Artist:     Todd Rundgren’s Utopia

Album:     Benefit for Moogy Klingman

Label:     Purple Pyramid Records

Release Date:     05.01.2020

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There’s a lot to unpack here: four audio CDs and two video CDs. Captured live are two nights of the original Utopia lineup, the first show from January 2011 and the second from November of the same year.

Learning that keyboardist Moogy Klingman was battling bladder cancer was enough to lure Todd Rundgren from his Hawaii paradise to travel to New York’s Highline Ballroom and reunite with Klingman, John Siegler on bass, Kevin Ellman on drums and keyboardist Kasim Sulton to raise money for Klingman’s treatments. It was intended to be just a single fund-raising event, but the boys had so much fun that they decided to attempt a tour later in the year. By then, Moogy’s health was fading. The second show, from the Peekskill Performing Arts Center on November 18, took place just three days after Moogy’s passing and was a celebration of their bandmate, a musician whose influence was wider than many music fans know.

Although Utopia was always Todd Rundgren’s thing (it was more of a project than a band), Moogy was a major part of the sound and substance. Before Utopia released its first album, Moogy had toured with Lou Reed post-Velvet Underground, produced an album for Hall & Oates and served as Bette Midler’s musical director. Like Rundgren, he enjoyed working in the studio, creating the dense, multi-layered tracks that Utopia became known for. There are some favorites here—“Utopia Theme,” “The Ikon,” “Freak Parade”—along with Moogy’s “You Got to Have Friends,” which he co-wrote and arranged for Bette Middler. Rundgren’s “The Wheel” and Jeff Lynne’s “Do Ya” appear in both sets, and the bittersweet “Just One Victory” concludes the second show memorial.

There was little time to rehearse for the January show and there are some rough spots, unlike the lush studio sound listeners might expect. The November show is more polished without losing any of the emotion. The two video CDs capture the light shows that at the time made Todd Rundgren’s Utopia such a trippy experience. The whole package is a little over the top, which should suit progressive rock fans just fine.

Here’s to Moogy.

—Lou Montesano