Jethro Tull
 

Jethro Tull was great. The Strathmore in Bethesda, MD is a high-fallootin place. Garage, skywalk, etc. - a real theatre, usually a place for plays. They had these cool loge seats, 3 levels 3 deep, that seated only 5 that hung over the crowd. They were quite pricey, as were the floor seats. I sat in the back, 3rd of 4 levels, wayyyy up high. About 2hrs 45 min including a 30 minute intermission. Where I could scoff at the 35-45 dollar t-shirts...

I don't have heroes, mostly people I respect and admire, even awe. Ian Anderson is as close to a hero as I have. He is simply the most musically perfect person I've ever seen.

Tull has a new bassist (David Goodier) and keys (John O'Hara) (and accordian - between him and the Dimeola guy, I'm really starting to dig this instrument) that's excellent. O'Hara I read is scoring Quadraphenia, and was adept at leading the string quartet (more on that in a bit) as he was smokin' on the Hammond. Ian rearranged some of the songs to fit their style. For instance, "Bouree" was completely reworked from when Andy Gittings and Jonathan Noyce were in the band. But that's typical Ian Anderson - able to put his musicians in the best possible situation to succeed and still remain front and center of the band.

Having seen Tull consistently since 1979, they never cease to amaze me with how they keep the music alive. There are times that I know when something will happen (like Ian pretending to injure his privates during "My God"), but musically it's fresh. Aqualung was a perfect example. It's one song they've played many thousands of times. But this time it was about 12 minutes, and maybe a minute of it was the heavy "da da da da da da". Most of it was interplay between the strings and the keyboard, a lot of it you may not have thought was Aqualung. The only exception was "Budapest", a song they dragged out and I'm simply sick and tired of.

As they have been doing for some 10 years, they hit the old records hard. And I mean This Was, Stand Up, Benefit, Aqualung. Nothing between 1974 and 2002, except for a rousing "Songs From the Wood/Heavy Horses" combination by the quartet, with Ian and Martin.

Speaking of Martin, he's just so solid. Still going strong at 61, he is an immaculate guitarist. Ian said "we have a combined age of 121"....Ian's voice was pretty much shot, but he does try and doesn't shy away from the challenge.

The crowd was fine...last time I saw them some jackass was solo yelling about 3 times a song. And it was an especially quiet show. Only during the encore did I get my hackles up...the whistling right behind my head. The concert whistler is just behing the axe murderer in my hierarchy of assholes.

As for the string quartet, the four knockouts were nice...Ian says "and now they will fit their tight rear ends in their respective seats".... on "Nothing Is Easy" he also referred to the fact that they were gone as to indicate an especially rocking number.

The songs (not in order):

My Sunday Feeling
Someday the Sun Won't Shine For You
Bouree
America (dedicated to Keith Emerson, who Ian says "is not dead yet but I'm sure he feels bad like I do, and it's a good idea to have careful planning") - a 10 minute suite, fantastic rendition!
Sossity You're A Woman / Reasons For Waiting
The Water Carrier
Fat Man
Nothing Is Easy
My God
Thick As A Brick(15 minutes worth, same sections as always)
a new song, instrumental that was smoking hot (about a pub, called the Monkey House I think)
Living In The Past
Locomotive Breath
Budapest
Aqualung
Songs From The Wood/Heavy Horses (strings, Flute, Guitar only)

hope I didn't miss any...

Doane Perry on drums rounded out the band. He's been with Tull since 1984, and it took me a long time to fully apprecite him. Like Barriemore Barlow, he's a technician whose power is sometimes lost in Tull's complex arrangements. But he's consistent as hell, perfect for the band.

Will always be my favorite band.

Another voice
 

and a good one. I attended the show with my friend Craig and his wife Valerie (who works at PRS and shipped Martin's guitar out to him last month). This review is by Scott Houston and friend of Craig's.... (I missed the Madrigal in my list and royally butchered the new song name)....

