rock to synthesizer-driven progressive rock. </caption1><photoCredit1>Photo by Owen Sweeney | Invision/AP </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_AP_17192827323677.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Multi-instrumentalist, experimental composer and producer Todd Rundgren will perform at 8 p.m. Sunday at the F.M. Kirby Center in downtown Wilkes-Barre.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/web1_AP_17192827323677.jpg</photo2><caption2>Multi-instrumentalist, experimental composer and producer Todd Rundgren will perform at 8 p.m. Sunday at the F.M. Kirby Center in downtown Wilkes-Barre.  </caption2><photoCredit2>Photo by Amy Harris | Invision/AP </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>An Unpredictable Evening with Todd Rundgren</p><p><strong>When: </strong>8 p.m. Sunday</p><p><strong>Where: </strong>F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, 71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Additional information: </strong>Ticket prices range from $25 to $49.50 and are available at the Kirby Center box office, online at kirbycenter.org and by phone at 570-826-1100. </p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or on Twitter @RMatthewMattei. </p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> 916MsTlT63w</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=916MsTlT63w</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> &lt;iframe width=&#8221;560&#8221; height=&#8221;315&#8221; src=&#8221;https://www.youtube.com/embed/916MsTlT63w&#8221; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8221; allow=&#8221;autoplay; encrypted-media&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> Todd Rundgren&#8217;s Utopia - One World</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Jimmy Kimmel Live</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Todd Rundgren to bring ‘unpredictable evening’ to F.M. Kirby Center in WB