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Post by Preston Platform on Apr 18, 2012 23:39:35 GMT -5
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Post by picti007 on Apr 19, 2012 2:31:51 GMT -5
Review is positive, only making me more eager for the gig. Thanks for the find.
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Post by tootull on Apr 23, 2012 6:49:42 GMT -5
Review: Ian Anderson, King George's Hall, Blackburn www.thisislancashire.co.uk/leisure/9664406.Review__Ian_Anderson__King_George_s_Hall__Blackburn/CONVENTIONAL has never been a word which best describes Ian Anderson, driving force behind Jethro Tull. 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. www.thestar.co.uk/lifestyle/music/review-ian-anderson-city-hall-1-4475252By Mike rRussell Published on Monday 23 April 2012 10:27 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.
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Post by tootull on Apr 24, 2012 6:32:52 GMT -5
www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/music/9665675.Review__Ian_Anderson__Thick_as_a_Brick_2__Royal_Hall__Harrogate/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. Really would mind if I’d sat this one out.
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Post by tootull on Apr 27, 2012 6:51:26 GMT -5
Tull’s Anderson shows he’s not living in the past www.wetherbynews.co.uk/lifestyle/local/tull-s-anderson-shows-he-s-not-living-in-the-past-1-4488788#Published on Friday 27 April 2012 12:30 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. Graham Chalmers
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2012 10:46:48 GMT -5
Hmmm. Still no tour dates in Maryland.
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Post by TM on Apr 29, 2012 14:10:57 GMT -5
Hmmm. Still no tour dates in Maryland. Does that mean you bought the album and are enjoying it?
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Post by LJG on Apr 30, 2012 6:45:46 GMT -5
Does that mean you bought the album and are enjoying it? I'm finding it hard not too enjoy... but I confess I'm waiting buy the vinyl... hurry up!
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Post by tootull on May 1, 2012 10:40:43 GMT -5
Tell Me About That Album: Thick as a Brick 2 by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull By Dave Lake Tue., May 1 2012 Read more: blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2012/05/ian_anderson_thick_brick_2_interview.phpDo you have a favorite song on Thick as a Brick 2? I have lots of parts of it that I really like. There are quite a few lines and developments that get repeated on the album. Essentially it's a limited number of themes being utilized across nearly 54 minutes. But I am moved, for instance, by a section called "Wootton Bassett Town," which is about the repatriation of dead soldiers, most recently in the Afghan adventure. It's a piece about the futility of war. As we look at the dying days of American and British occupation of Afghanistan, seemingly about the mission of democratization, we can't help but look back to 1973 when American finally pulled out of Vietnam, just a few months after the original Thick as a Brick was released. We see the grinding humiliation of a misadventure in Vietnam, but of course the parallels are not completely valid. I think while I'm singing songs about issues such as those in the "Bassett Town" sequence, it's with a heavy heart, not something I think has any rosy outcome. Bleak stuff. Do you have any lasting memories of Seattle? I can remember the first time I was in Seattle in 1969. We were the opening act for the MC5, who were at that point enjoying a certain wave of popularity following the live recording of "Kick Out the Jams." The MC5 were kind of the prototype of everything that became punk in the early to mid-70s in the USA and in the UK. The MC5, I suppose, scared the shit out of most of us, but they're largely dead now, sadly. I remember them being pretty fearsome people and pretty threatening, but we met them a couple of years later, when we were playing in Detroit, and they were all meek and mild, real pussycats. They were nice guys who seemed humbled by their short-term success and had fallen on hard times by then. So I remember Seattle very much for that, but I also remember a different kind of fondness because immediately I felt sort of geographically at home, with a strong resemblance to west coast Scotland. Driech is the word we have for it. It's a Scottish vernacular term. It just means what you see when you look out of the window in Seattle most of the time. Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson Coming To Terrace Theater www.gazettes.com/to_do/jethro-tull-s-ian-anderson-coming-to-terrace-theater/article_2a40d3a0-8f22-11e1-ba3f-0019bb2963f4.html
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Post by tootull on May 2, 2012 8:50:05 GMT -5
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Post by picti007 on May 3, 2012 14:41:24 GMT -5
At Reading right now,halfway through. Just finished TAAB1,and loved it thouroughly. Ians vocals not hot,but to see the flautist in full flow,standing on one foot,that is a historical and profound expdrience.
