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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 25, 2012 7:49:43 GMT
www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=668&articleid=20121024_11_A2_CUTLIN211111&rss_lnk=4Horse show, Ian Anderson, Oilers return to ice Thursday: Ian Anderson Ian Anderson, frontman of British rock act Jethro Tull, will perform “Thick as a Brick” 1 & 2 at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa at 8 p.m. Thursday. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $50, $55 and $65, available at tulsaworld.com/hardrockcasino, the venue box office or by calling 918-384-ROCK. www.j-tull.com/news/webcastdallas.htmlIan Live from Dallas Oct 26th Hear Ian live with TAAB and TAAB2 this Friday at 20:00 CST from the Verizon Theatre Time for another live audio-only webcast on Tull web radio via Live365. Connections are limited to 100 listeners unless you subscribe to Live365. Also, expect real-time chat via Tull's Facebook page with the lowly web administrator and maybe some photos along the way. There is always a slight possibility of a technical issue as all this has to be set-up just a few hours before the show. Tull web radio will be on the short rotation of songs this Friday as we setup the equipment at the venue.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2012 11:52:28 GMT
Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson plays 'Thick as a Brick' 1 & 2 at The Joint www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=269&articleid=20121025_269_WK32_CUTLIN138094By JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer Published: 10/25/2012 1:59 AM Last Modified: 10/25/2012 4:34 AM Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick" album started out as a parody of sorts - the bombastic life story of an 8-year-old boy named Gerald. The British rock act - lead by rock flutist Ian Anderson - was trying to mock the new music genre label "progressive rock" that had been foisted onto it in the late '60s and early '70s. Instead, the band unwittingly created the definitive album of the genre with 1971's "Thick as a Brick." These days, Anderson admits he's grateful for the praise and notoriety of the album, especially 40 years after its release. That's why he's playing it on tour. More than that, he's followed up on Gerald's story with this year's release of "Thick as a Brick 2." He's also taking both on tour. "Over the years I'd swore I'd never perform the full album again, but there's so much intense interest in it and a resurgence in the popularity of progressive rock that I've found the experience quite enjoyable," he said during a recent telephone interview. Anderson said Thursday's Tulsa tour stop will be different than most. This show will be a single set, making his concert about an hour and 40 minutes, he said. He prefers two sets with an intermission, which would allow him to play "Thick as a Brick" parts one and two in full, plus an encore with several greatest hits. When asked why "Part 2" was released as an Ian Anderson release and not as Jethro Tull, he explained it is all semantics, anyway. "All the guys with me now have played with Jethro Tull in recent years, so all the labeling is a moot point, really," he said. But he then clarified: "When people buy tickets to the Rolling Stones, they expect a 'best of' show. If I say 'Jethro Tull,' they'd expect the same." This tour will not include all of Jethro Tull's greatest hits ("That would take another three hours," he said, then laughed). Anderson has a story to tell. And, in genuine prog rock form, he's going to need a full concert set to do it in, as he'll play almost every track from both albums, he said. Besides, it took a long time for Gerald's full story to come to light. "I gave Part Two serious thought after being asked three or four dozen times. Real, tangible thoughts finally came to me a few years ago, and that's when I decided to give it a go. It was January of last year, and in three or four weeks, I had it done." It really was that simple, he said. He feels like the story's protagonist would have wanted it that way. "Gerald Bostock tells his life story as it's changed in the last 40 years (since the first album). It's a metaphor for all of us - the old codgers like me and for kids." The story comes with a lesson, he said. "We must accept responsibility for ourselves, and we must knowingly believe in our destiny and own our own lives." It's a story Anderson enjoys telling. He still performs more than 120 shows a year, with no plans to slow down or retire. As for the codpiece that was so prevalent in his early years, "Ahhh, the wife put that on a bonfire years ago. They're all gone forever. They were made by the Royal London Ballet Company, actually, so they can't be replaced, but, yes, I do fancy wearing one now, in fact." Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson performs "Thick as a Brick" 1 & 2 When: Doors open at 7 p.m., showtime 8 p.m. Thursday Where: The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa Tickets: Must be 21. Tickets are $50, $55 and $65, available at tulsaworld.com/hardrockcasino, the venue box office or by calling 918-384-ROCK. Thick as a Brick Release date: March 10, 1972 This was Jethro Tull's first full-length "prog rock" release, an epic tale purportedly written by 8-year-old boy prodigy Gerald "Little Milton" Bostock. It was written by Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson. Thick as a Brick 2 Release date: April 4, 2012 Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson follows up with a modern-day account of what happened to young Bostock and how his life is reflected in all of ours. Original Print Headline: Growing up Tull --------------------------------------------- ...and just for the title... ;D ‘Dracula,’ ‘Hamlet,’ Ian Anderson, Halloween eventswww.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=668&articleid=20121025_11_A2_CUTLIN758223
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2012 11:52:53 GMT
