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Post by tootull on Apr 6, 2011 21:44:15 GMT -5
www.rockstarweekly.com/jethro-tulls-ian-anderson-celebrates-40-years-of-aqualung.htmlJethro Tull's Ian Anderson Celebrates 40 Years Of Aqualung Written by Shon Troelstrup on Wednesday, 06 April 2011 Ian Anderson can hardly believe it himself. It has been forty years since the release of Jethro Tull's groundbreaking Aqualung album. With over 7 million copies sold, Aqualung remains the band's highest selling, and perhaps most definitive outing. From the unforgettable opening riff of the album's title track, to the dramatic, soul-searching climax of 'Wind-Up', the album is a wild ride from the gutter to the gates of Heaven, perhaps, earning accolades as one of the greatest 'concept albums' of all time. While Anderson admits that the band never really set out to make a 'concept album', per se, Aqualung was embraced by the prog-rock community as a milestone in a genre rife with them. With its social commentaries on homelessness, mental illness, and the quest for divinity, Aqualung has retained its relevance to this day. That, perhaps, is why Anderson still holds the album so dear. “The album still means the same to me,” says Anderson “There are some songs on the album that I don't play very often, or hardly at all, although I will be playing them again during the next few months, because it's the 40th anniversary of the album. They don't necessarily all have the same resonance, perhaps, as songs like 'Aqualung' or 'Locomotive Breath', or maybe 'My God'. Those are songs that are about something which is still very much a part of my life. So some of them, perhaps, have more contemporary meaning for me than the other songs. That's the case with everything I've ever written.” Anderson cites 'Locomotive Breath' as an example of the album's timelessness. “Well, it's a song very much about issues that concern me, and hopefully most of us these days,” he says. “Issues such as the globalization of the economy, population increase. The effect of that, directly or indirectly on climate change, although that wasn't part of the mix back at the time I wrote it. It was a song essentially about runaway populations and runaway explosive economics, and civilization being on a crazy, out of control locomotive, unable to stop. With seven billion people soon to be officially on the planet and nine billion forecast for the year 2050, all the tandem problems of running out of water, running out of fossil fuels, the resources that we've taken for granted for decades, centuries, even, are soon going to be if not depleted, much more difficult to get at with all the attendant risk and problem. We are the species that ate ourselves. That's the bottom line. That's what 'Locomotive Breath' is about. Cheerful subject, isn't it?” While Anderson can still look fondly upon the album's content, he doesn't share the same nostalgia for the recording process. “It was a pretty miserable time,” he says bluntly, of the then-newly created Island Studios in London. “We were working in a brand new studio that was converted from an old disused church. Like all new studios, there are a number of shakedown problems to overcome. Technical problems, things not installed correctly or working properly, so we suffered from a lot of technical issues, as well as a pretty awful sound quality. The natural acoustics of the very large room we were working in, and also in the control room. Just the sound of the speakers and the monitoring wasn't very conducive to having a good time, either. So it was technically speaking, quite a difficult, and not very happy album to make. It was cold. It was miserable. It was rather dank and weird, working in a disused church. It didn't have a good feeling about it at all.” Ironically, Led Zeppelin, who were recording their fourth album in the small studio in the basement of the studio were fine. “That room sounded pretty good,” Anderson says of Zeppelin's studio. “But they had it locked out for their own use and we were relegated to working in the big room, which sounded horrible. So, it wasn't a great time in terms of recording, but we struggled on with it, and we had an album that was not necessarily sounding that great, but we made of it what we could and worked a little bit harder in the mastering room to cut the record in the following week after finishing recording.” The band's efforts were soon rewarded, however, as Aqualung went global, launching the band into unexpected markets. “It didn't actually sell big numbers very quickly,” Anderson recalls. “ But I think it marks the point where Jethro Tull was no longer just a British band. We had done, by that stage, probably six US tours. So we were getting quite well known, and perhaps more importantly than just the UK or USA, we were getting quite well known in all the countries of Europe. Within the next few years, Aqualung was beginning to find its way into territories that were not openly inviting, in terms of Western rock music. The album was getting noticed in Russia, India, and Latin America, which at the time, consisted of some fairly hostile regimes. It became kind of an underground culture success story, I suppose. It