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Post by tootull on May 9, 2012 7:59:19 GMT -5
Review: Ian Anderson, St David’s Hall, Cardiff Chris Sutcliffe, South Wales Echo May 9 2012 www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/arts-in-wales/2012/05/09/review-ian-anderson-st-david-s-hall-cardiff-91466-30927495/THE performance of an entire album is a welcome recent trend in live rock shows. Join Match.ca for Free! With his latest project, former Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson has undertaken an ambitious feat, presenting live not just one but two complete albums – Thick As A Brick and Thick As A Brick Part 2. Supported by a group of superb musicians, stage-craft gained from 40 years of gigging, and skilled technicians, he has accomplished the job with aplomb. Fronting a tight four-piece band, Anderson played his trademark flute and a small acoustic guitar. Click here to find out more! Lithe and agile, the lion’s mane hair absent and beard now trimmed, he prowled the stage. A fifth band member, the Welsh College of Music and Drama-trained Ryan O’Donnell, inter-played with Anderson. He also shared lead vocals and with mime and props lent the songs a theatrical interpretation. Centre stage a large screen streamed visual references to the lyrics throughout the show. The mock-local newspaper that adorned the LP cover of Thick as a Brick was seen on screen as a website. Further reflecting modern technology, Anderson answered a call to his mobile phone mid-set from violinist Anna Phoebe. And via Skype she appeared, playing the said instrument on screen, making it a part of the performance. Behind her appeared a wet-suited, goggled frogman, a figure that enigmatically recurred on screen all evening. The concert was an expertly crafted and performed realisation of two musically and lyrically complex albums. Recorded 40 years apart, taken together they melded into one complete work. The 2012 sequel speculates on the possible life paths that the protagonist of the first album Gerald Bostock might have pursued: the what-ifs, maybes and might-have-beens; the triumphs, tragedies, smiles and tears of a life. At the end of a two-hour show the players took their bows to a fully appreciative crowd and exited the stage to the voice of Louis Armstrong’s classic serenade Wonderful World. 4 out of 5
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Post by Conundrum on May 16, 2012 18:42:16 GMT -5
I am really interested in hearing the album. But I cannot quite imagine, nor expect it to be as good as the first one.
I would be more likely to go see this show if Ian had Martin and Doane on tour. It just looks like another Ian Anderson tour.
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Robin
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 55
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Post by Robin on May 22, 2012 17:35:34 GMT -5
Just came home from the show in Mainz!!! Whohoooooooooooooo!!!!!! The negative point first: I must say that Ian's vocals were really weak most of the time. Some parts were decent, but most of it was not that good. Not only isn't he able to hit the high notes anymore, he can't even hit lots of the low ones (like the second verse of Confessional). But Ryan did a fantastic job and the whole performance was utterly amazing! The band is tight and powerful as hell (that drum solo!), the sound was fantastic, the show elements were very funny and the show made me appreciate TAAB2 even more. It's a fantastic album, say what you want! Good night folks.
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Heavy Horse
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 92
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Post by Heavy Horse on May 23, 2012 5:54:32 GMT -5
Hi Robin! I was in Mainz too...
The Phönix Halle is in a converted factory block and has quite a makeshift/arty feel to it which I found more exciting than the average mid-size theatre Its 2000 seats were completely sold out (I looked at the website before we left!) and when we arrived, the atmosphere was pretty damn good already!
A quick plastic beaker of Bitburger and a bottle of water were purchased - the plastic bottle top was confiscated as it “could be used as a weapon“ - and I said I hoped it wouldn't come to that - and in we went.
The lights went down to the strains of Captain Beefheart and after the stage had been cleaned(!) Ian appeared stage left with his little parlour guitar and we were off!
I was strangely nervous. TAAB1 (as I suppose we have to call it now) is one of my all-time favourite albums - and not just Tull albums - It's 40 years old; hasn't been played in full for all that time and was created by a very different band to Ian's crew. I needn't have worried! Generally first-rate musicianship combined with an obvious joy in what they were playing, created a rare mixture of faithful reproduction and freshness which I really hadn't expected.
It has to be said that the stamina and concentration levels of the band during the entire concert were brilliant:
Scott Hammond is not Barrie Barlow, but he had quite obviously dissected BB's extraordinary playing and uses the style with confidence and chutzpah. I was especially impressed with his hi-hat! David Goodier has said that Jeffery's playing is far better than he's given credit for, and that's true: he was Tull's Bass player during the time some of their most complicated music was being produced. David's playing was spot on last night, and his harmony singing was also just right. John O'Hara was solid and I enjoyed his accordian in the second half, but he made the only mistakes I heard!
