Last night I had the pleasure of experiencing Jethro Tull live in concert for the second time in my life.  The first time I saw the most famous progressive rock band fronted by a flautist was in 1997 when they played at the Sandstone Amphitheater (now the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater).  At that time, they were opened by Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) another of my favorite bands in the genre.  Jethro Tull, and more specifically, front-man Ian Anderson have been playing for a long time.  Ian Anderson’s first band, the Blades, was formed in 1963 - nearly 45 years ago.  However, the set they played in ‘97 was fantastic and despite the jokes Ian Anderson made about getting old and his graying and disappearing hairline, musically he showed no signs of aging.

Despite the incredible set played in ‘97, I was initially a bit apprehensive about the concert last night.  It had been ten more years since the first time I saw them live, and after seeing Dylan’s disappointing concert a few months ago, I was not expecting the amazing concert that was presented last night.  This time there was no opening band — instead, Jethro Tull played two long sets separated by a 20 minute intermission. 

Ian Anderson took full charge of the stage for both sets and played with fantastic energy and enthusiasm for his music.  He livened up the music on many of his classic songs, changing the tone, tempo or melody enough to make each a unique and exciting experience. Aqualung, perhaps the band’s most famous song (but no where near the best) was changed to the point that it was barely recognizable melodically, but the spirit of the song remained in such a way that the audience fully bought into the changes and responded with some of the loudest and most enthusiastic applause I have heard at a concert.

The band did not spend the whole concert reminiscing with their classic songs, much of the time was spent introducing new music. There has been a steady genesis in the musical style of Jethro Tull over the years, and it is not hard to identify when a song was written in the band’s long history just by listening to a few bars.  However, the soul of the music has always remained steady and the unique sound of the group has made any song they create instantly identifiable as Tull.  The newest music presented at last night’s concert was no exception.  Every song was graced with a newness and fresh sound that did not borrow too heavily on past works, yet any one of them heard for the first time could not have been mistaken as originating from any group but Tull.

Overall the concert was easily among the best I have seen, and I hope Ian Anderson and his band continue to play for years to come.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 13th, 2007 at 11:37 am and is filed under music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.