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Post by JTull 007 on Oct 19, 2016 2:00:23 GMT
Rocktober in So Cal Oct 19, 2016 8:00PM LINK 1 Jethro Tull Arlington Theatre - Santa Barbara, CA LINK 2 LINK 3
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Post by JTull 007 on Oct 19, 2016 2:31:38 GMT
Review from San Diego: by John Richardson LINKHad the first good thing happen to me in over a month. Last night went to the Balboa Theatre (3000 seats) and heard Ian Anderson's group perform "Jethro Tull The Rock Opera".
I really enjoyed it although Ian is now about 70 and can no longer hit the high vocals his flute skills and showmanship are above reproach. The opera shown on the large stage screen behind had characters depicting the life of Jethro Tull a noted English agriculturist.
Lots of video of farms, countryside and agricultural lab works. The young Ian standing in the fields in his bid overalls singing about selling his farm reminded me of Mike Sachs. I thought of Wentzville while I watched the opera. It is VERY good see it if you have the chance. See it with someone you love, my ex didn't like Jethro Tull. Of 3000 people there I didn't see anyone under 30. It was great, Thanx Ian!
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 19, 2016 7:45:36 GMT
pdxpipeline.com/2016/10/17/portland-win-tickets-jethro-tull-written-and-performed-by-ian-anderson-keller-auditorium/ Win Tickets ($79): JETHRO TULL – Written and Performed by Ian Anderson @ Keller Auditorium | Vocalist, Flautist, Acoustic GuitaristPDX PIPELINE are giving away a pair of tickets to JETHRO TULL – Written and Performed by Ian Anderson @ Keller Auditorium on October 27. To win, comment HERE why you’d like to attend. Winner will be drawn and emailed Monday, October 24. JETHRO TULL – Written and Performed by Ian Anderson October 27, 2016 Doors 7 p.m., Show 8 p.m. | $39.50 / $55 / $75 / $95 (RSVD) | All Ages Tickets: aladdin-theater.com Keller Auditorium 222 SW Clay St, Portland, OR 97201 Ian Anderson, known throughout the world of rock music as the flute and voice behind the legendary Jethro Tull, celebrates his 46th year as an international recording and performing musician in 2014. Ian was born in 1947 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. After attending primary school in Edinburgh, his family relocated to Blackpool in the north of England in 1959. Following a traditional Grammar school education, he moved on to Art college to study fine art before deciding on an attempt at a musical career. Tull formed in 1968 out of the amalgamation of the John Evan Band and McGregor’s Engine, two blues-based local UK groups. After a lengthy career, Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull have released 30 studio and live albums, selling more than 60 million copies since the band first performed at London’s famous Marquee Club in February 1968. After undertaking more than 3000 concerts in 40 countries throughout four decades, he has typically played 100-plus concerts each year to longstanding, as well as new fans worldwide. Widely recognized as the man who introduced the flute to rock music, Ian Anderson remains the crowned exponent of the popular and rock genres of flute playing. So far, no real pretender to the throne has stepped forward. Ian also plays ethnic flutes and whistles together with acoustic guitar and the mandolin family of instruments, providing the acoustic textures which has been an integral part of most of the Tull repertoire.
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Post by steelmonkey on Oct 19, 2016 16:43:57 GMT
LA friend reports sold out or near sold out shows, impeccable performances and responsive, appreciative crowds including long standing ovations after Aqualung...3rd or 4th song of the night.
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Post by bunkerfan on Oct 19, 2016 18:58:22 GMT
LA friend reports sold out or near sold out shows, impeccable performances and responsive, appreciative crowds including long standing ovations after Aqualung...3rd or 4th song of the night. No seats left at The Harris Center.
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Post by steelmonkey on Oct 19, 2016 20:20:35 GMT
Folsom, California is a suburb of Sacramento, California...a large metropolitan area and the state capitol....dunno how big the venue, but good they sold out. Every sell out goes into some column that promises MORE CONCERTS.....doesn't it?
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Post by tullabye on Oct 20, 2016 7:19:40 GMT
I find it somewhat interesting that you'll have a large act periodically come into Los Angeles somewhere and play in front of 10k or 15k people at an arena that people from all surrounding counties attend. Ian comes into LA and plays in front of 3k people but then goes to Ventura county and plays in front of another 2500 people and then into Riverside in front of another 2500 people and then into San Diego and another 3k people. More gigs in smaller venues but about the same amount of people.
