Saw Ian Anderson Saturday Night

[SteveSly]

Saturday night I saw Ian Anderson’s Jethro Tull The Rock Opera tour at Devos Hall in Grand Rapids Michigan. I had debated about attending this one. The last time I saw Ian a few years ago his voice was in really rough shape and I was not really sure how this Rock Opera concept was going to work. Walking away from the show Saturday night I am still not sure how I feel about it. The whole show is played to a film in which band members and vocalists sing lead vocals along with Ian. Ian’s band was live with keys, drums, bass, and a really good young guitarist along with Ian and his flute / acoustic guitar. Ian’s voice has been pretty much shot for years, and things have not improved any, as his range is very narrow and he has very little power behind his voice. As mentioned earlier a lot of the vocals were done on the film with a male and two female vocalists doing many of the vocals recorded ahead of time. Due to playing along with the film the whole thing has a bit of canned feeling to it. One of the fun things about Anderson / Tull shows in the past has been Ian’s between song banter and storytelling sessions. There is none of that in this show since everything is timed to the film there is no real spontaneity. The set list was pretty cool as he interweaved old Tull songs with new material to form the narrative of the story. I am not really sure that I got what the story was all about though as the plot seemed a bit murky. In the end I guess I applaud Ian for trying something new and finding a way to compensate for his vocal issues, but I think it would have worked much better if the other vocalists would have actually been live on stage. His band was very good for the most part, and as mentioned earlier the guitarist really stood out with some killer solos on and off throughout the evening. He especially nailed it during “Locomotive Breath”. Even though I have heard that song way too many times over the years, they really breathed some new life into the old warhorse Saturday night. Whether or not I would recommend this show or not to others is a tough one. I enjoyed it, but it is far from what Ian / Tull were in their heyday. Here is the set list:

HEAVY HORSES
WIND UP
AQUALUNG
WITH YOU THERE TO HELP ME
BACK TO THE FAMILY
FARM ON THE FREEWAY
PROSPEROUS PASTURE
FRUITS OF FRANKENFIELD
SONGS FROM THE WOOD

INTERMISSION

AND THE WORLD FEEDS ME
LIVING IN THE PAST
JACK IN THE GREEN
THE WITCH’S PROMISE
WEATHERCOCK
STICK, TWIST, BUST
CHEAP DAY RETURN
A NEW DAY YESTERDAY
THE TURNSTILE GATE
LOCOMOTIVE BREATH

ENCORE

REQUIEM AND FUGUE

[Progatron]

PROSPEROUS PASTURE
FRUITS OF FRANKENFIELD
AND THE WORLD FEEDS ME
STICK, TWIST, BUST
THE TURNSTILE GATE

Okay, so what's the deal with these exactly? Are they brand new songs, or re-worked old Tull tracks with new titles?

[SteveSly]

Okay, so what's the deal with these exactly? Are they brand new songs, or re-worked old Tull tracks with new titles?

I think they are brand new songs. I had never heard any of them before, and I have most of the Tull / Anderson catalogue. I do not have his latest album, but I don't think any of these appear on it (not totally sure of that though).

[Progatron]

Interesting... I wonder if they will appear on the next studio release.

[chalkpie]

Is he really making another album?

Thanks for the review btw.

[Vic2012]

Hell of a set list.

[progholio]

Nice review Steve.

A few years back when Ian introduced Ryan O'Donnell I thought it went way better than expected and was hoping this was going to be the future Tull. Boy was I sucker punched on the "Homo" tour when he had the guy sidelined most of the show (pushing a broom around at that!) and went back to croaking the oldies.
Doesn't sound like this new concept is the way to go.

[Progatron]

Is he really making another album?

Yep, he's slated to begin work on January 1st, as he did a few years back.

[Dave (in MA)]

Nice review Steve.

A few years back when Ian introduced Ryan O'Donnell I thought it went way better than expected and was hoping this was going to be the future Tull. Boy was I sucker punched on the "Homo" tour when he had the guy sidelined most of the show (pushing a broom around at that!) and went back to croaking the oldies.
Doesn't sound like this new concept is the way to go.