There's been a lot of talk about this being a solo enterprise, and what's to become of Martin, but I can honestly say I didn't really miss him. Perhaps because TAAB is so obviously a BAND album, with the guitar more often playing discrete melodies, rather than up-front solos. Florian Opahle's playing and sound was TAAB-Martin to a tee – whether the same can be said for other more guitar-based songs, I don't know; this was the first time I'd seen him.
It must be incredibly frustrating for Ian to have lost his voice to such an extent, and it's brave of him to tour a whole album for the first time in 40 years, as comparisons will be drawn (see my friend below). He was helped (and sometimes carried) by Ryan O'Donnell. An amazingly effective addition, who not only “helped out with the high bits“ but interpreted so much of Bostock's poem through mime and gesture. This gave the show almost the feel of a musical, as my wife said.
The interval came: Ian sang ”to be thick as a... brick“ and half a second later there was an advert for the merchandising stand... hmm!
I met several friends and neighbours, who I hadn't expected to see – Tull fans are everywhere! And I was introduced by one of these to a miserable bastard, who told me he'd seen Tull in 1972 and this was terrible compared to then... "Blah, blah, blah Ian can't sing. Blah, blah, blah where's Martin? Blah, blah,blah the sound is dreadful. Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah!". I suggested he might like to piss off home, and he dropped his beer on my foot! I made my excuses, but it leads me on to the sound...
Which was pretty decent for what was basically a warehouse. Only the vocals got a bit lost sometimes. I think the chap who dropped his beer was complaining about a lack of dynamics, but I'll sacrifice a bit of “Oomph“ for being able to hear everything, all the time. The only real problem was the A/C which was so loud, they kept it turned off throughout – on the hottest day of the year. Still, There was beer available and I didn't actually see anyone being carried out...
The second half got under way with a short film (there were visual gags and films throughout the evening, but I won't give anything away!) and more confident singing from Ian, who relied much less on Ryan during TAAB2.
I really like TAAB2, and to see it live was a treat. The songs seemed to run into each other more than on the album, and made it all seem much more of a coherent whole.
Power and Spirit was performed with both; Adrift and Dumbfounded is as heart-tugging as ”Crash Barrier Walzer” and reminds me of Jim McCarthy's ”Missing You” (Christie Moore did it!) Change of Horses was spell-binding and it only last night that I recognised the nod to Heavy Horses hiding right at the end of the album...
A nice moment was when Ian missed a cue in Kismet in Suburbia and grinned at Ryan, who was hiding behind the St. Cleve Chronicle and swapping lines with him. Ian seemed very relaxed and cheerful – perhaps this new/old direction has galvanised him. I hope so!
I'm afraid I did see this as a Tull concert. Even if it was good of Ian to release TAAB2 as a solo project because Martin wasn't involved, both TAABs are Tull, as far as I'm concerned, and I haven't enjoyed a Tull concert as much in ten years!
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Post by jtul07 on May 23, 2012 7:41:59 GMT -5
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Robin
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 55
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Post by Robin on May 23, 2012 19:18:55 GMT -5
I think Florian is the most "perfect" guitar player I've ever witnissed live. That guy never plays a wrong note and the feel and power is always there!
Applause for this young man!
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Post by jtul07 on May 23, 2012 19:29:54 GMT -5
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Post by jtul07 on Jul 3, 2012 19:00:44 GMT -5
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Post by jtul07 on Jul 5, 2012 9:34:06 GMT -5
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Post by jtul07 on Jul 5, 2012 9:45:27 GMT -5
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Post by My God on Jul 5, 2012 17:59:37 GMT -5
Ah yes, A Hot Night in Budapest.
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Post by jtul07 on Jul 6, 2012 10:47:06 GMT -5
Jethro Tull on the Kufsteiner Fortress Austria July 5, 2012
regionaut.meinbezirk.at/brixlegg/leute/jethro-tull-auf-der-kufsteiner-festung-d216529.html On the 5th July legendary Ian Anderson appeared on the Kufsteiner fortress. Young and old made a pilgrimage on the fortress arena to watch the " man with the flute ".
When Jethro Tull entered into the stage, the guests did marvel: the 64-year-old front man appeared energetic as ever. The whole concert long hopped Ian Anderson again straight across the stage like a mercurial child and still created it to play flute on a leg standing. Ian Anderson presented his songs with real dedication and passion. The artistically produced " Thick as a Brick " classical performance inspired the older generation as well as young fans.Great pics from the show. No Ryan O'Donnell
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Post by jtul07 on Jul 6, 2012 13:38:32 GMT -5
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Post by TM on Jul 6, 2012 16:00:56 GMT -5
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