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 20, 2016 8:08:53 GMT
activate.metroactive.com/2016/10/jethro-tull-frontman-balances-past-future-on-new-tour/Jethro Tull Balances Past, Future on New TourIN MUSICOCTOBER 19, 2016 by NICK VERONIN HEY AQUALUNG: Ian Anderson, founder of the pioneering prog-rock band Jethro Tull, brings his new rock opera to San Jose. Entering the final stretch of one of the most divisive presidential election cycles in American history, it can be difficult to conceive of a political point of view beyond the polemic that mainstream cable news has been feeding us for the past year. But for Ian Anderson, it’s hard to understand exactly how the United States has come to find itself facing the possibility of a Trump White House. It’s not that Anderson, the founder of progressive rock pioneers Jethro Tull, is a bleeding-heart liberal. He is a proponent of responsible gun ownership and a fan of some of fairly hawkish figures—like Condoleezza Rice and his friend Tony Snow, former press secretary under George W. Bush. Then again, it helps to remember that Anderson hails from the U.K.—from the proud and fiercely independent country of Scotland, to be precise. And while he is a longtime student of American culture and politics, he has the ability to view our country from the outside, like a rock & roll Alexis de Tocqueville. “In all of sane Europe, we are pretty liberal and sensitive about the rights that people have, as long as they don’t force them unpleasantly on others.” He shares this perspective voluntarily, without prompting, briefly steering a recent conversation away from music and into politics and religion. All of this makes sense, of course, when you consider Anderson’s background and take a listen to his discography. On the title track of Jethro Tull’s fourth LP, 1971’s Aqualung, Anderson seems to toggle between self-righteous derision and true empathy as he narrates a day in the life of a tramp. At first, this disheveled character is “eyeing little girls with bad intent”; later he is nursing a bum leg, wheezing and dying alone on a cold park bench. Fast forward to “Farm on the Freeway,” from 1987’s Crest of a Knave, and we find Anderson pining for a pastoral past that is disappearing. It’s classic “Morning in America” romanticism, until he gets to the cause: a new airport is being built, freeways are slicing through the heartland and a “silicon chip factory” is pushing out a family farm. Even if Anderson weren’t so forthcoming about his views, fans of Jethro Tull would find plenty of clues to his personal philosophy by looking up the historical figure that shares his band’s name. The band is named after an English agriculturalist and inventor who lived from 1647 to 1741. A student of European farming practices, Tull sought to improve efficiency in the field with his patented “seed drill,” which could mechanically and simultaneously drill holes and sow seed. Anderson comes to San Jose later this month with his new touring production, Jethro Tull—a rock opera of sorts, which reimagines the life of the historical Tull through a story set in the near future. The performance features hits from the Jethro Tull catalog, as well as new material, and confronts issues such as climate change, big agriculture and population growth. Here, again, we see the continued exploration of a theme that has interested Anderson for the majority of his career—balancing a yearning to return to simpler times, while keeping an eye on the horizon and the promises of modernity. “There is an element of Scottish-ness and the folk traditions that have always stayed with me to some degree,” he says. The same goes for religion. “I’m not a Christian,” he continues—noting that he appreciates the Bible in the same way he appreciates Shakespeare, opera and the blues. “It’s a good story. It has an enormous worth for society.” It would seem that Anderson is adept at balancing disparate views—just as he is known for balancing on one foot while taking flute solos. And it is clear that he is adept at telling stories. Stories are important. They can remind us of where we’ve been and give us a sense of where we want to go. They serve to both inform the rational mind and also temper it against cold, unethical and purely utilitarian decision-making. In one month’s time the American people will weigh the stories they’ve been told over the past many months and compare them with what they believe to be true in their hearts. One hopes that on that day both rationality and empathy will be in proper balance. Jethro Tull Oct 22, 8pm, $40-$65 City National Civic, San Jose
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 20, 2016 8:13:41 GMT
