Jethro Tull

[Rick and Roll]

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.