Meeting the Headmaster

[Cup of Wondering]

Hi guys,
I am curious about your stories about meeting Ian and the other guys. After 33 years of fanship I met Ian for the first time in 2001. Here's my story:

My friend Gerrit de Geus had managed to get me a backstage pass. For the first time in 33 years I would meet the Headmaster. We went down the catacombs of Vredenburg Muziekcentrum in Utrecht and waited talking Tull over a beer. I got aquinted to Bert Maessen (known from his JT info & bootleg review magazine "That's not the way Ian planned it!!") and André Meier, the only Dutchman who is allowed to take pictures backstage). Then Kenny Whylie checked us out and only 10 people were allowed to stay around. We saw Andy hurry through the hallway ("Let me change first.."), looked out for Martin and Jon who were vanished and waited.

After 30 minutes Kennie invited us as a group of 4 to meet Ian. This was THE moment. I introduced myself, passed onto him a flyer with the URL's of the 5 best European Tull-sites. He knew Cup Of Wonder and smiled and thanked me for all the work (blush). He was very friendly, relaxed and well composed but tired. I asked him to sign my copy of the english/german edition of The Jethro Tull Songbook, which he did and he asked me where I got it, then adressed Kennie and ordered him to order 25 copies!
André photographed us and then my turn was over.

While Gerrit and I walked down the hall we caught a glimpse of Doane in a room, where he ate his chicken and salad. While Gerrit asked him to sign an album, I asked him about tonights gig's quality. He said this was the best gig of the tour yet: everything worked well and it all came together as it was meant to be.
Gerrit asked him about the new tune they played just before Aqualung. Doane explained that this had just been written and was a combination of two music pieces joined together, composed while on the road and played for the first time! So we had a primeur in Utrecht. Then Kennie came in and said: "Hey, this is this man's time off", but Doane replied "I invited them". He was very friendly and we talked about 15 minutes. He explained he was very busy working on the new Tull-album (for which recording sessions will take place between the intervals during this tour), on other musicans material and on his own project for which he took a mobile studio with him.

(Uploading the pics doesn't work: Image shack server is too busy... sorry)

[TM]

Dec 1, 2009 16:56:54 GMT -5 Cup of Wondering said:

Hi guys,
I am curious about your stories about meeting Ian and the other guys. After 33 years of fanship I met Ian for the first time in 2001. Here's my story:

My friend Gerrit de Geus had managed to get me a backstage pass. For the first time in 33 years I would meet the Headmaster. We went down the catacombs of Vredenburg Muziekcentrum in Utrecht and waited talking Tull over a beer. I got aquinted to Bert Maessen (known from his JT info & bootleg review magazine "That's not the way Ian planned it!!") and André Meier, the only Dutchman who is allowed to take pictures backstage). Then Kenny Whylie checked us out and only 10 people were allowed to stay around. We saw Andy hurry through the hallway ("Let me change first.."), looked out for Martin and Jon who were vanished and waited.

After 30 minutes Kennie invited us as a group of 4 to meet Ian. This was THE moment. I introduced myself, passed onto him a flyer with the URL's of the 5 best European Tull-sites. He knew Cup Of Wonder and smiled and thanked me for all the work (blush). He was very friendly, relaxed and well composed but tired. I asked him to sign my copy of the english/german edition of The Jethro Tull Songbook, which he did and he asked me where I got it, then adressed Kennie and ordered him to order 25 copies!
André photographed us and then my turn was over.

While Gerrit and I walked down the hall we caught a glimpse of Doane in a room, where he ate his chicken and salad. While Gerrit asked him to sign an album, I asked him about tonights gig's quality. He said this was the best gig of the tour yet: everything worked well and it all came together as it was meant to be.
Gerrit asked him about the new tune they played just before Aqualung. Doane explained that this had just been written and was a combination of two music pieces joined together, composed while on the road and played for the first time! So we had a primeur in Utrecht. Then Kennie came in and said: "Hey, this is this man's time off", but Doane replied "I invited them". He was very friendly and we talked about 15 minutes. He explained he was very busy working on the new Tull-album (for which recording sessions will take place between the intervals during this tour), on other musicans material and on his own project for which he took a mobile studio with him.

(Uploading the pics doesn't work: Image shack server is too busy... sorry)

Great story Jan. I can picture Doane doing that since the man is very kind and loves to talk!