represented something that was a little contentious. It was questioning. A number of songs on it deal with subject matter that wasn't typical proper rock music. Then, or indeed now, for that matter. There aren't that many songs about population explosion, or songs that contentiously go into the issues of pomp and ceremony in organized religions.” Although Aqualung's liner notes and lyrics tackle the issue of God, the church and spirituality, Anderson openly proclaims that he is not a Christian. However, he still attends service and performs several benefit concerts every year to support the ongoing education of music in church. “I am officially not a Christian,” he says. “However, I'm not a homosexual either, but I thoroughly support the gay community and I thoroughly support the Christian community. I feel no contradiction in supporting the people who derive warmth, satisfaction, spiritual uplift, whatever it might be, whether it's from a homosexual relationship or following Christianity. It's unlikely that I'm going to decide next week, or in ten years from now that I'm gay. It's equally unlikely that I'm going to decide next week or in ten years' time that I'm going to be a Christian. None of those two things are impossible, I just think they're probably unlikely.” With over 50 million album sales, Anderson has definitely earned the title of “rock star”, but he holds an extremely dim view of his musical peers who embrace the aloof rock star lifestyle. Anderson explains that he has been managing his own affairs since 1974, preferring to handle his own flight bookings, tax returns, and everyday business affairs of Jethro Tull. “The idea of stardom as evinced by those who adopt the rock and roll, or showbiz lifestyles as we tend to read about them in the newspaper, well, that's something that's just not for me,” he says bluntly. “The idea of having a private jet or bodyguards or factotums who follow me around and do everything for me is utterly repulsive. I hate people doing things for me that reduce my role in life to being an airhead. “I would hate to think that I work with musicians who are incapable of accessing their airline booking online, printing out their boarding pass and showing up at the gate in time to catch their flight. Frankly, those that can't do that aren't in the band,” he laughs. “We have changed things in recent years and said 'If the average twelve-year-old can get on the internet and seek out the company of a pedophile then you must be able to print out your bloody boarding pass.' What do you think?”
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Post by janu on Apr 7, 2011 6:54:57 GMT -5
I've just been in touch with him via facebook to thank you for the great post and has asked me whether it is certain that there'll be a re-recording of Aqualung album by the current line-up of JT. Anderson never declared satisfied with the original release. It's what he says me. Do you know a better info about that? anticipated thanks Janu, You know they re-recorded the album at XM radio in 2004, yes? If you don't have a recording let me know and I'll send you a CD. Paul Paul, I didn't recall it thoug I knew it, it was why i was asking for. Thanks for the info and for your so much appreciated offer. I'll tell my cybernetic friend about Good weekend
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Post by tootull on Apr 7, 2011 7:56:21 GMT -5
Listen To The Entire Ian Anderson Interview From RockStar Weekly (while you can) www.rockstarweekly.com/listen-to-the-entire-ian-anderson-interview-from-rockstar-weekly.htmlHas it really been 40 years since Aqualung? Does it seem like it’s been 40 year? What does Aqualung mean to you today? What do you recall about the recording sessions? You told us what Aqualung was about, but what was on your mind when you wrote Locomotive Breath? The songs are still very relevant today. Some songs can’t do that. There are some religious statements on the album. Are you a religious man? Even though you’ve had amazing success with 60 million albums sold, Jethro Tull still seems like superstardom was never the overall quest. Is there a difference for you between stardom and success? Aqualung is the band’s most popular album. Is that the album you think should have been the most popular? Speaking of most popular, it was only a few years ago that Entertainment Weekly called your Grammy win one of the top five Grammy upsets. What is your take on the whole Grammy Awards story? You really are an original. Whenever anyone hears a flute in a rock song, you and Jethro Tull immediately come to mind. Is that an honor for you? Then God, the director, smells a rat. Pulls another rabbit from His hat.
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Post by TM on Apr 7, 2011 12:58:39 GMT -5
Janu, You know they re-recorded the album at XM radio in 2004, yes? If you don't have a recording let me know and I'll send you a CD. Paul Paul, I didn't recall it thoug I knew it, it was why i was asking for. Thanks for the info and for your so much appreciated offer. I'll tell my cybernetic friend about Good weekend I believe Jeff has my 2 extra copies of the Aqualung Live CD's. I will be seeing him soon and then I will look to send you one.