www.presstelegram.com/lifestyle/ci_21844308/steve-smith-updates-streisand-james-taylor-neil-diamondEX-TULL LEADER IAN ANDERSON'S TOUR After 45 years, Scottish flute and guitar-playing singer-songwriter Ian Anderson broke up his band, Jethro Tull. He is currently touring America celebrating the 40th anniversary of his and Tull's epic progressive rock album, "Thick as a Brick," the 45-minute, album-long song that contains many movements. That just comprises the first half of this tour's show. Several months ago, he and his crack solo band recorded a sequel to "TAAB," simply titled, "Thick as a Brick 2." Like the original, this album is also a song-long album containing many movements. So it's natural that Anderson presents this new work during the second half of these concerts. The packaging is actually inspired and, at his recent show at the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach, it fit seamlessly. Anderson has performed shorter abbreviated versions of "TAAB" at virtually every Tull show the band has played these past four decades, most of which was all from side one of the album. So for Tull fans it was a treat hearing him deliver side two. And because the new "TAAB 2" includes brief interludes from the original, it all flowed beautifully. In addition, the new CD features familiar Tull-ish classical prog-rock runs throughout that are reminiscent of music from "War Child" (1975), "A" (1980) and especially the under-heard and under-appreciated "J-Tull Dot Com" album from 1999. Anderson permanently damaged his voice in 1984. His singing has been marginal at best, wince-inducing at its worst. The Long Beach concert provided moments of both. However, after 28 years, Anderson has finally come to terms with this problem. He is utilizing a younger singer with the ideal background in rock music, theatre and circus. Englishman Ryan O'Donnell, 30, is a compliment to Anderson; a man who sings in his key, can ape his trademark moves and who possesses a voice that is not so strong that it will show up his boss. He and Anderson traded vocals back and forth throughout. After years of shows that have increasingly frustrated fans because of Anderson's vocal problems, as well as Anderson's insistence on playing many of the same songs year in and year out, the brilliant 65-year-old has rediscovered the magic and presented a show that is a triumph; one that, at least in Long Beach, resulted in a justifiably rapturous response from his audience. Anderson gave his fans one classic warhorse for his encore, an extended "Locomotive Breath," from Tull's biggest-selling album, 1971's "Aqualung."
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2012 14:57:51 GMT
Ian Anderson on display at the Chumash - October 25, 2012 calcoastnews.com/2012/10/ian-anderson-on-display-at-the-chumash/By COLIN JONES OK, I’m just going to say what every classic/prog rock fan already knows: Ian Anderson is an artistic animal, a bombastic bad ass. That’s not easy to pull off when the flute is your main instrument. And you’re 65 years old with four plus decades of touring and recording experiences to wear you down. But the Jethro Tull front man and everyman has the performing and musical chops that few others possess. Apparently, this guy won the lotto when God doled out artistic attributes to the masses. Last week at the venerable Chumash Casino, the Scottish rocker brought his non-Tull regiment to perform the group’s classic if somewhat unheralded ‘Thick as a Brick’ concept album, as well as his recent ‘Thick as a Brick 2′ bookend. Having heard the title track on rock radio for years, I was surprised to learn that the 1972 track is just one, long 40-minute song, comprised of Parts 1 and 2. Those sneaky DJs have just been playing snippets of the song. And I thought I knew everything about everything. After his band mates took the stage, Anderson quietly appeared on the side with his acoustic guitar, jumping into the familiar intro to TAAB. But he didn’t linger long with his six-string, pulling out his signature flute and playing its even more familiar riff. Wow, how often can you use riff and flute in the same sentence? But that’s Anderson, a musician full of contradictions. He’s an intellectual but dresses like a pseudo pirate proletariat and prances around the stage like a madman. Still, at any age let alone your mid-sixties, it’s pretty hard to sing, play flute and strum at the same. So his much younger alter ego, Ryan O’Donnell, ably carried most of the heavy vocal load for the evening, adding a theatrical flair to the festivities with numerous costume changes and prop additions. Add in a violin solo via Skype, a faux-doc about life in the fictional town of St. Cleve, with Anderson playing the lead roles, and several backdrop montages and it was a multi-media feast. After a short break, Anderson and his band mates rolled into Thick as a Brick 2, his 2012 release on the 40th anniversary of the original TAAB. The sequel imagines what life for the precocious 10-year old protagonist Gerald Bostock would be if he had taken different personal career paths. It’s quite an ambitious if virtually unknown effort that is equally impressive. Because the songs are so new or unfamiliar, my friend Mike thought of a great idea: display the lyrics on a giant teleprompter or video screen for the audience, kind of like they do for the opera. Tour managers take note. Anyway, as much as I like hearing favorite hit songs at shows, I’m always thrilled when new tunes I’m unfamiliar with strike gold. Anderson has created several among the 17 tracks on the new record, which is really much stronger and deeper than the original. Also, I usually prefer concerts that get people grooving on their feet. But for this one, the large crowd sat in rapt attention the entire 115-minute performance, mesmerized by this crazy genius and his colorful entourage. Go figure. After the second set ended, the guys returned for an encore of the classic ‘Locomotive Breath’, which was cool if a bit anti-climactic. Overall, it was a night to remember but not for reasons you would expect at a rock and roll show. That’s our boy Ian.
