RAH Tonight

[Deleted]

To anyone going tonight , and I mean anyone, be aware that some bloke called Bruce Springsteen is playing at the Olympic Park. although it's on the other side of London from the RAH travel by public transport may be busy.

Hope you get there and enjoy

This has been a public service announcement from a bloke from London.

[Mothfairy]

Hope you have a good time, let us know how it goes!

[Deleted]

Full review tomorrow probably, but highlights

TaaB was probably the best I've heard from other recordings of this tour, certainly better than Hammersmith last year, hardly any technical glitches from where I was sitting, Ian struggled with some of the high vocals at times but was more than ably assisted by Ryan, with Marc Almond guesting vocals on 'Do you beleive in the day', which worked surprisingy well. Scott sounded great this time. compared to Hammersmith. Surprise visit in the box from James A as Marc Almond took the stage, nice to see him again and Mrs Q was pleased although my mate thought he was an uninvited interloper about to steal his coat.
Anna Pheobe was there on 'skype' as per other gigs but appeared live on stage as the video played.

I thought the band sounded good and to me TaaB had a bit more of an edge to it, at times it sounded decidely heavy in a ferocious sort of way.

Intermission - prostate exam

TaaB2, seemed to go far to quickly than I wanted, but it was great to hear it again live after a bit of a lay off. Ryan was on form, singing well and supplementing Ian as needed.

Marc Almond guested again on the loco breath encore.

It wasn't a sell out, with quite a few boxes empty and gaps in the upper stalls but Ian deserved a full house for this show.



poster outside this prestigious venue



Flyer for the gig [have quite a few of these, if you want one, drop me a PM]



Stage set up at the prestigious RAH



Filling up, but never quite made it

More tomorrow - excuse these crap photos, I didn't bother with camera pics other than from the phone, preferred to watch the gig.

[Deleted]

well I am glad it was a decent showw, to bad it was not a sell out

[Mothfairy]

So glad to hear the shows are looking up.

Those balconies remind me of the Muppet Show where those grumpy guys used to sit..anyone else? Oh ok, fine then.

[Deleted]

Jun 30, 2013 23:09:05 GMT -5 Mothfairy said:

So glad to hear the shows are looking up.

Those balconies remind me of the Muppet Show where those grumpy guys used to sit..anyone else? Oh ok, fine then.

Holly, That's why we got one!

In fact here's me and my old mate Steve looking down on the sea of grey hair and baldness below

[Deleted]

I suppose for me last night's gig actually started at the Royal Albert Hall not at 7.30 on 30th June 2013 as it said on the ticket but way back in March 1972.

That night me and a few mates from school trekked off towards the West End from our parent's Council flats to see one of the hottest bands around.

Although we were still only 15 at the time we had accumulated quite a few gigs under out belt, ranging from the likes of Johnny Winter through to several of the UK's then major rock acts courtesy of the BBC ticket unit and free access to shows like 'In Concert'.

I didn't know it as we travelled over on the tube but for me this was going to be a gig that would focus my musical attention for more years than I now care to realise.

It wasn't just a gig as such, it was in the well worn words of the times, an experience - a happening, this was Tull and this was going to be TaaB at the RAH. It was big!

If you've never been to the RAH, then I have to say it is an experience, the long walk down the Exhibition Road pedestrian tunnel that links South Kensington Tube Station to the museums and finally the RAH. That long walk was accommpanied by a crowd of afghan coat wearing, flared trousered people, mainly blokes, a few hippie looking girls all moving in the same direction, towards an evening with Tull at the RAH. That walk in itself was an experience, the sweetly scented air was a strange mix of 'herbal cigarettes' interspersed with patcholi oil and smelly afghan coats. There were bootleg vendors with their 8 page 'Chrysalis stable' programmes for sale here and there along the route along with various other dealers.



It had a feel that this was going to be a good gig.

We got into the venue well before kick off. took up our seats in the choir side of the stage, not the best seats but they were cheap enough to afford at the time, 60p. Remember, we were still only schoolkids.

There was Steve, Jim, John and me, we formed the core of our school's serious gig-going contingent.

Jim and I wandered off to the bar and secured drinks for the four of us, coming back we found our way barred by a commissionaire who said drinks were only allowed in the boxes. We then set off, via one of the boxes further along the line and climbed between boxes until we reached the stairs to the choir seats, passed our drinks over to the others, climbed over the wall, edged along the parapet to cheering from the crowd below, and got back to my seat to enjoy my first pint of Guinness. That night, in our minds, we stuck it to the man!