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donl
Claghornist
Posts: 22
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Post by donl on Apr 8, 2011 9:22:06 GMT -5
at the 35th aqualung anniversary show at carnegie hall they left out wind up.
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Post by python on Apr 12, 2011 10:52:16 GMT -5
I saw the 20th Anniversary in Northern California, and the subsequent tours, but now the 40th is nowhere near San Francisco, really upset about this
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Post by TM on Apr 12, 2011 13:30:27 GMT -5
Road Trip! And you wondered what the rabbits were up to now.
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Post by Nonfatman on Apr 15, 2011 23:32:57 GMT -5
Road Trip! And you wondered what the rabbits were up to now. Our friend Louise (Jack-A-Lynn here) has come up with the perfect caption to this photo: 'The Hare who is about to lose his testicles'However, as she points out, not to worry because after all, the Hare does have a spare pair, a pai-r-r-r-r-r! Jeff
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Post by TM on Apr 16, 2011 13:44:39 GMT -5
Road Trip! And you wondered what the rabbits were up to now. Our friend Louise (Jack-A-Lynn here) has come up with the perfect caption to this photo: 'The Hare who is about to lose his testicles'However, as she points out, not to worry because after all, the Hare does have a spare pair, a pai-r-r-r-r-r! Jeff LOL. That's good! I'd say it looks like this hare certainly has a pairrrrrrrrrr.
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The Whistler
Claghornist
And the Monkeys seem willing to strike up the tune!
Posts: 31
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Post by The Whistler on Apr 25, 2011 17:36:08 GMT -5
I have four tickets for the June 11th Tull Aqualung Soiree at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, second row orchestra pit. I am using three of them, possibly four, but if anyone on this board is potentially interested in the fourth ticket please message me. I'd rather be sitting next to a Tull diehard then a bored housewife indulging her hubby's Tull cravings. Phil ("The Whistler").
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Post by mannapete on Apr 25, 2011 18:54:42 GMT -5
Gosh! I hope tonight's Sydney concert is a dress rehearsal for this - looks excellent!
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Post by Nonfatman on Apr 27, 2011 16:19:26 GMT -5
I have four tickets for the June 11th Tull Aqualung Soiree at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, second row orchestra pit. I am using three of them, possibly four, but if anyone on this board is potentially interested in the fourth ticket please message me. I'd rather be sitting next to a Tull diehard then a bored housewife indulging her hubby's Tull cravings. Phil ("The Whistler"). You're tempting me to fly out there for that show! Probably not possible for me, though. I'm sure we have some members here from L.A. who might be interested in second row orchestra seats. Maybe Zephyr? Jeff
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Post by TM on Apr 27, 2011 16:30:56 GMT -5
I have four tickets for the June 11th Tull Aqualung Soiree at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, second row orchestra pit. I am using three of them, possibly four, but if anyone on this board is potentially interested in the fourth ticket please message me. I'd rather be sitting next to a Tull diehard then a bored housewife indulging her hubby's Tull cravings. Phil ("The Whistler"). Surely none of us have any idea of what you speak. LOL.
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Post by tootull on May 16, 2011 16:10:04 GMT -5
www.j-tull.com/tourdates/index.htmlupdated May 16, 2011 Chicago date added for Jun 27th October dates for Ian in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Estonia www.wdrv.com/home.php10 years ago we set out to play the greatest music ever made. It's been a fabulous decade long ride. Now, it's time to celebrate, with another Drive Free Birthday Concert...Monday, June 27th at the Rosemont Theatre featuring Jethro Tull & The Aqualung 40th Anniversary Tour along with special guests America! Register here for the drawings for free tickets. And it all trickles down. Yes it all trickles down. Well it all trickles down from me to you.
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Post by Chea on May 18, 2011 2:23:23 GMT -5
Hi to all. We have 4 shows added in Italy , but only one of them confirmed, i read oe the official web site. M.
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Post by TM on May 18, 2011 11:39:30 GMT -5
Hi to all. We have 4 shows added in Italy , but only one of them confirmed, i read oe the official web site. M.
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Post by tootull on Jun 6, 2011 9:08:14 GMT -5
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The Whistler
Claghornist
And the Monkeys seem willing to strike up the tune!