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Post by steelmonkey on Oct 25, 2012 15:33:07 GMT
I hope Ian is reading these appreciative, rave reviews...if he isn't...time again for the Ludovocio tecnique or whatever it was called in Clockwork Orange where they propped the guy's eyes open and forced him to look. ( I know we have a great foto of it somewhere in our archives).
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2012 15:41:04 GMT
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Post by nonrabbit on Oct 26, 2012 8:08:36 GMT
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 26, 2012 8:13:54 GMT
Lovely pictures on Scott Hammonds FB page via the Tull official FB page from the band's visit to the Kennedy Space Centre. www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Jethro-Tull/155624494454309 i45.images obliterated by tinypic/29ktle0.jpg [/IMG][/quote] Sealion and I had a wonderful time in the pub with Tom Lynch when we saw the band play at Reading. Some interesting, but unprintable stories. Maybe one day
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2012 19:44:58 GMT
Interview With A Pioneer: Ian Anderson of Jethro Tullaustinist.com/2012/10/26/an_interview_with_a_pioneer_ian_and.phpOne of the most creative musical minds of his generation, Ian Anderson has had a storied career that is highlighted by fronting the highly influential Jethro Tull and his dedication to music for more than forty years. His dense and unique songwriting abilities, his unwavering enthusiasm onstage, and his seemingly effortless fusing of genres (not to mention his unparalleled skills on the flute) helped Jethro Tull become one of the most popular group's of the 70's while continually pushing sonic territory. Earlier this year, Anderson released a sequel to 1972's classic Thick As A Brick, aptly titled Thick As A Brick 2: Whatever Happened To Gerald Bostock? under his own name, and he has spent most of this year bringing the concept album to the road. Ahead of his solo show this Sunday at the Paramount, and upcoming in Chicago, we had an opportunity to talk with Anderson about the new album, his creative process, and what it was like coming up among other like minded bands such as Genesis and Yes. Thick As A Brick 2 has been out for several months now and you have been touring behind it most of this year. How do you feel it has been received so far? I think it's gone very well, especially in the markets we have played in. Now that we have done eighteen or twenty shows in the USA, I think we can be fully confident that its hitting the spot for the audience, and for all of the musicians and crew, everything is going really well, thank you. But I would say that, wouldn't I? Was there any one moment that served as the spark for revisiting Gerald Bostock, or was it something you had been thinking of doing for a while? It had been something I was been planning on not doing, for a long while. But in the latter part of 2010, I was writing a composition with an ex-colleague from the music business, and we were just talking, and one of us posed the question: I wonder whatever happened to Gerald Bostock, the fictitious child poet who supposedly wrote the lyrics to Thick As A Brick in 1972? It was that one thought of what might have become of him later in life, because he would be about 50 years old now, that put me in a writing frame of mind. A few weeks later it got to be February 2011 and I started to jot down a few ideas, and within a couple of weeks I had pretty much written all of the album. So it was a very simple question. But of course, this is but a mythical for the lives of all of us. What might have happened if we hadn't done this or we had done that or life had just taken a different twist or turn. So it's that musing on the what if's, maybes and might-of-beens, of everyones’ lives that are touched upon here. Have you ever considered those sorts of questions in regards of your own life? Yes, but mostly in regard to very early in life, before I was interested in music. I mean I kind of got committed to music when I was in my teens but, from that point on, I don't really have any regrets about going down the musical route. But earlier on I suppose, I thought about different prospects in life. Not very much of that comes in to the album, but it does a little bit here and there. I think what I'm trying to do is be a little bit objective about it, paint pictures, paint scenarios, using my experiences and other people's lives. Not just my own. I would say that, if anything, little more than about 20 percent of what I write is biographical. A much bigger part is based upon observation of other people, but almost never friends or family because I think you should never betray relationships in your life by using them to write songs. I think that's not something I would ever do. It is well known that Jethro Tull pulled from a variety of influences to create their unique sound, including English folk music, blues, and hard rock. What kind, if any, struggles did you initially have trying to fuse the genres together or did combining them feel natural? Well, all the members of the band past and present, at least 28 different people have been apart of Jethro Tull over the years as musicians, have their input as performers and contributing to the process of recording. But all of the writing is really my responsibility. So no one else had any difficulties putting together the genres. It's me who writes the stuff and I'm the producer, and sometimes the recording engineer, and sometimes the manager. I'm the guy who is always taking on that role, of putting it all together, and so it would be the convenient answer to say that it was no trouble at all. But, like anything you take on in life, it creates it's difficulties. It's never entirely smooth. I think the spontaneity of bringing together the different elements from that very eclectic musical world that I inhabit, is not something that I find very difficult. I just have to take some attention to make sure that, like a chef in the kitchen, the ingredients coming together are