Entertainment Editor Andy Gray

What does a performer owe the audience?

I’ve been thinking about this question a lot since seeing Todd Rundgren last week at the Robins Theatre.

For those who missed the review, Rundgren’s show for a near-capacity crowd was an odd one to say the least. Half of the setlist was covers, and bizarre covers at that — songs by one-hit wonders, novelty songs.

The other half, while it included some of Rundgren’s best known songs — “Hello, It’s Me,” “I Saw the Light,” “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” — also included some deep cuts that would be unfamiliar to anyone who only owns “Something / Anything” or “A Wizard, a True Star.”

He was backed by a stellar band, and even the folks who left grumbling about the song selection couldn’t complain about the caliber of the performance.

I understand the “I wanna hear the hits” mentality. I’ve gone to shows with that mindset, and most acts who’ve been performing as long as Rundgren do just that.

I saw the national tour of The Temptations’ musical, “Ain’t Too Proud,” the following night so I’ll use that group as an example. The order might change a bit, but I bet 90 percent of the songs in a 1995 Temptations concert could be heard in a 2000 Tempts show, a 2010 Tempts show and will be sung the next time the group comes to the area.

At this point, I crave the “one-of-a-kind” experience, and that’s what Rundgren delivered. When / if Rundgren comes back to the Mahoning Valley, I’m guessing “Brand New Key,” “Muskrat Love” and “Butter on a Pop Tart” (from “The Family Guy”) won’t be in the setlist. But there’s no guarantee “Hello, It’s Me” will be either.

But Rundgren committed a greater sin than not playing the hits. He shared his opinions.

Rundgren took a shot at Jim Jordan, a conservative U.S. representative from Ohio; he encouraged the audience to go vote, before amending that to just the Democrats; and he delivered a monologue on the importance of men standing up alongside women in the fight for reproductive rights.

I saw a fair amount of grumbling on social media after the show about Rundgren’s comments. I also saw plenty of defenders. And I got an email from someone who wrote — predominantly in ALL CAPS and multiple exclamation points — that I should be fired, I guess because I didn’t attack Rundgren’s speechifying as much as he thought it deserved.

Rundgren’s political views shouldn’t be a surprise based on some of the songs he’s written. Some of those songs were in last week’s set. A conservative complaining about an artist like Rundgren (or Bruce Springsteen or the Dixie Chicks) expressing their views on stage seems as foolish to me as if a liberal complains Lynyrd Skynyrd had Confederate flags at its upcoming Covelli Centre concert or performed an “America, love it or leave it” song like “Red, White & Blue” (which is in the current setlist).

If you weren’t expecting that, you weren’t paying attention.

The greatest irony is the ones most likely to scream, “Shut up and sing,” are the same ones who post 10 memes a day on social media expousing their political views. They believe they have the right to use the platforms available to them to share their views and try to sway opinion, but they don’t believe others have that same right. Maybe they’re just jealous of the size of Rundgren’s microphone.

While I didn’t have a stopwatch on Rundgren, I would guess the sum total of his political comments was no more than two minutes. That’s less than 2 percent in a 110-minute performance.

If less than 2 percent of a show is enough to send someone to the box office screaming for a refund, I hope that person never has called a liberal a “snowflake.”

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com