I thought the broom crap was T@@B2.

[JKL2000]

Thanks for the write-up, Steve. I suspect I would have felt about the same as you.

[bRETT]

I think they are brand new songs. I had never heard any of them before, and I have most of the Tull / Anderson catalogue. I do not have his latest album, but I don't think any of these appear on it (not totally sure of that though).

They are new songs. As usual with the new stuff, it's written in a register he can handle, so I thought those were the most enjoyable parts of the show.

[bill g]

Glad to see 'With You There To Help Me' in that list, always thought those first 3 songs on 'Benefit' (UK) were incredible. Pretty good list, though a lot of my personal faves aren't there, but that's to be expected. I'd love to see him one more time and believe I'd find plenty to enjoy regardless of his voice.

[wilcox660]

I saw this show last year & loved it. I found it, well, truly progressive.

[Jimmy Giant]

On another note we just saw Martin Barre. Great show! His singer can hit the notes and has an "Ian" quality to his voice, but certainly not a replacement for prime Ian. Far more Blues than Prog, but tight and high quality. Really excellent show, recommended. Martin is in great form.
I think my days of seeing Ian live ended about 10 years ago. Sad, but "nothing gold can stay."

[Werbinox]

Hey Steve. Thanks for the review. Geoff won tickets to that show by calling a radio station here in Atlanta and correctly naming Tull's first hit single. We're going to see him and his band at the Fox Theatre on Saturday. Short of that I think I would actually miss this one, ridiculously huge Tull fan that I am. But fate has intervened and I am just meant to go, so I will add my impressions afterwards.

I thought it would be along the lines of what he did for TaaB 2, with the same line-up and Ryann doing most of his vocals. The movie-synced approach leaves me worried, don't care for the "mechanical / unspontaneous" approach, but wtf! The chance to see & hear "With You There To Help Me", "Back to the Family", & "Witches Promise", tunes I never expected to hear live, will be more than worth it, I hope. Ian's music, his voice (prime years) lyrics, flute & acoustic playing, and his incredible bands (especially the 70's line up) have played an immense, incalculable role in my life, so I will ride his train to the end.

[lwpmedia]

I'm pretty cynical of the way this one is being promoted... he's playing some nice venues on this tour but only because fans think it is a jethro tull concert

[BarryLI]

I'm pretty cynical of the way this one is being promoted... he's playing some nice venues on this tour but only because fans think it is a jethro tull concert

It isn't?

[SteveSly]

Hey Steve. Thanks for the review. Geoff won tickets to that show by calling a radio station here in Atlanta and correctly naming Tull's first hit single. We're going to see him and his band at the Fox Theatre on Saturday. Short of that I think I would actually miss this one, ridiculously huge Tull fan that I am. But fate has intervened and I am just meant to go, so I will add my impressions afterwards.

I thought it would be along the lines of what he did for TaaB 2, with the same line-up and Ryann doing most of his vocals. The movie-synced approach leaves me worried, don't care for the "mechanical / unspontaneous" approach, but wtf! The chance to see & hear "With You There To Help Me", "Back to the Family", & "Witches Promise", tunes I never expected to hear live, will be more than worth it, I hope. Ian's music, his voice (prime years) lyrics, flute & acoustic playing, and his incredible bands (especially the 70's line up) have played an immense, incalculable role in my life, so I will ride his train to the end.

Jay - I will be very interested to hear what you think of it.

[progholio]

I thought the broom crap was T@@B2.

Yes, and he expanded on it for Homo.

[JKL2000]

I'm pretty cynical of the way this one is being promoted... he's playing some nice venues on this tour but only because fans think it is a jethro tull concert

It isn't?

Didn't he do something a few years back, when Martin left, to sort of set things up so that he actually IS Jethro Tull? That is, his band IS Jethro Tull? I can't remember what he did - if it was just an announcement. Maybe what I'm thinking of is that he started using something like "Ian Anderson's Jethro Tull." Someone help out my memory.