not going to fight with each other and create an unholy mess of sites and taste. It is difficult as anything, as difficult as you want to make it. I try and keep it fun and I try keep it within the terms of my ability. I don't very often tackle projects which I don't think I am going to succeed. You are often credited with introducing the flute to rock music. Was it a conscious decision on your part or did it just kind of happen by accident? By the time Jethro Tull became Jethro tull in February of 1968, I had been playing flute for about 6 weeks. At that point it was a new instrument to me, but I felt it gave a point of difference compared to other bands at that time for the flute to have a kind of equal role to the electric guitar. Especially in a blues band, which is what we were to begin with, it was certainly unusual. Nobody else was doing that. So it did give us a point of difference that gave us a little bit of help to get noticed in the first place. But I think by the time I was playing flute for 6 months, by the time we got to the summer of 1968, I thought, “Yes, this is very much part of the band.” And although I didn’t want the music to be flute dominant, I felt it was a fact it would always be present, not necessarily in every song, but in most of the songs that I have written. So, I knew it was going to be an important position to the line up of the band. Jethro Tull emerged around the same time as bands like Genesis and Yes, who were equally as focused on making prog rock a legitimate and acceptable form of music. What was the relationship like between you and your contemporaries? We were on nodding terms, that's the best way to put it, maybe some of them would hang out together and have a beer. But you were competitive. You knew it was up to us to try and get good gigs, the good slots in the right show. There was a sense of competition, but there was mutual admiration to a degree too. It was a healthy environment where you felt you should be respectful to your peers, you should acknowledge their musical skills and artistry. But to become too friendly or to become too close is not something that really occurred to me. I didn't really spend a lot of time in official context with any one of those people because I didn't drink alcohol, I didn't hang out in bars or pubs, I didn't take drugs, I didn’t do any of the things that were part of the social experience of young musicians at that time. So, I didn’t really have amongst my very small circle of friends or acquaintances too many musicians. It was mostly people from outside of music. And that’s been the case really all of my life. So, whilst I do a good nod and give a brief hello to a number of people that we’ve all heard of, and they might maybe recognize me, I don’t think it would be true to say that any of them are amongst my close friends. For you, what have been the biggest differences between performing with Jethro Tull and under your own name? Well when I’m standing on the stage, the answer is absolutely none [laughs]. I mean it just doesn’t go through my head until I’m signing an autograph on somebody’s ticket. Then I’m reminded of whether it says Jethro Tull or Ian Anderson on the stub. The reason that I do shows under my name is when they are shows that are very specific, they’re more conceptual, they’re not just generic Jethro Tull. I mean, if the Rolling Stones come out to tour later this year or next year, if it says “The Rolling Stones” on the concert ticket, you’re going to expect to hear the twenty most famous Rolling Stones songs of all time when they walk out on stage. If I’m to simply present myself all the time as Jethro Tull, then people would all to expect to hear a selection of music with which they’re already pretty familiar. And I don’t have a problem with that when I’m just gonna use the name Jethro Tull on its own for a generic Jethro Tull repertoire. But if it’s more specific, like the tour that I’m on at the moment doing the Thick as a Brick 2 project, then I feel that I need to create that idea of there being a difference so that people don’t come expecting to hear “Aqualung,” “Locomotive Breath,” “Cross-Eyed Mary” and a whole bunch of other things that they’ve heard many times in the past. So I tend to use my own name when its more on the project related side of what I do and then Jethro Tull when its just the greatest hits package. This year they’re pretty much, as far as I can think, all Ian Anderson shows because with the exception of two or three concerts at Christmas they’re all Thick As A Brick concept album tours. You have been making music for more than forty years now, and it’s easy to tell that you are still very much into performing and creating music. What is it that has kept you going for all of these years? Well it comes with a sense of identity. I think we discover who we are in life. Some people discover that they are formula one racing drivers, some people discover that they are golf champions, some people discover that they are bank managers. They have that sense of who they are based on their professions. I’m one of those middle class people that gets talked about by your President and the aspiring want-to-be President. They are very careful to help glorify the middle class as being the back bone of society. And these days the middle class is much bigger than it was perhaps fifty or one hundred years ago when people were either very rich or very poor. These days the democratic societies that we’re a part of allow and help to build a bigger percentage of the population as the middle class. That means that we are usually aspiring to a profession or career as to the sense of “this is who we are.” And so I think that that’s my sense of who I am and I had that sense of who I am probably by the time I was twenty-three or twenty-four. I thought, “Okay, music is probably a job for life.” So it is that sense of identification that keeps me very focused about what I do and I have no desire at all to change that sense of who I am in my final years by taking up fishing, golf, or other leisure pursuits. I think I like the idea of being a musician and even though I may slow down in years to come, I think I still want to continue my life as a musician until I’m prevented from doing that by ill health and ultimately death itself. Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips. By Ryan Lester in Arts & Entertainment on October 26, 2012
