For the first time in 32 years, performer/producer Todd Rundgren is reuniting his band Utopia for an extended tour of the United States.

Founded as a progressive septet specializing in synthesizer-heavy, instrumentally-oriented wigouts, Utopia served as both Rundgren’s dedicated live band and an outlet for his more experimental music.  However, as Rundgren’s solo albums kept getting wilder, Utopia went a different way, shedding two of three keyboard players, picking up Kasim Sulton as bassist and co-vocalist, and morphing from the proggy hard rock  of Ra (including the tongue-in-cheek epic “Singring and the Glass Guitar — An Electrified Fairy Tale”) to sleek power pop with cooperative songwriting, tight harmonies and a high-tech sheen.

With Roger Powell on keyboards and Willie Wilcox on drums, Utopia hit a commercial peak on the albums Oops! Wrong Planet (including “Love Is the Answer,” later a pop hit for England Dan & John Ford Coley) and Adventures In Utopia (intended as the soundtrack for a Monkees-like TV series that never happened).   The band’s highest visibility may have been as the backing group for Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell album, which Rundgren produced.

True to Rundgren’s restless musical tastes, Utopia then veered off into the commercial dead ends of Deface the Music (an album of Beatles pastiches) and Swing to the Right (a concept record slamming early Reaganism).   Rundgren’s pioneering video work for the band gained extensive play on the fledging MTV, but the quartet petered out in 1985, only reuniting for a 1992 tour of Japan.

Rundgren, Sulton and Wilcox are on board for this tour, with the now-retired Powell replaced by original keyboardist Ralph Shuckett.  While I’ve seen Rundgren live a couple of times, even getting to crash the stage and play a bongo on “Bang the Drum All Day,” I’ve never caught Utopia in concert.  (My brother, working security at an outdoor amphitheatre one summer, got to work their flashpots while teenage girls rushed the stage.)  Since they’re heading to Grand Rapids in May, I’m strongly inclined to check them out.  No idea what they’ll play — the quartet would indicate a focus on the pop years, but every member has tons of chops, so epics like “The Icon” could be in the offing as well.  Check out Live Nation’s “reunion video” for more info:

Ticket for Todd Rundgren’s Utopia will be available through Live Nation starting this Friday; Rundgren’s Facebook page has additional info on presales & VIP packages.  Tour dates are as follows:

Apr 18, Wed Jim Thorpe, PA – Penn’s Peak
Apr 20, Fri Englewood, NJ – Bergen Performing Arts Center
Apr 22, Sun Houston, TX – House Of Blues
Apr 23, Mon Dallas, TX – Majestic Theatre
Apr 25, Wed Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Au-Rene Theater at Broward Center
Apr 27, Fri St. Petersburg, FL – The Mahaffey Theater
Apr 28, Sat Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
Apr 29, Sun Durham, NC – Carolina Theater
May 1, Tue Huntington, NY – The Paramount
May 2, Wed Washington, DC – Warner Theater
May 3, Thu New York, New York – Town Hall
May 5, Sat Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theater
May 6, Sun Boston, MA – Orpheum Theater
May 7, Mon Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Theater
May 9, Wed St. Louis, MO – Peabody Opera House
May 10, Thu Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theater
May 12, Sat Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
May 13, Sun Minneapolis, MN – State Theater
May 15, Tue Grand Rapids, MI – 20 Monroe Live
May 16, Wed Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
May 17, Thu Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
May 19, Sat Cleveland, OH – Hard Rock Live
May 22, Tue Chicago, IL – Chicago Theater
May 24, Thu Denver, CO – Paramount Theater
May 26, Sat Las Vegas, NV – The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
May 27, Sun Phoenix, AZ – Comercia Theater
May 29, Tue Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
May 30, Wed San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
June 1, Fri Seattle, WA – Moore Theater
June 2, Tue Portland, OR – Revolution Theater
June 4, Wed Sacramento, CA – Crest Theater
June 5, Tue Riverside, CA – Fox Performing Arts Center

— by Rick Krueger