"Ian Anderson's widely recognised as the man who introduced the flute to rock music.
Born in Dunfermline in 1947 he attended primary school in Edinburgh before his family moved south to Blackpool. Following a Grammar school education Ian went to Art College before embarking on a career as a musician.
Jethro Tull was formed in 1968 and first performed at London's famous Marquee Club. The band have gone on to perform at over 3000 concerts in over 40 countries.
Along with the flute Ian plays whistles, acoustic guitars and mandolin.
In recent years Ian has toured more and more under his own name and has recorded four solo albums. He's about to embark on a 19 date tour to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Jethro Tull album 'Thick as a Brick'. His Scottish dates are in Perth on 14th April and Glasgow on 15th April.
Tom Morton talks to Ian about his love of the flute, his passion for performing and his newly recorded album Thick as a Brick 2 and they listen to some songs from the Tull repertoire."
Well, you got a nice apartment here with appliances and CD. We're gonna leave your stereo, but we'll have your soul for tea. I'm not speaking of material things. Gonna chew you up, gonna suck you in, 'cos we're all kinds of animals coming here: occasional demons too.
There was / a rush along the Fulham Road, There was / a hush in the Passion Play.
Prompter One of the Youngest of the Family member is offline
Joined: Mar 2012 Gender: Male Posts: 94 Location: Zagreb, Croatia
Re: 2012 - Thick As A Brick Tour « Reply #64 on Apr 5, 2012, 6:34am »
Just seen that a concert in Budapest has been announced on the 26th of August! I'm very excited about this, since it's only a 300km drive. And what a birthday present would that be (my birthday is on the 27th)
Just seen that a concert in Budapest has been announced on the 26th of August! I'm very excited about this, since it's only a 300km drive. And what a birthday present would that be (my birthday is on the 27th)
Anyone got any insider and non-sarcastic knowledge as to why Canada is getting shunned? LOL
I have a theory, but it has nothing to do with any insider knowledge. On Ian's first solo tour in 1995, he only filled the 2600(ish) seat Massey Hall in Toronto to half of its capacity. He's been back to Toronto under the Tull banner, but never again as a "solo" artist. It seems logical that promoters take into account ticket sales from prior tours, but I still thought the "Thick as a Brick" angle would equal at least a Toronto date. I have a friend who lives there who won't get to see the show without traveling.
"We've got dates in place up to Christmas in the UK and America, but Australia is in the target zone for a tour in late spring (April or May) of 2013."
Re: 2012 - Thick As A Brick Tour « Reply #71 on Apr 14, 2012, 6:00am »
Just wondering if anybody on the board is going to tonights show in Perth. looking forward to any observations / reviews of the UK leg of the tour. I will try and write something after Sheffield on Thursday.
I wonder how much of TAAB 1 will include spoken word sections .....I think Ian tested this out when he did the spoken poet and the painter part during his recent solo shows
If the do you believe in the day section is attempted then I think that this will be a spoken delivery.
Wondering how much vocal imput is Ryan O ' Donnell going to have in the performance of TAAB 1
I have a theory, but it has nothing to do with any insider knowledge. On Ian's first solo tour in 1995, he only filled the 2600(ish) seat Massey Hall in Toronto to half of its capacity. He's been back to Toronto under the Tull banner, but never again as a "solo" artist. It seems logical that promoters take into account ticket sales from prior tours, but I still thought the "Thick as a Brick" angle would equal at least a Toronto date. I have a friend who lives there who won't get to see the show without traveling.
Fair enough. Tull has always done fine here.... and if TAAB doesn't bring a 'Tull' fanbase... especially with this much promoting... nothing will.
That being said... even though I'm in Toronto... I would have thought Montreal would get a nod. Bigger 'prog' following there than in most places in North America. Definitely bigger than in the 'south'.
Its just odd... I saw the Montreal show in 2007 and it was PACKED in one of the nicest venues in town.. its just strange...
If the do you believe in the day section is attempted then I think that this will be a spoken delivery.
Wondering how much vocal imput is Ryan O ' Donnell going to have in the performance of TAAB 1
I think (and hope, at least in the case of the 'Do you believe in the day?' section) Ryan O'Donnell will sing through most of Side 2, not only because of the high notes, but also because Ian will be busy doing something else (playing a flute or guitar part, who knows, he might surprise us with playing the violin or bits of trumpet heard on Side 1, since he is credited to have played it on the original record ).
So, it should come as no surprise that for his latest live outings, he is playing not just one concept album in its entirety, but two.
The first half of the show was Thick As A Brick, a concept album released 40 years ago widely regarded as one of the cornerstones of prog rock. Act two was the follow-up released this year.
This was a night for the fans – and there were plenty of them in attendance.
The musicianship was to be admired but sadly Anderson’s voice isn’t what it used to be.
But he got round this by having a second singer, Ryan O’Donnell, who took over many of the vocals.
Vocally below par he may be, but Anderson’s still rock’s premier flautist often pirouetting on one leg.
Prog rock has always been slightly over the top, slightly wacky and more than a little self-indulgent. That’s why its supporters love it – and that’s what they got with this show.
IT’S 40 years and five weeks since Jethro Tull brought their Thick As A Brick tour to the City Hall. A concept album that takes the mick out of concept albums, it marked the high watermark of Tull’s success. They’ve not played the whole thing live since ’72.
Guitarist Martin Barre is absent, playing old Tull songs with ex-Tull members and the new sequel, Thick As A Brick 2, is credited to frontman Ian Anderson alone.
Tonight, the audience has two questions. How well does the original concept album hold up? And can Anderson get away with playing the sequel second?