That was my introduction to finding myself sitting in a paid seat to watch this band called Tull. I loved the albums, then I was about to find out how much seeing them live was going to influence my listening choices over the next 40 odd years.

So, 41 years and a few months later I found myself sitting in a box opposite 'the cheap seats' the where me and my mates had been all those years ago. I decided to get a box for several reasons, one because the arseholes at Ticketline couldn't sort out a wheelchair space for my wife and showed no interest in even attempting to sort it out. I have never experienced such total and utter indifference to dealing with a disability issue. I find indifference worse than people who mock a disability, at least those sort of people show the world that they are arseholes. I for one won't ever book another ticket through Ticketline.

I also wanted to get a bit of a reunion going for the lads who attended the '72 gig, at least those three who were still in touch with one another after 40 plus years. In the end I managed to sort a box outside of the Ticketline route, and I'll thank the RAH staff on the night who made life so much easier for wheelchair users, we even managed to get a parking space right outside.

I had a call that morning inviting me along to the soundcheck, but had to decline as the timing for access for my wife into the RAH was limited to after 5.30, still we managed to hear a bit of it from the bar inside, where we met up with a few fans from various parts, all good souls and even a Plymouth Argyle fan up London for a few days who I wish well in for the rest of his London stay!

The RAH staff were fantastic, and access to the box was good. the view wasn't bad, but it was a toss up between a great view and good access, good access won.

Sadly, at the last minute my mate Jim had to pull out, but me and Mrs Q were joined by my old mate Steve, probably one of the most informed music listeners I know of. So, we were ready for round two of TaaB at the RAH.

More to follow.

[David C]

Excellent review of the RAH gigg from Music-news.com

Ian Anderson
Thick As A Brick pts 1 & 2

added: 1 Jul 2013 // gig date: 30 Jun 2013
reviewer: Andy Snipper
Ian Anderson - Thick As A Brick pts 1 & 2 - Printable version
Ian Anderson has never been a normal rock star. His erstwhile band were named after the inventor of the seed drill and he is generally more interested in Country Life than sex drugs and Rock & Roll but he is an enormously charismatic performer and his music has always had real depth and meaning.
Thick as a Brick was originally released in 72 and debuted at the Royal Albert Hall a single piece across two sides of vinyl; it was a parody of Concept Albums and was supposedly a poem written by an eight year old, Gerald, about the trials of growing up. It backfired to a large extent because the many fans of Tull took the album to their hearts and most fans consider it to be a great piece of Prog. The follow up, Thick as a Brick 2, was released last year and formed the second half of the show.

Live, Anderson has more of the attributes of an actor than a singer. Although he has (had?) a striking voice he was always more about the show and with his capering about the stage, standing on one leg while playing the flute (apparently a natural pose for him), outlandish mummers garb and sweeping gestures he is a showman of rare ability.
Jethro Tull shows and, more recently, Ian Anderson shows, have always enjoyed elements of stagecraft and he enjoys tricking the audience and putting on a show for them. No-one goes to see Ian Anderson expecting a standard gig.

On the day, it was a brilliant show. Anderson's vocals don't reach the upper brackets they once used to but this was admirably covered by the Puck-esque figure of Ryan O'Donnell, acting a multiplicity of roles including the broom sweeper and warehouseman that Gerald is destined to become and the sergeant-major of his Boy's Own dreams and a superb performance by Mark Almond. The band was excellent, as you would expect and includes Anderson's long time bass player David Goodier, John O'Hara on keys and accordion, Florian Opahie on electric guitar with Scott Hammond on drums; they never overshadowed the central performers but the undoubted star was the name on the door Ian Anderson dominated the show as he should, either as an onstage performer or on the videos accompanying parts 1 and 2 and his flute and guitar playing were as good as ever. He is no longer whippet thin but he still has all the energy and all the moves and all the stagecraft he ever did.

The omens were not good for this show, the hottest day of the year, the British Grand Prix Sunday, Glastonbury, Hard Rock Calling and Robbie Williams at Wembley Stadium June 30th was not an auspicious day for a Prog event but the old place was full and not just of old beardy fatties either, the crowd had plenty of teens, ladies and the like as well as the old beardies.

