Ian Anderson, Worthing Pavilion, 29th September 2009
The image of Ian Anderson standing on one leg playing his flute is as powerful a rock icon as Hendrix burning his guitar of Jagger and Richards sharing the same microphone. How is it that it is still trendy to dismiss him when he has shown greater musical integrity than other stars of his genre? I used to be terrified of him as a child when he appeared on Top of the Pops singing 'Witches Promise' looking like a deranged Fagin character. However, I was attracted to Tull's music at the time of the 'Songs from the Wood' album when they were most closely connected to Folk Rock, me being a Fairport Convention fan. From there I collected everything they produced, from 'Aqualung' to 'Minstrel in the Gallery' and their much misunderstood 'Passion Play'.
When punk came along, Tull were one of the dinosaur bands to fall before the scythe of the NME. (Yes, everyone can enthuse about the Pistols and Clash, but can you remember Eater, Chelsea or the UK Subs? No, of course not, they were crap!) Bands like ELP disappeared (thankfully), while Yes and Genesis became more pop orientated, but Tull rocked on and Ian Anderson delved deeper into his music. I found it interesting that trendy 'music fans' find it easy to knock Tull, but if you speak to musicians of any genre, they all have a profound respect for Anderson's musicianship and stage performance.
At the Worthing Pavilion he put on a show that would embarrass all his critics. The last few times I had seen Jethro Tull play, I have noticed that Anderson cannot quite reach some of the notes on their rock numbers, but with a mellow, acoustic set his war-torn vocal chords were perfectly accomodated. He played acoustic Tull songs and some works composed with his new band � the highlight of which was a Celtic piece written to feature the sitar of Rhavi Shankar's daughter on their recent tour of India. There were also some re-arrangements of Tull classics like 'Aqualung', 'My God' and 'locomotive Breath' that were simply breathtaking.
The most outstanding feature of the evening was the way he gave so much space to his backing band. He had new and quite young artists accompanying him, including a 26 year-old flamenco guitarist who was simply amazing. When his guest band, the Fancy Toys, came on half-way through, he stood at the back, joining them on the flute. I wonder how many rock legends would have shown that such humility.
Anderson is still great on the mike too. He does not take himself to seriously and plays the demented Pied Piper character, sometimes reaching levels of avant garde excellence.
I am a fan!
When punk came along, Tull were one of the dinosaur bands to fall before the scythe of the NME. (Yes, everyone can enthuse about the Pistols and Clash, but can you remember Eater, Chelsea or the UK Subs? No, of course not, they were crap!) Bands like ELP disappeared (thankfully), while Yes and Genesis became more pop orientated, but Tull rocked on and Ian Anderson delved deeper into his music. I found it interesting that trendy 'music fans' find it easy to knock Tull, but if you speak to musicians of any genre, they all have a profound respect for Anderson's musicianship and stage performance.
At the Worthing Pavilion he put on a show that would embarrass all his critics. The last few times I had seen Jethro Tull play, I have noticed that Anderson cannot quite reach some of the notes on their rock numbers, but with a mellow, acoustic set his war-torn vocal chords were perfectly accomodated. He played acoustic Tull songs and some works composed with his new band � the highlight of which was a Celtic piece written to feature the sitar of Rhavi Shankar's daughter on their recent tour of India. There were also some re-arrangements of Tull classics like 'Aqualung', 'My God' and 'locomotive Breath' that were simply breathtaking.
The most outstanding feature of the evening was the way he gave so much space to his backing band. He had new and quite young artists accompanying him, including a 26 year-old flamenco guitarist who was simply amazing. When his guest band, the Fancy Toys, came on half-way through, he stood at the back, joining them on the flute. I wonder how many rock legends would have shown that such humility.
Anderson is still great on the mike too. He does not take himself to seriously and plays the demented Pied Piper character, sometimes reaching levels of avant garde excellence.
I am a fan!