Todd Rundgren is headlining a U.S. spring tour that pays tribute to the music of late iconic songwriter Burt Bacharach. The trek, dubbed “What the World Needs Now: The Burt Bacharach Songbook Live in Concert,” kicks off this Saturday, March 22, in Ventura, California.
Videos by American Songwriter
The outing, which features a total of 22 concerts, runs through an April 23 performance in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In recent years, Rundgren has taken part in multiple other tours showcasing the music of The Beatles and David Bowie. Todd told American Songwriter that after a grueling Bowie-themed outing in 2022, he’d “sworn off” doing any more tribute treks, but had a change of heart when he was offered the Bacharach tour.
“Burt Bacharach is a real seminal influence for me, and there’s … little bits of Bacharach in my own sort of songwriting approach and stuff,” Rundgren noted. “So I thought, ‘This is probably something that I should do, and also something that I might be envious of if somebody else was doing it.’ So I thought, ‘Don’t pass up the opportunity. I’ll go back to not doing [tribute tours] after Burt.’”
More Details About the Bacharach Tribute Tour
Rundgren is the main vocalist on the trek. The tour also will feature Wendy Moten, the runner-up on the 2021 season of The Voice. In addition, various special guests will perform at select dates on the outing.
The “What the World Needs Now” shows are being overseen by former Bacharach music director and arranger Rob Shirakbari. Shirakbari will lead a nine-piece ensemble featuring musicians who previously have worked with Brian Wilson, Aretha Franklin, Adele, Stevie Wonder, and Elvis Costello, as well as Rundgren.
The musicians taking part in the trek include longtime Rundgren bassist Kasim Sulton and Wilson touring band member Probyn Gregory.
More About Rundgren’s Contributions to the Show
Regarding the amount of tunes Rundgren will generally be performing at each show, he said, “[B]etween the duets and the songs that I am doing [alone], I’m probably … on a good dozen songs.”
He also noted, “There will be two sets, with an intermission. And I do a lot more in the first set than I do in the second set. So, that gives other people a little bit more spotlight.”
Rundgren also explained that he chose some of the songs he’ll sing, while other tunes were assigned to him.
One song he picked was the classic Tom Jones hit “What’s New Pussycat?”
“I think we can have a lot of fun with that,” he noted. “You know … getting the audience to do meowing throughout the song and that sort of thing. … [T]here are certainly a couple of sort of sing-along moments [in the show], but there are not a lot of moments as lighthearted as that.”
A song Todd will be singing that he didn’t request is the Elvis Costello-Bacharach co-write “God Give Me Strength.”
“[I]t had to be in the set, and I have to do it,” Rundgren said with some reservation. “[E]ven by Elvis’s admission, it’s a scary song. You know, he was scared to perform it, so I’m a little bit on tenterhooks trying to get my head around that. It’s almost … operatic in a way.”
About the Tour’s Special Guests
According to WhattheWorldNeedsNow.net, special guests have only been confirmed for the first two dates of the tour so far. Men at Work frontman Colin Hay, jazz/soul singer/songwriter Lady Blackbird, and Americana artist Chris Pierce, will join Rundgren and Moten on March 22 in Ventura and March 23 in Los Angeles.
Dionne Warwick, of course, is probably the singer most associated with Bacharach. Shirakbari also has served as Warwick’s music director, so it seems natural that Dionne would perform at some point during the tour.
According to Rundgren, there’s “some chance” Warwick will be available to perform at one of more dates on the Bacharach tribute tour, but she also will be playing shows in Europe during part of the trek.
“I can’t confirm or disaffirm any particular show, but we expect to have some guest artists throughout the tour,” Todd noted. “And we’re certainly hoping to get … at least one gig out of [Dionne]. And hopefully, if it’s possible, more.”
Rundgren on How Bacharach Influenced His Own Music
Rundgren said he first started listening to Bacharach’s music when he was in high school, after he heard the classic Warwick hit “Walk On By.”
“[W]hen I heard ‘Walk On By’ on the radio, I decided to buy the Dionne Warwick album, and … I loved every song on it, and had a great appreciation for the stylistic differences,” he noted.
Todd continued, “[A]t the time, [I was] very influenced by The Beatles. I wanted to be a guitar player. … [A]t that time, I was not writing any songs. I didn’t have any reason to, because I wasn’t performing yet. And I guess by the time I got around to writing songs, that was already well gestated in me—you know, the influence that that particular record had.”
Rundgren also recalled, “When I was still in high school, we had no piano at home, so I used to stay after school and play the piano in the auditorium, and found my hands just going to these kind of major and minor sevenths rather than just the regular chords that most pop music utilized. [I] realized that that was probably … [partly] because I gravitated toward Burt Bacharach.”
He added with a laugh, “I wanted to be Eric Clapton or Jeff Beck or somebody like that on the guitar, but when I was on the piano, I was Burt Bacharach.”
Rundgren Says He Blew His One Chance to Meet Bacharach
Rundgren revealed to American Songwriter that he never met Bacharach, but the one time he had the chance, he unknowingly blew his opportunity.
As he explained, Bacharach had come unannounced to a concert Rundgren was doing at the Belly Up Tavern near San Diego specifically hoping to hear Todd perform his 1971 hit “Hello It’s Me.” Unfortunately, Rundgren was doing his “Unpredictable Evening,” where here plays more rarities and unexpected cover songs.
“I didn’t do [‘Hello It’s Me’] that night. And so, [Burt] left disappointed before I could even meet him,” Todd shared with a laugh. “But that kind of shows that … he was aware of ‘Hello It’s Me’ and wanted to hear me play it. He probably heard his influence in that song, and that’s why he wanted to hear it.”
“What the World Needs Now: The Burt Bacharach Songbook Live in Concert” Tour Dates:
3/22 – Ventura, CA @ Ventura Theater
3/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
3/25 – Del Mar, CA @ The Sound
3/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Celebrity Theatre
3/28 – Dallas, TX @ Longhorn Ballroom
3/29 – Houston, TX @ Heights Theater
3/31 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
4/1 – Akron, OH @ Akron Civic Center
4/2 – Detroit, MI @ MotorCity Casino – Sound Board
4/4 – Bethlehem, PA @ Wind Creek Event Center
4/5 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Music Box at Borgata
4/7 – Munhall, PA @ Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall
4/9 – Boston, MA @ The Wilbur
4/11 – Englewood, NJ @ Bergen Performing Arts Center
4/12 – Ridgefield, CT @ The Ridgefield Playhouse
4/13 – Patchogue, NY @ Patchogue Theatre
4/15 – Glenside, PA @ Keswick Theatre
4/16 – Annapolis, MD @ Maryland Hall
4/18 – Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre at Old National Centre
4/21 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
4/22 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Mahaffey Theater
4/23 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ The Parker
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