Posts: 31
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Post by The Whistler on Jun 6, 2011 20:36:54 GMT -5
Time for Jethro Tull at the Greek Theater this Saturday night (June 11). Going with my wife, my brother, and his friend. Can't wait, it will only be about the 21st time I will have seen Tull. I've dragged my wife to about six or seven, and she is quite the fan as well. I will report back to the group on the show! (By the way, I saw a lot of posting about Tull's Red Rocks concert in Denver. They were there just a couple of years ago, and I happened to be on a golf vacation there with three buddies. We all were Tull fans, so we rented a limo and went to the concert! It was one of the best Tull concerts I ever saw! So definitely enjoy the Red Rock experience!).
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Post by tootull on Jun 10, 2011 6:55:06 GMT -5
www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/09/jethro-tulls-aqualung-anniversary-tour-here-sunday/Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" anniversary tour here Sunday English rock band still active, with one original member, after 43 years By George Varga 7:16 p.m., June 9, 2011 When: 8 p.m. Sunday, June 12 Where: Open Sky Theater, Harrah’s Rincon Casino, 777 Harrah’s Rincon Way, Valley Center Tickets: $40-$125 (plus service charges) Phone: (800) 745-3000 Ian Anderson, the long-serving leader of England’s Jethro Tull, has never claimed to be clairvoyant. But with each passing year, the title of Tull’s 1976 album, “Too Old To Rock ’n’ Roll, Too Young To Die,” seems increasingly prescient for this pioneering band, which counts Nick Cave, Dave Matthews and the members of indie-rock favorites Midlake and The Decemberists among its biggest fans. “I thought ‘Too Old’ would come back to haunt me three months after the record was released!” Anderson told me in a 1988 San Diego Union interview. “Because, yes, it was very openly a confrontation with (growing old), not in a biographical sense, but in a sense to do with style and fashion. … Jethro Tull was like the Muppets; it was just always there, to a certain generation of people. We are the teddy bear they didn’t throw away.” Like the Muppets, if in less animated form, Tull is still active today, 43 years after the band was formed in 1968 as a blues group. At its best, in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Tull created a fresh hybrid of rock, blues, jazz, traditional English folk and classical. Lad singer Anderson’s animated flute playing, accomplished songwriting and charismatic stage presence helped make Tull one of the most distinctive bands in rock. At its worst, the group’s work was pompous, self-indulgent and unable to overcome its worst conceits. “We’re low art,” Anderson said in a 1996 Night&Day interview. “At the same time, we’re definitely not a lounge band.” The sole original member of Tull, which performs Sunday at the 21-and-up Open Sky Theater at Harrah’s Rincon Casino, Anderson is now 62. His band’s two newest additions — bassist Dave Goodier and keyboardist John O’Hara (the junior member at 48) — both joined in 2006, after touring in Anderson’s solo band. Tull is now embarked on its 40th-anniversary “Aqualung” tour, in honor of the classic 1971 album that still ranks as one of the band’s finest. Coming soon: A newly remixed version of “Aqualung,” with Porcupine Tree guitarist Steven Wilson doing the audio engineering honors. Does the band live up — or down — to the title of “Too Old to Rock ’n’ Roll, Too Young To Die?” We’ll find out Sunday,when the band performs "Aqualung" in its entirety, along with various other Tull songs from the past and present.