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Post by steelmonkey on Oct 27, 2012 19:47:41 GMT
Better late than never...last night i managed to get the webcast of TAAB I+II on Tull-radio...and laying in the bath-tub, listening intently, noticed for the very first time...despite having read about it...the blatant 'Aqualung' riff in 'Adrift and Dumbfounded'.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2012 22:31:53 GMT
www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=102450Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull updated: Oct 27, 2012, 2:00 PM By Robert Bernstein Ian Anderson was lead musician and flute player for the band Jethro Tull. Last Thursday 18 October he performed the "Thick as a Brick" album which is actually one long 44 minute song. It is the autobiographical poem of a fictional child. A kind of musical inside joke. The performance was held at the Chumash Casino, complete with performers in costume. After a short intermission the program continued with the new "Thick as a Brick 2". Anderson played guitar and flute, including his signature move of standing on one leg while playing the flute. His flute playing included many other signature Ian Anderson tricks, including a trill-like "flutter" that is a musical feat to behold! Here are my photos! Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull - 18 October 2012 - Chumash Casino swt.org/events/iananderson2012/
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2012 18:45:01 GMT
Ian Anderson Brings ‘Thick as a Brick’ Tour to Nashville – Concert Review by: Sterling Whitakerultimateclassicrock.com/ian-anderson-2012-concert-review/Jethro Tull front man Ian Anderson presented the crowd with both a full dose of nostalgia, and a new musical challenge in Nashville on Tuesday night (Oct. 30). Performing both the classic Tull album ‘Thick as a Brick’ and his new solo sequel ‘Thick as a Brick 2′ in their entirety, Anderson pulled off the unlikely feat of topping his past success with his newest work. The original ‘Thick as a Brick’ was a long, musically and lyrically convoluted work that spanned two entire album sides, and since many of its passages feature Anderson on vocals, flute and acoustic guitar simultaneously, part of the challenge Tuesday night was performing it in an arrangement that was musically possible to pull off live. That demanded much of Anderson — especially since many of those vocal parts employed the higher part of his range and long, sustained notes that are beyond his current vocal capabilities. Enter Ryan O’Donnell, a singing actor who performed many of the rangier parts from that album Tuesday, delivering them with phrasing so close to Anderson’s own that it’s almost startling. O’Donnell portrayed the character of Gerald Bostock, the young boy from the concept who supposedly wrote the long poem upon which ‘Thick as a Brick’ was based. In so doing, he not only took some of the vocal weight off of Anderson, he also provided a focal point during times when Anderson was involved in long acoustic guitar or flute passages. In that sense his presence was positive, but there were also moments where some of the elements of theater and mime that his performance brought to the show threatened to lapse into absurdity — as if the writers from Saturday Night Live drafted a sketch in which Spinal Tap performed ‘Les Miserables.’ Fortunately, those moments were few. For the most part the first half of the evening succeeded at presenting a very ambitious mix of rock, folk, classical music, theater and multi-media elements in a way that brought a 40-year-old piece of work to new life — albeit with a few fits and starts. The crowd certainly seemed to enjoy it, whooping and cheering Anderson with every rapid flute riff and bug-eyed expression — particularly when he struck his trademark pose of playing the flute while standing on one leg. After a brief intermission, the band returned to the stage to perform ‘Thick as a Brick 2′ in its entirety as well. Unlike the first album, which most people have heard at least portions of for the last four decades, this material was entirely new for many, and performing it could have been a disastrous choice. But for any Tull fans who have been thinking about attending this tour, then leaving after the first half, you really should mind if you sit this one out, because the evening’s second half turned out to be the best part of the show by a wide margin. The material from ‘Thick as a Brick 2′ was written more with this type of performance in mind, and while it certainly has no shortage of long instrumental passages and crazy solos in unusual time signatures, it seems to have been written with the specific intent of playing it live, with more exciting rhythms underpinning the main themes that make it far more compelling in a live setting. The central flute and guitar motif is also very strong, and Anderson wrote and recorded this material to accommodate his current vocal range, meaning that more of the focus of the evening’s second half was on him, as it should be. O’Donnell was still present and very much a part of the music and presentation, but his presence onstage was far better integrated in the second half of the show. What was truly remarkable about Tuesday night’s performance is that this is not really a show that appears to have been designed with the interests of the fans in mind. This is a show in which Ian Anderson is giving his longtime fans exactly what he damn well wants to and challenging them to deal with it. You could call that self-indulgent, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong — this is, after all, a man standing on one leg playing the flute as part of a classic rock show that incorporates elements of mime and interpretive dance — but you have to admire the sheer artistic audacity that drives that, especially when it works this well. Given the choice between rehashing old classic hits or moving forward musically, on Tuesday night in Nashville Ian Anderson simply chose to do both, and in such a way that he actually made fans like it. Mark Metcalfe, Getty Images