The answers are very well and only just. Jethro Tull has always been primarily about Anderson and tonight’s backing musicians are more than capable.
At one point, Anna Phoebe joins the show on violin, live, via skype. Additional singer Ryan O’Donnell capably takes the parts that are no longer in Anderson’s range, allowing him to play more flute.
TAAB 2 is the same length and may well be Anderson’s best work in 30 years, but pales in comparison, a bunch of separate songs with a loose ‘what if’ storyline. A Change Of Horses is the highlight.
Odd to complain that a two-hour show is too short, but this one cried out for a couple of Tull classics to round things off.
Review: Ian Anderson, Thick as a Brick 2, Royal Hall, Harrogate
Tuesday 24th April 2012 in Music news and reviews By Matt Clark
WHAT IFS, maybes and might-have-beens? Ian Anderson is touring his reflection on how the last four decades could have turned out for his fictitious child character, Gerald Bostock.
The shaggy mane may have long gone and his beard is now respectably tidy, but the wild eyes still flash, manic hands flay madly and the stork-like flautist remains Jethro Tull of old.
First up was the first complete performance of the original Thick as a Brick in 40 years and it sounded as fresh as ever. Then came TAAB 2, proving that Anderson’s finely crafted lyrics have lost none of their edge.
He treated us to wry observations on life’s mundanity: “Barren Madge prepares hot dinner, Fray Bentos pie – always a winner,” and bitter rants against bankers: “Treat myself to quality time, test a Porsche and snort a line, eat Hermione for lunch.”
Anderson also addressed how technology has changed over the last four decades. He was joined on skype by violinist Anna Phoebe, St Cleve chronicle became St Cleve.com on the back screen, and on Youtube, the village squire welcomed us to the village hall for an evening of progressive music – mustn’t call it pop.
It’s tempting to single out the majestic prog rockers, but there were many tiny gems on offer such as Give Till it Hurts, no more than a minute long, and leaving you wanting much, much more.
Indeed the whole two hours spent in Ian Anderson’s fanciful, often disturbing world was nowhere near long enough.
A DAZZLING temple to the past, the Royal Hall is the ideal venue for nostalgia but not everything from the past is as cosy as a pipe and slippers.
The surprising thing about tonight’s sell-out show by Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson is how fresh old ambitions appear today.
Is that Captain Beefheart playing on the Royal Hall’s in-house speakers.
Why are a bunch of janitors in brown coats and caps strolling across the stage?
What are they doing sweeping up and messing about with the band’s gear?
Ah - they are the band, it’s all part of the concept.
Although thicker set than days of old, Anderson remains a lively and entertaining performer and master of ceremonies, bounding around the stage in his builder’s jeans and bandana, hop, skipping and, nearly, jumping at times.
He’s hit the road again to perform the original Thick As a Brick album live for the first time in 40 years and, perhaps even more surprisingly, its newly-created sequel Thick as a Brick 2.
The first half is a breath-taking display of musicianship as messrs Anderson (flute, vocals, mandolin and more), Florain Ophale (guitar), John O’Hara (keyboards, conductor), David Goodier (bass) and Scott Hammond (drums) tackle the whole of Tull’s epic story of a fictitious eight-year-old boy called Gerald Bostock.
Played live, this spoof concept album, which was taken so seriously at the time it reached number one in the US album charts, is a hyperactive melange of different musical styles – rock, folk, jazz and the blues – and amazing quickfire changes in tempo and time.
As if that wasn’t dazzling enough, the ever-mischievous Mr Anderson throws in a host of theatrical touches – spoken narration, audience participation and, most audaciously, a simulated Skype call to violinist Anna Phoebe who adds musical accompaniment part of the time on the big screen behind the band.
Anderson’s trademark psychedelic flute playing is much in evidence - that baroque but subtly psychedelic ribbon of melody - and he shows still lithe enough to pull off his famous playing on one leg trick.
But the self-made country squire spares his voice the burden of carrying the whole show, allowing fresh-faced Ryan O’Donnell to play his younger self as if he was in a current West End musical.
Rather than hindering this helps, adding an extra freshness to proceedings.
How the early punks could think ‘prog rock’ was dull with Tull around is hard to understand, though a small part of me starts hankering for the rough-hewn charms of the Sex Pistols’ Pretty Vacant by the time the interval arrives.
Almost as if Anderson had read my mind, what he and this accomplishe set of musicians (though the bass player is clearly a recent recurit) deliver after the break is less musically complex than its esteemed ancestor.
Unlike TAAB 1 whose meaning seemed hard to fathom, a semi-serious tapestry of ideas about the modern world as confusing as the jumble of headlines on the album’s fake newspaper sleeve, TAAB2 is much more clear-cut.
For a start, rather than one nameless track spread across 45 minutes, it has 13 separate tracks with proper names making easily understandable points in more linear musical styles.
This updating of the original story from 1972 to show young Bostock’s evolution towards a career as a banker in the present day may lacks the original’s sense of life as a whirlwind but the great man is still makeing some timely points about the state we’re in.
That continuing relevance is powerful testimony to the enduring artistic powers of Mr Anderson, the would-be minstrel and hankerer after Scottish soil who hasn’t been left behind by the march of time afterall, an ancient visionary as lively and creative at the age of 65 as he’s ever been.
As I make my way out of the Royal Hall, a magnificent setting for a magnificent night, the thought strikes me that the most significant aspect about the unfairly-maligned early 1970s wasn’t the fashion excesses and long hair, it was the fact that musicians like Anderson could push artistic barriers and still sell millions of records.
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