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Post by tootull on Jun 10, 2011 11:55:23 GMT -5
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Post by tootull on Jun 10, 2011 12:02:08 GMT -5
blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2011/06/exclusive_interview_ian_anders.phpEXCLUSIVE Interview: Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull Talks About Aqualung, His Duet with an Astronaut and Why He Doesn't Attend Concerts By Jena Ardell, Fri., Jun. 10 2011 at 7:47 AM Categories: Interview In 1967, Ian Anderson traded a Fender Stratocaster that previously belonged to Lemmy from Motorhead for a flute, since he felt he would never be as good of a guitar player as Eric Clapton. The rest is history. We caught up with Anderson to chat about the album Aqualung (he does not like the cover art to Aqualung, calling it "messy," and did not appreciate how the "dribbly-nosed voyeur" seemed to resemble him), where he likes to go in L.A., and why Prince baffles him. L.A. Weekly: When you were writing songs for Aqualung, was your goal to inspire change or were you just observing and recording the attitudes of people around you? Ian Anderson: Well, I certainly never set out to try and inspire or coerce change in other people. All you do is you reflect what you see and what you interpret from the things around you. I'm very much an observer and a conduit of thoughts and ideas. I think it's really the job of the composer, the artist, the painter, the writer to present people with options. I'm just really reflecting the thoughts and actions around me. Whether they are whimsical and musing moments like songs "Mother Goose or "Up to Me" or whether they are more serious or angry topics like "My God" or "Aqualung." Do you feel that society still views the homeless or unfortunate in the same negative light as they did in the 1970s or do you think we've progressed past that? I think we always view people who make us feel uncomfortable and appear to intrude on our middle-class cozy space, we view them with, if not hostility, at least suspicion, discomfort, embarrassment. We should recognize that we're a little bit embarrassed about other people's misfortune and try to come to terms with that ourselves, whether it's by showing some act of kindness or some act of giving in the case of homeless people. But I still find it awkward to approach a homeless person and give them some money. It's difficult. Sitting on my desk now is a begging letter from one of Britain's better-known charities for the homeless. I'm constantly reminded when I sing the song "Aqualung" onstage every night that these things don't go away. The plight of the homeless in your country and in mine is just as prevalent and upsetting as it was 40 years ago when I wrote that song. You've said what you do for a living doesn't appeal to you and that you don't like loud music so you would never be in your own audience--does that mean you don't attend concerts of other bands? (Laughs) It does mean that. I don't like to go where there is a lot of noise of any sort. I've always been fond of acoustic music. When I was a teenager, I was listening to blues and jazz ... and I was never really a fan of pop music and electric guitars. After two hours onstage, making rather a lot of noise, I'm quite happy to spend the rest of the 22 hours of each day in quietness and don't really relish the thought of going to a concert to watch anybody else perform. So I'm not a great listener of music at all. I read books and I look at paintings more than I listen to music. I think the rest of the day I value because I don't have the music, which it becomes seductive and exciting to get back on the stage and start playing music again. The last thing I would want to do is to go and listen to other people play music. Reportedly Prince famously, after his concerts, would go off to some club and get up onstage and jam at the club and stay up till all hours doing yet more music. I find that quite hard to imagine how someone could devote so many hours in their day to doing something I feel as best concentrated and focused on in a finite period. The best things take a couple of hours--some of the best things can be done in even less time. At this point in your career, I imagine you have accomplished most, if not all, of your goals. So what drives or motivates you to continue making music? Just in the next few days alone, I have three different kinds of concerts that I am playing and that in itself makes it engaging and interesting because you have to change your approach to making the music to some degree to accommodate playing with some musicians I have never played before in the Czech Republic to playing in a multi-act festival, which I am not very good at and don't really enjoy, but I have to make the best of that situation with no sound check and somewhat difficult and tense circumstances. Then I have to endure a long flight across the Atlantic... to land in mile-high Denver to play a concert in Red Rocks Arena in an altitude which makes things physically demanding and demanding as a flute player because in the relatively thin and dry air of the mountains above Denver, it's actually quite hard to play the flute. Every day is a bit different. I am playing in the mountains of Colorado one day and then flying down to Phoenix, Arizona in the desert--these are all a change of environment, and if we manage to find a Red Lobster on the way, or a Denny's, than that will just set things off a tree. How many flutes do you currently own? Are they something you collect over the years or do you buy and sell them as needed? I'm not a collector of them. I probably have more than I need, but I enjoy playing them all from time to time and the two that I take with me on any one tour aren't necessarily always the same two. I have many more guitars than I have flutes. One of my flutes I don't have at the moment because it's sitting in Houston awaiting shipment back to me because it's been aboard on the international space station for a few months and it recently arrived home after a few months, orbiting the earth every 90 minutes. That's interesting. How did that opportunity come about? Well, astronauts are not wacky people from outer space. Catherine Coleman of the U.S. Air Force, an astronaut who has been up there for the last six months, is an amateur flute player and she took one of my flutes up there with her and we did a little duet from space. I was in Perm in Russia on the 50th anniversary of the first man-flight in space by Yuri Gagarin and Catherine was aboard the space station. [You can watch the duet on youtube] Where do you like to go when you're in Los Angeles--are there any places you're looking forward to visiting? The Beverly probably is one that appeals (laughs) since it is usually a restful and reasonable respite; and my wife likes to have a walk around there and we sit and have a Starbucks. In days gone by, I occasionally went to The Comedy Store on Sunset, which was the frequent home of a comedian called Barry Diamond, who is a favorite of mine.