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2012 21:03:54 GMT
www.dailyherald.com/article/20121031/entlife/710319850/Back with 'Brick' Ian Anderson, former frontman for the legendary British band Jethro Tull, will bring his flute to the Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., Chicago, to perform Tull's classic concept-album parody, “Thick as a Brick,” in its entirety. Tull's sound consisted of traditional, blues-based guitar rock and instrumental touches more commonly associated with progressive rock — Anderson's aforementioned flute along with strings and keyboards. Anderson has said “Thick as a Brick,” the 1972 album that featured just one song spread out over two sides of an LP, was intended to spoof what he saw as the pretentiousness of prog-rock bands. Tickets cost $48 to $103. Go to thechicagotheatre.com. 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2 www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detroit/November-2012/Arts-Entertainment/index.php?cparticle=7&siarticle=6 Ian Anderson Celebrating his 44th year as a world-renowned singer and flutist, this Scottish musician and Jethro Tull bandleader is taking the stage yet again. His talents don’t end with the flute, though. Anderson is well-versed in guitar, bass, and harmonica, along with a variety of whistling techniques. He has toured the world for more than four decades, bringing with him a unique sound through his signature rock/flute hybrid that is sure to whet your whistle. 8 p.m. Nov. 3. $54-$72. Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit; 313-471-3200. www.cleveland.com/music/index.ssf/2012/10/lisa_marie_presley_at_the_kent.html AKRON CIVIC THEATRE 182 S. Main St., Akron. 330-253-2488, akroncivic.com Thick as a Brick 1 & 2 Tour, featuring Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson 7:30 p.m. Sunday. $35-$65.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2012 16:45:55 GMT
Thursday, November 1, 2012 By John Benson "Thick as a Brick" the future has arrivedThere’s something maniacal about Jethro Tull visionary Ian Anderson. Making you read more of what you already know: Read more; valley24.com/news/2012/nov/01/thick-as-a-brick--the-future-has-arrived/When it’s pointed out such a prog-rock theatrical performance could lend itself to a Broadway production, Anderson showed his true colors as a touring rock ’n’ roll musician. “I’m a leave-town-the-next-morning kind of guy,” Anderson said. “I just want to play one show and get the [expletive] out of there. I don’t want to hang around. The idea of going to the same stage door day after day, it’s just so creepy and so sad. I occupy a dressing room for one night and don’t want to see it again for at least a year.” He added, “In terms of what happens next in my life, I’m on tour around the world through 2013. I’ll be 66 by then, and at my age, it’s probably a little dangerous to make plans beyond two or three years because all around me people are dropping like flies. I’m not exactly pessimistic but realistic.”
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Post by Deleted on Nov 1, 2012 20:06:49 GMT
Civic Theatre alive with sound of music this weekend By Malcolm X Abram - Beacon Journal pop music writer Published: October 31, 2012 - 06:37 PM | Updated: November 1, 2012 - 12:33 PM enjoy.ohio.com/civic-theatre-alive-with-sound-of-music-this-weekend-1.346698 On Sunday, the Civic will welcome Ian Anderson, lead singer and flutist of Jethro Tull, who is currently touring an elaborately staged show featuring Tull’s 1972 prog-rock classic concept album, Thick As a Brick, along with Anderson’s 2012 solo release, Thick As a Brick 2, aka. TAAB2: Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock? The new album continues the convoluted story of TAAB’s protagonist Gerald Bostock, who was only an 8-year-old boy on the original two-track epic album. Now Anderson presents Bostock’s tale in several scenarios spread across 13 tracks for the boy poet including being a banker and a preacher. Yeah, it’s still pretty confusing conceptually, even with Anderson’s spoken interludes (it is a concept album after all). Musically, TAAB2 continues the complex twists and turns of its predecessor, but Anderson’s band is crazy tight and he can still blow a mean flute. And finally ... Now, I’d like to take a few inches of space for a couple of quick tangents unrelated to music. First up, I hope you and yours wherever they may be are surviving Sandy, the friendliest named yet downright mean “superstorm” that has blanketed the East Coast. It is times like these (and pretty much only times like these) that I don’t miss living next to the ocean, though Lake Erie can cop a bad attitude, too. On a much lighter note, last weekend was a fantastic sports weekend for me with the Giants winning their second World Series in two years with an almost completely different team, my beloved Raiders beating the hated Chiefs, my slightly less beloved 49ers taking it to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football, no less, and my adopted Browns showing some moxie and winning two out of three games. Go teams.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2012 21:08:40 GMT