An Evening with Jethro Tull
Monday, December 3, 2007, 8PM
Strathmore Music Center
North Bethesda, MD USA
Sold Out

Ian Anderson
Martin Barre
Doane Perry, Drums
David Goodier, Bass
John O'Hara, Keyboards
The Calliandra String Quartet

In rough order of performance:
For future confirmation and correction of this list see
http://www.ministry-of-information.c...etlist/07c.htm

Someday the Sun Won't Shine for You
Living In The Past
The Donkey and The Drum
The Water Carrier
Pastime with Good Company (King Henry's Madrigal)
Songs From the Wood/Heavy Horses
Sossity... You're a Woman/Reasons for Waiting
Fat Man
Bouree
Nothing Is Easy
<20 minute intermission>
My Sunday Feeling
Thick as a Brick (abbreviated)
Aqualung (improvised)
America
My God
Budapest
<Encore>
Locomotive Breath

My Review:

The Strathmore Music Center has better acoustics than any other venue
I've seen Jethro Tull in the past. I've seen Tull about fifteen times
over the past 29 years. The maturity of the band along with the
formality of the Strathmore made this concert more refined - It wasn't
your traditional rock concert. I sat along side the stage in the 2nd
level promenade box seats only about 40 feet from the stage looking
down at the band from the left side.

This Jethro Tull concert included the Calliandra String Quartet, four
young women from the New England Conservatory of Music. Years ago, it
was a novelty to have a major rock band perform with an orchestra.
Over time, Jethro Tull has included classical musicians into their act
almost seamlessly. Instead of having the quartet perform as a warm up
act, the quartet joined Jethro Tull after the first song and played
with them throughout the concert. Many Tull songs are certainly well
suited to a string quartet. For example, when performing Budapest, not
traditionally one of my favorite songs, the quartet added a great deal
to the performance. The women obviously enjoyed the music and had a
lot of fun playing it. That made Budapest one of the high points of
the night.

Here are some other high points. Tull opened the first and second acts
with enjoyable English folk-rock songs from their first album. King
Henry's Madrigal showed off the great talent of both O'Hara on the
keyboards and the quartet. Songs from the Wood and Heavy Horses were
highly enjoyable and have aged very well with time. Two of my all time
favorites, "Sossity" and "Reasons for Waiting" were merged together
into a wonderful but brief number. I read somewhere that "Sossity" is
Martin Barre's favorite. That makes it even more enjoyable for me. Fat
Man is a joyous spectacle with the band members lining the front of
the stage with bongos and assorted exotic stringed instruments. I
loved it.

I appreciate Martin Barre more each time I see him - he gets better
every year. As always, Ian Anderson was a great entertainer. I noticed
the upper register of Ian's voice has been missing for a number of
years. He normally feigns the highest notes and everybody understands.
It seemed that a little more of his voice was missing at the
Strathmore. As a 40-year old band, few care to notice it and instead
sit back and enjoy the performance. I haven't seen John O'Hara and
David Goodier to date although I believe O'Hara has had a long
association with the band. Both musicians were excellent. Doane Perry,
a more veteran band member, performed excellently and his enthusiasm
and professionalism shined.

The crowd seemed more youthful and upscale than in past Tull concerts
I've attended. I believe there were a larger number of people in their
teens, 30s and 40s. A mixture of lifelong Tull fans and curious
newcomers.

In summary, I enjoyed the concert. The Strathmore performance was more
refined, subdued and full of improvisation and collaboration. As the
night moved on, I felt starved for the hard hitting punch that brought
me back to Tull concerts of the past. For example, the thrill of their
unusual cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" - complete with a smoldering
young violinist and her screaming violin - at the 2005 Constitution
Hall performance. Perhaps a loud, pounding, rocking performance of
Locomotive Breath, Hunting Girl, or Sweet Dream. However, great
entertainers such as Jethro Tull know they must keep changing their
performance lest they get stale and irrelevant. Jethro Tull have
certainly remained relevant after 40 years.

--Scott Houston