I'm not a person who actually goes out very often. I try to get back to my hotel and go to sleep as soon as possible because I usually have to leave early the next day. When I am playing in Los Angeles at The Greek Theatre [on Saturday], it is simply to arrive on a flight, drive to The Greek; do a sound check; play a show; jump in the rental car and head off to the next [show] toward the San Diego area. I'll just be there for the few hours it takes to do a sound check and play a show and get the hell out of town!
What is your secret for being able to remain in the music industry for over 40 years and front a band that is still touring?
I don't think there's any secret to it at all. I think most of the people who do what I do don't really want to give it up. It's something that is a pretty good job if you can get it and, goodness knows, it's pretty hard to get that job these days. Most people would love to do what I do ... and most of us who got that job don't really want to give it up and pass it on to anybody else (laughs). So we're rather protective and jealous of our status of professional, working musicians and I don't think any time goes by when you're not reminded of how fortunate that you are to be able to do that on a professional basis.
There will come a time when I can't do it anymore, after which, I may do it on an amateur basis for a little while until my physical and mental systems shut down and it's time to hit the power-off button in a clinic in Switzerland, or whatever happens to me.
But until then, the excitement, the focus, the challenge of doing concerts, both physically and mentally, is always very engaging and as long as you're capable of meeting that challenge and finding that excitement and passion, you keep playing.
Ian Anderson will be performing with Jethro Tull this Saturday, June 11, at The Greek Theatre in Hollywood. To mark the album "Aqualung's" 40th anniversary, the group will be performing the album in its entirety, plus other favorites. Tickets are still available, so grab 'em while you still can!
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Post by tootull on Jun 11, 2011 12:51:30 GMT -5
www.newser.com/story/120426/jethro-tulls-ian-anderson-classic-album-aqualung-flawed.htmlJethro Tull Frontman: Aqualung Flawed Band takes classic album on 40th anniversary 15-city tour By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff Posted Jun 11, 2011 11:34 AM CDT Newser) – Jethro Tull’s 1971 album Aqualung may be a certified classic, but the band’s frontman calls it flawed. “It wasn’t a great sounding album,” Ian Anderson tells Bloomberg. The church-turned-studio where it was recorded was “big, echoey, daunting and rather dark,” he notes. “It had all the ghosts of its past, and plenty of technical problems. At the end of the sessions, I wasn’t sure what we’d got.” Still, the album sold 7 million copies, and the British band began a 15-city tour on Wednesday to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The band will play the full album—being re-released as a remixed edition—during every one of the tour’s shows. But if you go, don’t drown out the band with your cheers. "It’s particularly disheartening," Anderson says, "when I’m trying to play the intro to 'My God' and someone is hooting over something that is, to me, a very important part of the song," he says. "It’s not a football match. And if that sounds a bit snobbish, then tough."
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Post by Nonfatman on Jun 11, 2011 17:15:05 GMT -5
A report from last night's show, by Jethro Tull Board member Bob Miller, who writes as follows on FB:
Phoenix, Az June 10, 2011 "Absolutely fantastic. Surpassed my expectations but not my hopes. This is a tour not to be missed. The energy and the effort to perform Aqualung with the power and gusto it requires was achieved. Ian did not appear tired at the end despite constant motion, vocals, flute blowing and over-the-head high kick...s! Man I'm inspired to get MY butt into gear. The band apparently had the venue post signs that still photography with no flash or professional equipment would be allowed. I concentrated on shooting and the show and so did not write the setlist which I hope someone has done. I can tell you that all songs from Aqualung were performed as well as TAAB (excerpt), Farm On The Freeway, Bouree, Budapest and SFTW was among them. The show (which included an intermission and no opening band) lasted just about 2 hours plus or minus a couple of minutes. Off the top of my head the only thing that bothered my was David Gooding's bass which was abit over brearing for my taste but also because it created way too much vibration. Martin was brilliant as always but I loved that he had so much front of the stage time. I would have liked him playing one of his own compositions but perhaps the nature of this tour (it was ALL Tull) was probably not the platform for his or Ian's solo work. It is a disappointment that folks will only have the chance of seeing this tour in 12 cities. If a seat is still available at any of the remaining shows, I recommend you grab it!"