Ian Anderson Brings Thick As A Brick, And Its Sequel, To NashvilleBy Chris Rutledge November 2nd, 2012 at 2:01 pm www.americansongwriter.com/2012/11/ian-anderson-brings-thick-as-a-brick-and-its-sequel-to-nashville/The first words to come out of Ian Anderson’s mouth at the Ryman Auditorium last Tuesday set the tone for the rest of the show. Or maybe not just the words, but the slithering, breathless voice he rattled them out in: “Really don’t mind if you sit this one out.” Perhaps too old for rock n’ roll, the Jethro Tull front man just doesn’t have the lung capacity or vocal range he used to. When he brought his Thick As A BrickPart 1 and 2 solo tour to Nashville, it was clear he was going to have a hard time making it through the night. But even Anderson out of his prime has his pride, and the people were not to be treated to a lackluster show. Never one to compromise his artistic integrity, instead of lip-synching, Anderson got creative with how to overcome his vocal shortcomings. Those who had seen The Who’s Quadropheniastage musical might have recognized actor/vocalist Ryan O’Donnell, but those not familiar soon were. Like a spry young squire to Anderson’s aging knight, O’Donnell gifted a much needed vitality to the performance by assisting Anderson in singing many of the parts. He also leapt around on stage with the same theatrical fervor you might expect from a stage actor. The only gripe to be had with O’Donnell is that while he is certainly as animated as Anderson in his prime, he doesn’t quite capture the same raw, manic energy. And that’s where Anderson came back in, leaping around stage to the best of his abilities, and occasionally even lifting a leg for a flute solo. In between some of the songs were short videos starring Anderson, and while the Thick as a Brick story might not have been a Roger Waters presents The Wall-scale production, it was similarly elaborate and strange. But the real star here was the band, who were in fine form as they ripped through Tull’s classic 1972 album. When it came time for an intermission, a portion of the audience left, apparently not interested in hearing Anderson’s 2012 follow-up album. Surprisingly, the new tracks fared much better live than they do on the album, and because of the songs’ freshness, the ghost of 1972 Anderson was not haunting their performance. Anderson might not be in the condition of some of his contemporaries, like Neil Young or Paul McCartney, but his writing chops are as viable today as they ever were, and a double shot of Thick As A Brick is prog-rock paradise for loyal fans. (Ian Anderson and Ryan O’Donnell)
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Post by steelmonkey on Nov 2, 2012 21:30:44 GMT
A few compliments...some damning with faint praise...some painful but good points...some respect to I.A. and the band...some utterly meaningless comparisions...not the best nor the worst review....We'll let the guy live but let's keep an eye on him...
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Post by nonrabbit on Nov 2, 2012 21:40:23 GMT
Chris is doing the old, lazy spot the lyric and turn it into an adjective for a write up.
"..slithering, breathless voice he rattled..."
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tullist
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Post by tullist on Nov 2, 2012 21:46:22 GMT
Ok now I'm gettin excited, gonna eat me a whole damn bowl of mulberries before the show, and likely an additional peculiar vegetation. Checked with the Ministry to see what the date was in 72 that myself and these 2 old buddies, and probably 30 other people saw the show at a mile down the next street at the Chicago Stadium. It was November 10 1972 so nearly forty years to the day.
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Post by nonrabbit on Nov 2, 2012 21:48:04 GMT
Ok now I'm gettin excited, gonna eat me a whole damn bowl of mulberries before the show, and likely an additional peculiar vegetation. Checked with the Ministry to see what the date was in 72 that myself and these 2 old buddies, and probably 30 other people saw the show at a mile down the next street at the Chicago Stadium. It was November 10 1972 so nearly forty years to the day. Now you know that brings a tear to a Tull fans eyes......!! I'm blubbing for you
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Post by steelmonkey on Nov 3, 2012 0:58:29 GMT
I'll have to check the Ministry for exact date of a show at the Chicago Theater in, probably, October or November of 92.
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tullist
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Post by tullist on Nov 3, 2012 7:44:46 GMT
To folks of our strain of Tull fans I will hardly be giving a blow by blow account of this event that we all have had the chance to see under a microscope, nose and ear hair included. The goods were delivered on all accounts. Having said that I would not mark it as a markedly more effective performance than most I have seen involving Ian since the mid nineties. His voice, the setlists etc have never been a particularly large impediment to me, partly because its been more a case of how he and the band as a whole deal, and the majority, certainly of the Jethro Tull shows in that time period, delivered the goods just about as well as this tour. The "cringe" inducing moments just don't cringe me that bad, I suppose a small handful of favorites like SFTW, Wondring Again, (particularly hard to admit when finally he re addressed that piece last year, but its just no longer in his range, nor really are much of the final 17 minutes of Brick, fine though tonight was, very fine, still not really in his range) and Heavy Horses are best put on mothballs, unless Ryan is staying around. (Oddly to my ears he has zero trouble giving yet another effective vocal reading on Aqua or Loco). Still have to give a slight edge to the light and dark tour of 92 as my favorite of the past 20 years. I don't know what that move was of Ian's, mimicked by Ryan, in the last ten minutes or so of the show, sort of a Tull jig for the aged, absolutely made me laugh aloud, his funniest physical move I have seen since that Rimsky Korsakov dance he was doing on the 93 or 4 tour, probably both, just before his knee problems saw to it that that and other moves would not be taken into his 50's and 60's. Most deeply missed by me are his flute twirling skills, moreso than pining for a vision of a golden throated warbler that I just don't think he ever was. The spirit and diction with which he sings I really don't believe he has lost at all. Cool after the show meeting up with the whole band save Ian across the street, with 2 new