The standing ovations were heartfelt and genuine and there was almost a sense of disappointment after the brilliant encore of Locomotive Breath and the lights came up but we had had 2 and half hours of brilliant music and great showmanship time for the old boy to get his Horlicks and a nap.

Have Your Say

4 stars

[Deleted]

It was a glorious day weather wise in London, we managed to get a parking space at the RAH, snapping this as I got out the car.



The RAH is civilised. No matter who you see there it is civilised, no burger bars, no pizza concessions, just a nice venue, expensive but nice. we got in before the crowd rush and made our way up to the Asahi bar for a drink and a bite to eat before the gig, half the ticket price for two sandwiches, a diet coke and a glass of Merlot, but it was civilised and we got to meet a few really nice people, including one chap from Plymouth who seemed to go on tour almost as much as Ian.

Gone were the days of Mr Jobsworth, the commissionaire, who didn't allow me and my mate Jim to take the drinks through to our seats. The eastern European usheerette who had helped us on arrival was now working up on the 2nd tier boxes, she let us into our seats as quickly as she could, really helpfully she cleared out the spare seat so we could keep the wheelchair in the box, we settled down and a short while later my mate Steve arrived. He bantered about not having to worry about what to wear for a gig and cracked on about being one of the youngest there. As we are normally prone to do we talked about this, that and everything. It had been more than several years since Steve had last seen Tull, I think the last time was the Songs from the Wood tour, he had deviated into the world of new wave and punk, even ending up singing backing vocals along with several other of my mates on some Sham 69 songs. Not a claim to fame he probably wants to remember. I updated him on the world of Tull, gently warning him that Ian did have problems with his voice now and then. I had heard the Turin Tapes a few days previously and had concern that the lengthy touring of two strenuous pieces such as TaaB and TaaB 2 may have taken its toll quite deeply.

The hall filled up but even at the time of the 'stagehands' finishing up their pre-gig warm-up there were still quite a number of empty seats and boxes scattered around, there were two people in the box next to us furtherst from the stage, from them onwards I counted in the order of thirtheen to fourteen five seater boxes empty, there were more opposite, more of the larger boxes below us and several areas of block seating also empty. From where I was, and a quick look upstairs in the gallery, it was totally empty, in fact it was quite eerie when I went up there to have a mooch around, totally alone.

I'll add I make these observations not as a swipe at Ian or the band. I think it is a shame that this was the only UK show so far this year and Tull fans couldn't fill it, irrespective of feelings about Martin's lack of involvement, Ian's voice issues, whatever, in the long run the performance did deserve a full house. I suspect it was probably more to do with the twats at Ticketline.

The 'stagehands' morphed into the band and Ian appeared stage left, voice seemed good and the band looked a little more animated and possibly more at ease than I saw at Hammersmith last year or on videos. the sound where we were sitting was good, and much better balanced than it appeared at Hammersmith where we were sitting too much towards one side. The keys sounded good and I think Scott's drums sounded much more dominant, I could appreciate his drumming much more at this gig than from previous listenings. Downside soundwise was that Ryan's vocal seemed low in the mix and a bit muddy, but I think that was an issue with Ian and Marc Almond's vocals as well at times, but that could be down to the sometimes odd acoustics at the RAH.

In general, TaaB was pretty damned good. Ian had some vocal problems but that was nothing new and an issue that most of us have learned to live with in many repsects, in fact my mate Steve, and who hadn't seen Tull since '77 said that he was pleasently surprised as he thought Ian was pretty stable vocally throughout although he felt he probably had more problems on TaaB than TaaB2. I suspect because TaaB 2 represents stuff written more speciifcally for his voice now.

Ryan was solid most of the time although as I said from where we were sitting he seemed mixed down a bit at times and you could see Ian motioning to the wings several times to adjust levels.

Unlike the Hammersmith show, the Anna Pheobe 'skype link' worked and was a fun piece of timing, only to be bettered by her actual presence on stage. I'm no fashion writer, but she did look pretty damned stunning, you are a lucky man Mr Esler!

The break in TaaB followed on with the run into the prostate exam skit with Tom Lynch, which moved swiftly into the opening instrumental piece with a really nice sounding solo courtesy of Scott, with more than a hint of a nod to Barrie's playing in there.