portlandtribune.com/pt/11-features/328261-207465-jethro-tull-leader-finally-tells-us-who-the-heck-jethro-tull-isJethro Tull leader finally tells us who the heck Jethro Tull isCreated on Wednesday, 19 October 2016 | Written by Rob Cullivan | Ian Anderson brings rock opera about agriculturist to town When a musical booking agent gave a cerebral fledgling English folk rock band the name Jethro Tull in February 1968, lead singer and budding flute-player Ian Anderson didn’t ponder the implications too much. “I didn’t know until a couple of weeks later that he’d name us after a dead guy,” Anderson says in a phone interview. Named for an 18th century agriculturist whose inventions, including a horse-drawn seed drill as well as a hoe, revolutionized farming, the band never made much of its association with the historic figure until recently. Anderson says curiosity a few years back inspired him to really dig into the story of Tull, and the more he learned the more he realized his music and the man whose identity the band effectively stole had strange similarities. For example, Tull’s parents wanted him to be a lawyer, but his passion was for music. He also suffered bronchial ailments, which made Anderson think of his coughing homeless character Aqualung, immortalized by the 1971 album of the same name. “There were ways Aqualung could reference the story as well,” Anderson says. The result of Anderson’s investigation into Tull yielded the rocker’s latest work, “Jethro Tull,” which he will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at Keller Auditorium, 222 S.W. Clay St. Tickets range from $39.50 to $95, and can be purchased at www.portland5.com. As Anderson puts it, the new-meets-old musical piece represents payback to the agriculturist for his band’s “identity theft” back in 1968. “This is an opportunity to kind of set things right,” he says with a slight chuckle. The name game In “Jethro Tull,” Anderson touches on topical issues including climate change, intensive food production and population growth. New material specially written for the show includes “Prosperous Pasture,” “Fruits Of Frankenfield,” “And The World Feeds Me,” “Stick, Twist, Bust,” and “The Turnstile Gate.” The rock opera also features many Tull favorites, including “Heavy Horses,” “Farm On The Freeway,” “Songs From The Wood,” “Aqualung,” “Living In The Past,” “Wind-Up,” “A New Day Yesterday,” “The Witch’s Promise” and “Locomotive Breath,” sometimes with rewritten lyrics to better tell the tale. For example, Anderson says, the second verse of “Heavy Horses” has been rewritten for “Jethro Tull.” The track is taken from the 1978 album of the same name and refers to British working horses. The new version contains such new phrases as “Massey, New Holland, nothing runs like a Deere/Four-driven fat tyres, heaving/Soft ride on work seat suspended in air/Fingertip touch for steering/Three hundred horses under the hood/Fed on red diesel fuming/Hungry as hell while the oil-barons fly/A bio-fuel era looming.” “’Heavy Horses’ is an analogy for today’s tractors,” he says. “That’s part of what I had felt I had to change to reflect today’s world.” Now about that flute Joining Anderson on stage will be bassist David Goodier, keyboardist John O’Hara, guitarist Florian Opahle and drummer Scott Hammond. The concert also will show “virtual guests” on screen including vocalist Ryan O’Donnell as well as Icelandic singer-violinist Unnur Birna Björnsdóttir, who appears on screen throughout the show. At the front of it all will be Anderson, quite possibly the most famous rock star to have ever made it onto the sales charts as a flute player. Ironically, long past the time when Jethro Tull was regularly listed high on music industry sales charts, Anderson says he actually learned how to correctly play his instrument. “I had no flute lessons, no formal musical education of any sort,” Anderson says. However, when his daughter began studying flute in the early 1990s, she schooled her dad on his instrument. “She was the one who pointed out to me, ‘That’s not the way to play it, Daddy.’ I realized with horror I was doing it all wrong. It took me about six months to learn to replay the flute. It was hard to unlearn all the bad habits and bad mistakes.” His persistence paid off, however, and Anderson says he now knows what he’s doing when he puts the flute to his mouth. “Now I find it a lot more fulfilling playing the instrument than I did the first 20 years of my professional life.”
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 20, 2016 8:18:03 GMT
bestclassicbands.com/ian-anderson-celebrates-real-jethro-tull-10-17-16/Ian Anderson Celebrates The Real Jethro Tullby Roy Trakin “No way to slow down,” chants Ian Anderson at the close of “Locomotive Breath,” the penultimate song in what was billed as Jethro Tull: The Rock Opera, not, notably, the band. That sentiment was apt for the now-balding, but still spry, flute-slinging, leg-lifting founder of the British rockers named after the 18th century agriculturalist who is also the putative subject of the 20-song, two-act set, combining selections from his catalog with four new songs, which address his ongoing concerns about global warming, GMOs and the future of small farming. While 130 miles away at Desert Trip, classic rock icons Paul McCartney and Neil Young were entertaining 75,000 fans for “Oldchella,” Anderson and his cohorts—at the ornate, historic Pantages in the heart of Hollywood—with the help of an on-screen narrative (and several “virtual” singers), were wowing a packed house on October 15 of 2,000 paying upwards of $200 a pop for orchestra seats. The cognoscenti has not been kind to Anderson nor Tull over the years—not only are they rarely heard as candidates for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction (not surprising, given the nominating committee’s pronounced anti-prog bias), the band’s still excoriated for being awarded the inaugural Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance in 1988, when Crest of a Knave was inexplicably tapped over