friends who one of my old buddies met in line, 2 local ladies of a similar level of passion for ye olde that I have. They regaled me with tales, certainly of Andy Giddings, and their various dealings with Ian who through business in part, they have met about 10 times, appear to be good friends with all the old hands like Tom Lynch the merchandise guy . Like many, though certainly not me in my one meeting with IA, they have only met the grumpy Ian. Not that he was over the top friendly with me either, but he was not in the middle of a tour where I know his mindset is pretty much all about those 2 hours on stage. They were both highly pleased to hear of this other Ian I had met, and I certainly made a point of mentioning, as I often do, of the words of farm manager Ian Mackinnon, re 'Ray, I could not imagine working for a finer gentleman" Not saying what we have heard about him from this or that musician is not accurate, just that he is one complicated multi tiered type CAT. Was the Catfish tour 92 Bernie? I kind of thought it was 91, and that was the tour my tickets in this same building were not really up to par. Beautiful room, but not perfect sounding. Like 89 we had really good seats tonite so sound was not much of an issue. The Roots tour was there too. Way too much moving about from the crowd, I guess I should feel happy at 56 that, in a comparitive sense, I must have a bladder made of iron. Had a moderately severe case of sit the f**k down, quite like Ian. And had one guy behind me guilty of wanting to be the show, with the conversation of he and his friend totally audible throughout the show, like how great it would have been to see him in 74 and 76. I saw it. And I hate that $h1t. To me Tull's music, mission statement, is a massive case of be here now, in this moment only, no room for reminicing about how good it was back in days. I saw those shows, and wonderful though they usually were, still not markedly better than right now.
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tullist
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Post by tullist on Nov 3, 2012 7:47:39 GMT
Ok now I'm gettin excited, gonna eat me a whole damn bowl of mulberries before the show, and likely an additional peculiar vegetation. Checked with the Ministry to see what the date was in 72 that myself and these 2 old buddies, and probably 30 other people saw the show at a mile down the next street at the Chicago Stadium. It was November 10 1972 so nearly forty years to the day. Now you know that brings a tear to a Tull fans eyes......!! I'm blubbing for you Having Patti with me would have made that about the most memorable Tull/IA show in recent decades. But in a pinch those 2 fine old boys did just fine, a blessed evening.
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Post by nonrabbit on Nov 3, 2012 10:33:06 GMT
Now you know that brings a tear to a Tull fans eyes......!! I'm blubbing for you Having Patti with me would have made that about the most memorable Tull/IA show in recent decades. But in a pinch those 2 fine old boys did just fine, a blessed evening. Well going by the last five years in Tull history - there's plenty of time
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Post by nonrabbit on Nov 3, 2012 10:47:31 GMT
Great review Ray - thanks and to be expected - so glad you went. I laughed out loud at the Rumsky Korsakov dance curtailed due to knee problems ;D
Tull fans, well some, seem to be sad almost angry that Ian & Tull aren't the same Ian & Tull of the past - recent or distant. I suppose that's because the impact was so memorable and important but you summed it up the best;
"...to be here now, in this moment only..." What more indeed!!
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Post by steelmonkey on Nov 3, 2012 15:13:48 GMT
Glad you were there and got your deserved eyeful and earful...you mean when they waltzed around during the orchestral passages right at the end of brick I? I loved that...that was one of the best moments of the night...along with the 2 or 3 times during brick two when Ian/Goodier/Florian/Ryan are lined up and shift their attention back and forth between Drums and keyboards in time to the change of horses/confessions/kismet riffs...SO COOL. Yup---Tull now and Tull then are apples and oranges....both incomparable and precious experiences.
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Post by maddogfagin on Nov 3, 2012 15:17:48 GMT
Thanks for the review Ray
"The spirit and diction with which he sings I really don't believe he has lost at all."
I reckon in one short sentence you've summed up not only the essence of Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson coupled with the performance experience, but the reason we're still Tull fans in the year 2012.
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Post by steelmonkey on Nov 3, 2012 15:26:03 GMT
2012 has been a very good year on the planet Tull...very, very, very good.
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tullist
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Post by tullist on Nov 3, 2012 16:38:43 GMT
Nah B, it was just prior to that, the only time in the show when I made a loud sound, I think a single loud Hah! The waltz sequence I was already well apprised of with all the You Tube's I have watched. This move I would liken more to that dance those guys do in O Brother Where Art Thou when they are doin their song on the radio. Either the dance they were doin or Ians I know to be a certain cure for depression. It has to have been during that kind of dirge like moments prior to "The fading hero has returned to the night" It was exquisite odd so I finally could not contain myself.
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Post by steelmonkey on Nov 3, 2012 17:06:07 GMT
I can only hope to get another stab at this tour next year and pay extra attention ( or study you tubes) to the bit you are describing. There were a lot of times the even subtle choreography going on played a large role in the coolarity of the performance.
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