Although no surprise now, at the time it did raise a bit of a hum from the audience when another guest vocalist came out with Marc Almond providing guest vocals on the 'do you beleive in the day' section of TaaB. His contribution was pretty good and suited the tone of that section. It was a welcome addition and added to the flow of the piece rather than detract. A tap on the shoulder alerted me to a visit from James Anderson who had kindly popped up to say hello. My mate later said he didn't know who he was and thought he was after nicking his coat.

As TaaB finished I thought it was played with more ferocity than the last time I saw it at Hammersmith. I put that down to a better balance of Scott's drums, or just a better placement of my arse on a seat.

TaaB 2 went too fast for me, nice to hear it again after a bit of a lay off. it works well live and no doubt will provide a lot of sta[les if Ian continues to tour post TaaB/TaaB2. Kismet stood out, but it always does for me, Old school song as well, Wootton Bassett was a disapointment as that seemed the only time for me, from where we were sitting that the vocals sounded lost.

Nice touch to see 'Mike Nelson' actually back on stage with the band again, as he walked apparently befuddled slowly across the stage looking at the band, looking at the audience and back to the band again making his way from stage left to exit stage right. As in the film, he later removed his mask to reveal himself as BBC newsman Gavin Esler

The band left and after the onscreen thank you's from "Archie 'Tufty' Parritt", 'the posh bloke in the garden', the band returned for an encore of Loco Breath. with Anna Pheobe playing brilliantly with Marc Almond contributing to a verse or two, namely 'got him by the balls'. I don't think he had the weight of voice or degree of menace for this part, but it worked and the band rocketted through it.

Overall I thought it was a worthwhile and a really good show, as I mentioned above I had heard the Turin tapes a few weeks ago and Ian's voice sounded strained and the band seemed out of kilter, but this was infinetely better than that and proved it must have been a one off. Not this time, the band sounded good and Ian's voice was as good as it had been for the last few years

Someone asked me on FB was this the most prestigious show they're going to do in their career? My answer,to be honest is no, it doesn't deserve to be branded as such at all. It is a prestigous venue and I am glad to see Ian playing there again, a venue worthy of his talents but for anyone to say that it's the most prestigous show Ian/the band have done or will do is little more than over the top rhetoric, but I will say it was a very good performance, I am well pleased to have seen it. Having seen The Stones on TV at Glastonbury the day before I'd stick with Ian and/or Tull everytime.

One last non-tull related gripe though, if you're able-bodied there's probably no need to use a lift to go down two flights of stairs when there's someone in a wheelchair waiting. Tull fans or not, there are some greedy inconsiderate bastards out there.

[Deleted]

David, nice find, thanks for posting it here.

[Mothfairy]

Hi Quizz love the photo of you and Steve, haha, that's fantastic. And I was so afraid my comment would've gotten a giant eyeroll.

I love the 1972 description, the tunnel sounds cool and the hippies, I have a part of me that always loves hippie things. I can't believe that's it for the UK though, wow.

I read on Facebook that Lukas was also there last night. Lastly, wow, I can't believe someone in a wheelchair would be treated in such a way, that is totally unacceptable. Before I became mom, my job was taking care of people and many were in wheelchairs and most of the time people and businesses fell all over themselves trying to accommodate. My only complaint was once we could not get any parking spot, all the handicapped spots were full and someone in one of those spots jumped from their car and practically ran into the store. I don't know their story, I know, but it still felt like it was ridiculous...

[Deleted]

Pat, great review, full and well tempered, enjoyed it very much. I loved the "sticking it to the man" in your 72 adventure.

Holly, as far as the eye rolling, old guys love exploiting their old ness, grey ness, baldness and so on. It helps us appear harmless to beautiful young ladies. Who, because we seem so harmless, are much more open and attentive. So it really works out well for us. Cause we still have eyes......
Darin

[TM]

Jul 1, 2013 3:29:57 GMT -5 @quizzkid said:

Jun 30, 2013 23:09:05 GMT -5 Mothfairy said:

So glad to hear the shows are looking up.

Those balconies remind me of the Muppet Show where those grumpy guys used to sit..anyone else? Oh ok, fine then.

Holly, That's why we got one!

In fact here's me and my old mate Steve looking down on the sea of grey hair and baldness below

You haven't changed a bit my friend!

Enjoying your story except the poor treatment with Liz....