Thanks for the review, Bob!
Jeff
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Post by tootull on Jun 12, 2011 20:55:26 GMT -5
www.ocregister.com/entertainment/tull-304168-jethro-aqualung.htmlJethro Tull shuffles up 'Aqualung' at the GreekBy STEVE FRYER THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Jethro Tull’s performance Saturday at the Greek Theatre, just two nights ahead of a stop at the much smaller City National Grove of Anaheim, answered one question and posed another. Ian Anderson’s latest quintet operating under the Tull name is a good one, still boasting Martin Barre on guitar (since 1969) and boasting the ability to transition easily and effectively from riff rock to Celtic folk. That answered the “can they still cut it after all these years” question. This Tull tour is advertised as a 40th anniversary celebration of the group’s most popular album, the one that really cemented its stardom and is among the better albums in the classic rock genre, Aqualung. But anyone who attended Saturday’s show expecting to witness that 1971 staple played its entirety, track by track, might have been disappointed. While Aqualung’s songs were performed -- almost all of them, anyway -- they were curiously placed here and there across the menu of a 16-song, two-set show, except for one four-song string toward the end of the first half. Thus comes the question: Why not do a proper re-creation of Aqualung? That full approach has worked for Cheap Trick, Steely Dan, ex-Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters and plenty others in recent years. Why not Tull? [More...] Anderson in interviews refutes the notion that Aqualung is a concept album, insisting instead that it is just a collection of songs, of which three or four are thematically similar. Evidence to the contrary is there -- the album’s vinyl was divided into “Aqualung” and “My God” sides on the packaging, as if they were two acts of one play. Plus, the discography on the band’s official website places Aqualung next to Thick as a Brick (1972) and A Passion Play (1973) under the heading Prog/Art/Concept Rock, although Concept is in quotation marks. A Jethro Tull show draws plenty of veteran fans, people who have seen the band multiple times, perhaps as far back as the early '70s. These are people who reflexively expect the final chord of the song “Aqualung,” which opens the recording, to be followed immediately by the yelled “Mary!” that precedes the album’s second song, “Cross-Eyed Mary.” These are the people who might have left the Greek disappointed. “Cross-Eyed Mary” was played, as were all other Aqualung songs except for one: “Slipstream,” which, granted, is the disc’s shortest track, at 1:13. So, sure, this was an Aqualung celebration of sorts. Anderson’s flute playing was, as usual, the highlight of the show. His voice long ago became incapable of hitting the high notes of his own compositions, yet the 63-year-old Englishman has figured out a way to somewhat meet those notes halfway. The band -- including bassist David Goodier, underrated drummer Doane Perry and keyboardist/accordionist John O’Hara -- was tight and terrific. Any Tull fans considering getting tickets for Monday’s show at the Grove shouldn't hesitate. They opened, by the way, with the condensed version of “Thick as a Brick,” long a familiar part of Tull performances; ran through Aqualung’s “Cheap Day Return”, “Mother Goose,” “Wond’ring Aloud” and “Up to Me” in succession, just like the album; and “Budapest,” from 1987’s Crest of a Knave, was once again given centerpiece treatment with a long rendition, appropriate for what is one of the group’s better live songs. Jethro Tull's Aqualung 40th Anniversary Tour plays again Monday night at 8:30 at City National Grove of Anaheim, 2200 E. Katella Ave. Tickets are $79.50-$109.50. 714-712-2700. ticketmaster.com. Setlist: Jethro Tull at the Greek Theatre, June 11, 2011 First set: Thick as a Brick / Songs from the Wood / Farm on the Freeway / Cheap Day Return / Mother Goose / Wond’ring Aloud / Up to Me / Bouree / Cross-Eyed Mary
Second set: Aqualung / My God / Hymn 43 / Budapest
Encore: Wind Up / Locomotive Breath / Teacher
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Post by tootull on Jun 12, 2011 21:25:17 GMT -5
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