Robots Stole My Piano
Robots Stole My Piano
By Todd Kimbro
Red Venue, 2010 Orlando International Fringe Festival</strong>
Todd Kimbro is one of those Orlando Fringe stalwarts who’s been around since the year dot. While he’s produced a few musicals, this year he’s down to a one man band playing his keyboard in the tent outside. Its still baking hot, even late at night, and he wears a head band to keep his hair in place. Good luck on that; this is neither the time nor place to worry about the ‘doo. Tonight’s music is electronically themed and he opens with The Who’s classic “Baba O’Reilly” (You might think of it as “Teenage Wasteland”, but I checked my vinyl copy of “Who’s Next.”) Kimbro makes a living playing piano and is a pat hand at mixing and transition between songs. He pulls off and interesting glam mash up with Elton John’s “Benny and The Jets” and Bowie’s early “Ziggy Stardust,” and while not the smoothest thing I’ve seen him play, it caught you ear with its mildly syncopated rhythms. He also showed us how to make some music on an iPhone with the “iShred” app. I recommend it for a quick guitar solo if you don’t have time to set up the amps. New projects lurk in Kimbro’s future, he played “Fire Escape”, a very promising piece form a new musical, and he gave us a reprise of some music from “Loud,” an project that dates back to his “Impact!” days. A full house gave him a well deserved ovation, and we all went inside to mop the sweat off out faces. Nice job, Todd!
This event is part of the 2010 Orlando International Fringe Festival. For schedule and ticket information, please visit http://OrlandoFringe.org