I would argue in any case that his band IS Jethro Tull, and he's just the only original member. As much as I like Martin's playing and value his contribution, it's not like the instant he left if could no longer be called Jethro Tull, IMO. But it's not like it's the first time this has happened, eh?

[Dave (in MA)]

Didn't he do something a few years back, when Martin left, to sort of set things up so that he actually IS Jethro Tull? That is, his band IS Jethro Tull? I can't remember what he did - if it was just an announcement. Maybe what I'm thinking of is that he started using something like "Ian Anderson's Jethro Tull." Someone help out my memory.

I would argue in any case that his band IS Jethro Tull, and he's just the only original member. As much as I like Martin's playing and value his contribution, it's not like the instant he left if could no longer be called Jethro Tull, IMO. But it's not like it's the first time this has happened, eh?

The only thing I'd argue with there is that when you say that Barre "left", it sounds like it was his idea.

[Facelift]

Didn't he do something a few years back, when Martin left, to sort of set things up so that he actually IS Jethro Tull? That is, his band IS Jethro Tull?

Exactly the opposite. In 2012 he declared Jethro Tull to be on an extended hiatus so that he could concentrate on making non-Jethro Tull music (the first product of this new-found change of artistic inspiration being Thick as a Brick 2, lol) and in 2014 he declared that Jethro Tull was finished. He and Martin Barre seem to have reached an agreement that neither, on their own, may call themselves Jethro Tull (and very rightly so, IMO). Since this time, Anderson seems to be intent on doing whatever he can to align his current projects with Jethro Tull, without going so far as to say that it *is* Jethro Tull.

[JKL2000]

Exactly the opposite. In 2012 he declared Jethro Tull to be on an extended hiatus so that he could concentrate on making non-Jethro Tull music (the first product of this new-found change of artistic inspiration being Thick as a Brick 2, lol) and in 2014 he declared that Jethro Tull was finished. He and Martin Barre seem to have reached an agreement that neither, on their own, may call themselves Jethro Tull (and very rightly so, IMO). Since this time, Anderson seems to be intent on doing whatever he can to align his current projects with Jethro Tull, without going so far as to say that it *is* Jethro Tull.

I didn't know about their agreement, but I still think it's interesting that Ian + Martin + a few other random people = Jethro Tull, but Ian + a few other random people ISN'T Jethro Tull.

The same with Yes. Let's say Alan White permanently retires - should Steve Howe cease using the name Yes?

I can see both sides really, but it's interesting to discuss.

[Facelift]

I didn't know about their agreement, but I still think it's interesting that Ian + Martin + a few other random people = Jethro Tull, but Ian + a few other random people ISN'T Jethro Tull.

The same with Yes. Let's say Alan White permanently retires - should Steve Howe cease using the name Yes?

I can see both sides really, but it's interesting to discuss.

Don't get me wrong: I said that they "seem" to have come to an agreement - based on piecing together the statements of each and IA's subsequent behavior. I have no specific knowledge of any agreement. But, how else to explain Ian Anderson not calling any of his projects "Jethro Tull,"... but not because he wants to disassociate himself from the name (since it's all over his tours and one of the albums was TAAB 2).

[Werbinox]

Didn't he do something a few years back, when Martin left, to sort of set things up so that he actually IS Jethro Tull? That is, his band IS Jethro Tull? I can't remember what he did - if it was just an announcement. Maybe what I'm thinking of is that he started using something like "Ian Anderson's Jethro Tull." Someone help out my memory.

I would argue in any case that his band IS Jethro Tull, and he's just the only original member. As much as I like Martin's playing and value his contribution, it's not like the instant he left if could no longer be called Jethro Tull, IMO. But it's not like it's the first time this has happened, eh?

He announced that the name "Jethro Tull" unfortunately never meant anything special to him, it was just a name they were using when they finally started to get attention. He announced he was retiring the JT name and would just be Ian Anderson from now on, presumably using the "Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull" bit for fans who might still not know his real name...that he is NOT Jethro! Now he iis doing this rock opera for the man who has lent his name to his success all these years. I call it the "Paying My Debt back to Jethro" Tour.