[Deleted]

Well I'm shaving the moustache and beard off this week. 6 months is long enough :-)

Liz was treated very well by RAH staff who did everything possible to accommodate her needs, it's just a rude awakening when you see how some people react to another person in a wheelchair; it's little wonder why so many people with 'disabilities' feel marginalised. to me it actually shows up those with the real issues and problems.

[Deleted]

loved the review Pat! Thanks for taking the time to write that.

[Mothfairy]

Jul 1, 2013 10:59:56 GMT -5 @darincody said:

Pat, great review, full and well tempered, enjoyed it very much. I loved the "sticking it to the man" in your 72 adventure.

Holly, as far as the eye rolling, old guys love exploiting their old ness, grey ness, baldness and so on. It helps us appear harmless to beautiful young ladies. Who, because we seem so harmless, are much more open and attentive. So it really works out well for us. Cause we still have eyes......
Darin

Is this a warning?

At a show...I think in 02 or 04 or something, an old(er) guy started a conversation with me and Jen telling us we didn't know anything about Tull. I didn't even know him. I told him to try asking me something. The best he could come up with was, "What happened in 1975?" He seemed much creepier than any of you guys. haha. But I could be wrong.

[Deleted]

Jul 1, 2013 15:06:30 GMT -5 Mothfairy said:

At a show...I think in 02 or 04 or something, an old(er) guy started a conversation with me and Jen telling us we didn't know anything about Tull. I didn't even know him. I told him to try asking me something. The best he could come up with was, "What happened in 1975?" He seemed much creepier than any of you guys.

This creepy?

[Preston Platform]

Thanks for the wonderful review Pat

[Mothfairy]

Jul 1, 2013 17:08:07 GMT -5 @quizzkid said:

Jul 1, 2013 15:06:30 GMT -5 Mothfairy said:

At a show...I think in 02 or 04 or something, an old(er) guy started a conversation with me and Jen telling us we didn't know anything about Tull. I didn't even know him. I told him to try asking me something. The best he could come up with was, "What happened in 1975?" He seemed much creepier than any of you guys.

This creepy?

No, not as bad as Giddings, but he doesn't creep me out that much either. I can hold my own. lol.

[TM]

Jul 1, 2013 17:44:13 GMT -5 Mothfairy said:

Jul 1, 2013 17:08:07 GMT -5 @quizzkid said:

This creepy?

No, not as bad as Giddings, but he doesn't creep me out that much either. I can hold my own. lol.

One of Andy's better pictures.

Thanks Pat for taking us "inside" the RAH show with you and memories of the past. It was a very enjoyable read.

[Deleted]

Just had this image sent to me, no credit listed, if anyone knows who took it or controls it let me know or add it here, I like to give credit where it's due.

[Deleted]

I have just listen to this show,



Ian's vocals sound much stronger here than on the show on the 18th as does the overall performance of the band...

.What I have noticed is that Ian's and Ryan's mike are turned way up. The drums and keyboards are turned up in the mix while.. Goodier's and Flo's where turned down. I don't know if it was the recording but it certainly sounds that way to me.. Overall a very good sounding show.

Is that what you thought of the show Pat??

[Deleted]

yes, pretty much, overall good sound but the drums and keys were much more to the fore, odd given that while that might be expected of any instrument if you were sitting more towards one side, we were on Scott's side of the venue and while the drums were crystal clear and very strong, so were the keys. There was no depth to Florian's guitar sound, it sounded tinny, and while you could pick out Dave Goodier's bass, which was excellent when you could hear it, it was only really picked up during the louder passages.

The RAH does have some odd acoustic problems, I've seen stacks of shows there and I don't think it can be the easiest venue to set up for a gig. saw Clapton Play there with Buddy Guy a few Years back now and Buddy Guy might as well been playing air guitar for all we could hear of him.....yet, my mate on the other side of the hall could hear every note..

[Tullite]

we traveled 6 hours on the coach from lancashire for the weekend in london mainly for the RAH gig which was well worth it not having been to that venue before it lived up to all expectations, the sound was amazing ( we sat in the stalls ) the show we thought was faultless and to have marc almond & anna phoebe as guests was a nice touch as a couple of years ago marc almost died in a very bad motorcycle accident and he did a great job on stage.

[Tullite]

www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1304477/Marc-Almond-reflects-life-motorbike-crash-nearly-ended-it.html