Post by Essan on Jan 24, 2011 12:55:46 GMT
Only a month late with this review
In an infinite universe all things are infinitely possible. And so it was that in 1999 Ian Anderson disbanded Jethro Tull and went off on his own to perform whimsical songs about cats and drinking coffee, ably assisted by various nubile young violin players and the occasional orchestra. Leaving Living With The Past to take up the mantle of playing the sort of Tull that we used to know.
Okay, LWTP don't look the same - but then, they're not trying to be an identikit band. They don't pretend to be 1970s Tull. They're themselves today, playing Tull songs. Ray doesn't sound quite like Ian, all that much (though there are times ..... ), but he can sing better than Ian can these days. So is that any bad thing? And his stage presence is much more restrained - but again, he's not pretending to be Ian.
(Incidently, when talking, Ray also reminds me a lot of Ronnie James Dio - I guess it's the accent - which led me into to all sorts of strange thoughts on "what if" possibilities ....)
There are a few notes here and there which don't seem quite right - not so much wrong as just different to what I'm used to - and at times there's a certain 'something' missing. A little 'oomph' which isn't there. Probably Mr Barre. But overall this is an highly polished and credible performance.
The set-list contains some obvious and some not so obvious - and I liked the idea of putting all the slow, acousticy stuff mid-set, rather than spread through the concert. Cry You A Song is superb; Budapest doesn't go on forever, the shorter version of My God seems to work much better than one containing an extended flute solo and the 'Tull Medley' is exactly what I wish the real Tull would produce, instead of the same old Aqualung time and time and time again.
Seeing Peggy was of course great, and the stage banter when he was on set made it feel even more like a real Tull concert.
If you've not got it, I'd recommend getting hold of a copy - it's not Tull, as we remember them, but it's perhaps the next best thing. And it's better than the Ian Anderson Cruise Ship Caberet at the AVO Sessions!
In an infinite universe all things are infinitely possible. And so it was that in 1999 Ian Anderson disbanded Jethro Tull and went off on his own to perform whimsical songs about cats and drinking coffee, ably assisted by various nubile young violin players and the occasional orchestra. Leaving Living With The Past to take up the mantle of playing the sort of Tull that we used to know.
Okay, LWTP don't look the same - but then, they're not trying to be an identikit band. They don't pretend to be 1970s Tull. They're themselves today, playing Tull songs. Ray doesn't sound quite like Ian, all that much (though there are times ..... ), but he can sing better than Ian can these days. So is that any bad thing? And his stage presence is much more restrained - but again, he's not pretending to be Ian.
(Incidently, when talking, Ray also reminds me a lot of Ronnie James Dio - I guess it's the accent - which led me into to all sorts of strange thoughts on "what if" possibilities ....)
There are a few notes here and there which don't seem quite right - not so much wrong as just different to what I'm used to - and at times there's a certain 'something' missing. A little 'oomph' which isn't there. Probably Mr Barre. But overall this is an highly polished and credible performance.
The set-list contains some obvious and some not so obvious - and I liked the idea of putting all the slow, acousticy stuff mid-set, rather than spread through the concert. Cry You A Song is superb; Budapest doesn't go on forever, the shorter version of My God seems to work much better than one containing an extended flute solo and the 'Tull Medley' is exactly what I wish the real Tull would produce, instead of the same old Aqualung time and time and time again.
Seeing Peggy was of course great, and the stage banter when he was on set made it feel even more like a real Tull concert.
If you've not got it, I'd recommend getting hold of a copy - it's not Tull, as we remember them, but it's perhaps the next best thing. And it's better than the Ian Anderson Cruise Ship Caberet at the AVO Sessions!