[Nonfatman]

Hi, Jan,

I loved your meeting story. So cool that Ian was familiar with your site and complimented you on your work! Not really surprising though given the quality of the work and the way it is all presented on the site. Also, Doane Perry is just so great with fans, very friendly and talkative, and so is his wife, Heather. She played a major role in getting my friend Mike (icecreamman on this board) and I backstage for the first time in 1991, after the Catfish show in Nassau Coliseum, when we met Ian in a remarkable way.

That was the subject of a very long, very funny story that I told in a series of 11 or 12 installments on the official board several years ago, and recently again on another Tull forum. In fact, it was the recent re-telling of that story that indirectly led to the creation of this board! One of these days, I will tell the whole story again right here, but in the meantime, I want to let you know that several meeting stories have already been told on prior threads on this board. I can't remember where all of them are, but here is a link to one of the threads, right off the bat. ( I will find the others and direct you to them as well.)

thejethrotullboard.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tales&action=display&thread=338

Jeff

[Nonfatman]

Jan, here is another thread that contains an interesting meeting story that my friend Rob and I had with Ian following the first Washington D.C. show in April 2002. (After you click on the link, scroll down to the sixth post where you will find that story, which has to do with 9/11.)

thejethrotullboard.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=lyrics&action=display&thread=33


Jeff

[Deleted]

I was actually lucky enough to meet Ian on two occasions once in 1987 and again 2003, the first time was sort of a scam but it worked. My friend worked in the Air Force PR office in NH and I gave the reps name to call and he did and said he was doing a story and he got us back stage passes. He claimed that I was photographer and all which pretty funny since we had to find a camera and we didn't even have any film for it. So when the time was right we ushered to the front of the stage for one song to take our pictures, and we where to wait after the show to meet Ian and the band. Show about 30minutes had gone by and they finally got us and we got ushered into a room and all the record execs were there from Billboard and that stuff. And we going through the line and talking with the members of the band and went I got to Ian ii thank him for all the wonderfulL music he had written and all it done for me, and his reply was so typical of Ian he said with out batting an eye OH YOUR POOR EARS. than asked him another question what inspired him to write music and he was respond to me and a music stuffed shirt tried to break up the conversation in which Ian again said to this person I TELL YOU FOLKS WHEN TO MOVE PEOPLE ALONG, he than gave me an answer of Inspirations comes in many forms, and that was my first meeting with the TASK master. The second was another through back Allies and connections my cousin-law was out on whale watch in Boston Harbor the day after Tull played Harbourlights and she became friends with Andrew and Johnath after the dot com tour so they kept in touch and the next year when Tull was Touring Andy got us back stage passes and we went back stage and we lot more freedom then the first time but Ian wife was there and she was running the show. She seemed to be in shall we say a less then friendly mood, I did talk with Ian for about 5 minutes and I did bring up the time I had meet him previously and he said WAS I NICE TO YOU. We then went up stairs and had some Becks with Andy Martin and Jonathan but Ive been very lucky,

[Nonfatman]

Great stories, Derek, I've got a "little" one I've told twice before about the first time my friend Mike and I ever met Ian, which like yours also involved a lot of good fortune. (See my December 1st post in this thread.)

But I only tell that story once every six years or so!

Jeff

[Deleted]

cool i will check it out

[Tullite]

i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac246/tullite/all%20tull%20and%20nothing%20but%20tull/onblackburnrailstnmay08.jpg after 40 yrs i finally met ian ! sorry i need a new print its been in my pocket ! it was taken on blackburn rail station after litterally bumping into him as we were getting off to attend the 40th ann show at king georges hall in may 08, we made eye contact and he must have noticed my t-shirt cus he walked off like a shot !! but i caught him up and asked politely if he had time for a quick photo which he agreed to .

[Nonfatman]

Dec 23, 2009 15:55:04 GMT -5 Tullite said:

i904.photobucket.com/albums/ac246/tullite/all%20tull%20and%20nothing%20but%20tull/onblackburnrailstnmay08.jpg after 40 yrs i finally met ian ! sorry i need a new print its been in my pocket ! it was taken on blackburn rail station after litterally bumping into him as we were getting off to attend the 40th ann show at king georges hall in may 08, we made eye contact and he must have noticed my t-shirt cus he walked off like a shot !! but i caught him up and asked politely if he had time for a quick photo which he agreed to .

Lucky for you to have met Ian in such an unexpected way and to have gotten that photo with him, Jim. My experience has been that if you act normally and politely ask Ian for a photo, he is usually happy to oblige.



Jeff