the likes of Metallica, AC/DC, Iggy Pop and Jane’s Addiction. Still, Jethro Tull holds a special place in my own rock narrative—their December 1969 headlining show at the Fillmore East over Fat Mattress (fronted by Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding) and a then-unknown power trio from Flint, Michigan, by the name of Grand Funk Railroad, was my very first rock concert as a high school senior (not counting the Four Seasons swiveling onstage at the Westbury Music Fair). To this day, thousands of shows later, it remains one of the loudest I’ve ever heard. For a period of four years—from 1969’s breakthrough sophomore album Stand Up, through Benefit, Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Living in the Past and culminating with 1973’s Passion Play—Jethro Tull emerged not only as one of the most popular rock bands in the world, but also tackled, in a trilogy of “concept” albums, some of Anderson’s pet themes, such as homelessness (Aqualung), England’s class society (Thick as a Brick) and organized religion (Passion Play) with both satirical bite and contrary conservatism. In addition, the band’s place in rock history includes an appearance at the fabled taping of the 1968 Rock and Roll Circus alongside the Stones, John Lennon, Eric Clapton and the Who, with Tony Iommi as their guitarist, no less (take that those who scoff at Tull’s metal bona fides). These days, like all aging rockers, in his own much-maligned words—“too old to rock ’n’ roll, too young to die”—Ian Anderson is trying to figure out how best to straddle the line between nostalgia and relevance. His own answer is a multi-media presentation that indulges his love of musical theatre with a way to re-contextualize (and rework lyrically in some cases) his back catalog, including the hits (“Aqualung,” “Songs from the Wood,” “Living in the Past,” “A New Day Yesterday,” “Locomotive Breath”), some more obscure numbers (Songs from the Wood’s “Jack-in-the-Green,” Heavy Horses’ “Weathercock,” Living in the Past’s “Cheap Day Return”) and several new tunes which help push the narrative along. Slyly employing the Jethro Tull brand without using any of its musicians, Anderson’s accompaniment includes guitarist Florian Opahle, whose wah-wah blues riffs (especially the indelible ones that fuel “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath”) affirm the new group’s hard rock/metal credentials along with drummer Scott Hammond, keyboardist John O’Hara and bassist David Goodier (the latter two both sporting roles in the movie to which the group plays along). Anderson has set his song cycle to a cleverly portrayed story of a ticking time bomb warning about climate change and its effect on the world’s food supply, updating the tale of Jethro Tull to the near future, where the title character wrestles with his legacy as a small farmer developing the bio-fueled technology required to create new produce sources. Syncing up to on-screen singing performances by Ryan O’Donnell and Icelandic violinist/vocalist Unnur Birna Bjornsdottir—along with serving as on-screen narrator—Anderson solves the problem of a wavering, if distinctive, singing voice, and gets to show the full range of his flute-playing pyrotechnics, even pulling out the famed, one-legged “Stand” at the conclusion of “Aqualung” and the set-closing Bach homage, “Bouree.” Purists may quibble with the approach—my overly critical companion referred to the fresh-faced O’Donnell’s earnest West End crooning as “listening to Harry Potter sing Jethro Tull”—but for the most part the interaction between live and filmed is seamless. At one point, aptly during “Living in the Past,” Anderson indulges in a breathless flute duet with his younger self on-screen, as does guitarist Opahle, without missing a beat, or riff. And while the message gets a bit muddled, it is clear that Anderson is telling his own story, as much as the fictional Tull, about going against his parents’ wishes and pursuing a life in the arts, and it is also clear that what the crowd has come to hear is his distinctive playing, those trills on flute the equivalent of a guitarist bending blues notes, made aptly clear in the duets between Ian and Opahle on “Back to the Family” and Anderson’s own harp solo in Stand Up’s rousing “A New Day Yesterday.” He latter makes clear what one of the songs played over the PA during intermission suggested: Ian Anderson does for the flute in a rock ’n’ roll context what Little Walter did for the harmonica. In the end, Jethro Tull: A Rock Opera makes several things clear. Starting out as a blues band before guitarist Mick Abrahams split to form Blodwyn Pig, Anderson and Tull still touch on those early British R&B roots, even as their groundbreaking move to the more earthy, English pastoral tones of Stand Up prefigured everything from Traffic’s John Barleycorn Must Die to the Decemberists, Mumford and Sons and countless others. Based on those influences alone—not to mention two of the most indelible guitar riffs in history in “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath”—Jethro Tull deserves to at least be in the discussion for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Even if neither the band, nor its namesake, still exist. For now, though, Ian Anderson keeps this train a-rolling full steam ahead. He’s not “Living in the Past,’ he’s headed for the future.
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Post by JTull 007 on Oct 21, 2016 2:39:52 GMT
Salute to Susan (Salamander) & Bernie (Steelmonkey) LINK Tonight @ Mary Stuart Rogers Theater Gallo Center for the Arts
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Post by salamander on Oct 21, 2016 3:08:25 GMT
I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!! Then on to San Jose on Saturday!! Life is GOOD!!!!!
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 21, 2016 8:20:44 GMT
Salute to Susan (Salamander) & Bernie (Steelmonkey) LINK Tonight @ Mary Stuart Rogers Theater Gallo Center for the Arts
See the reflection in the mirror behind him
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Post by bunkerfan on Oct 21, 2016 9:22:19 GMT
Ian Anderson Wind Up Arlington Theater
Thanks to for uploading
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Post by JTull 007 on Oct 22, 2016 3:11:24 GMT
Ian Anderson Brings ‘Jethro Tull’ Tour to San Jose LINK
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 22, 2016 8:12:17 GMT
www.dailynews.com/arts-and-entertainment/20161021/steve-smith-review-of-jethro-tulls-ian-anderson-at-pantages-phil-collins-unretires-chuck-berry-hits-90-with-albumSteve Smith: Review of Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson at Pantages, Phil Collins unretires, Chuck Berry hits 90 with album Former Jethro Tull leader Ian Anderson performs his new production, “Jethro Tull: The Rock Opera,” on Saturday night at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. (Photo by Steve Smith) By Steve Smith POSTED: 10/21/16, 12:01 AM PDT | Ian Anderson, who played last Saturday before a jam-packed house at the historic 2,700-seat Art Deco palace, the Pantages Theatre at Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood, dissolved his legendary band Jethro Tull in 2012. This came after a 45-year-run by Tull as one of the greatest, most popular and most creative, diverse and influential rock groups in music history, even though the prejudiced pinheads who run the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have not only not inducted the band but they’ve never even nominated the group. Anderson’s decision to end Tull seems to have released him, freed him and inspired the hell out of him. In the past four years, he’s created no less than three major concept productions/rock operas and a pair of related albums: the brilliant “Thick as a Brick 2,” produced in 2012, 40 years after the original; 2013’s less-successful effort, “Homo Erraticus” and now, “Jethro Tull: The Rock Opera.” At first glance, the 69-year-old Anderson’s latest endeavor, “The Rock Opera,” seemed totally contrived; a new way to recycle the same classic songs he’s been performing for decades. Why? Because in 1967 the group that was originally called The John Evan Band and then the catchier John Evan Smash (named after the eccentric founding pianist) changed its name every time it bombed when playing such London clubs as the well-known Marquee. In rapid succession, they performed as Ian Henderson’s Bag o’ Nails, then Bag o’ Blues and then Navy Blue. Lightning finally struck and the band found popularity when they were booked under the group name of Jethro Tull, a name that their agent at the time, Dave Robson, came across when studying at college. The real Jethro Tull (1674-1741) was an English agriculturist-farmer who perfected a horse-drawn seed drill that sowed his seeds in neat rows. Anderson couldn’t have cared less about this guy. His band found fame playing as Jethro Tull as that’s all he cared about. So, he is in 2016 performing his new rock opera about this 18th century farmer and inventor. Sounds pretty darned contrived, doesn’t it? Well, it turns out that it’s not. Why not? Because Anderson has been an environmentalist his entire adult life, he owned and oversaw the largest salmon farm in Scotland and was a major importer of chilies into Great Britain. He has fought to protect wildlife throughout the U.K, especially wild cats. He’s also been against major farming concerns, genetic engineering, biochemistry and chemical companies. “Jethro Tull: The Rock Opera” includes 14 Tull songs with five complete new songs and a ton of mini-musical songs that serve to segue from one full song to the next, and enticing interactive video segment from start to finish. Each of these musical segues could and should be recorded as full songs and should be released as an album along with the five full new songs (several of these new songs really rock, by the way). Among the featured Tull songs are the usual warhorses, “Heavy Horses” (which opens the show), “Living in the Past,” “A New Day Yesterday,” “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath” as well as such gems as “Wind Up,” “Back to the Family,” “Jack-in-the-Green,” “Cheap Day Return” and “The Witch’s Promise.” To be honest, I couldn’t grasp the full intent and flow of Anderson’s rock opera. So what. It didn’t matter. “Jethro Tull: The Rock Opera” was a wonderful, fresh and fully engrossing two-hour, two-part (with intermission) presentation that was flat-out marvelous. Singer Ryan O’Donnell, who joined the band in 2012 for “TAAB2” and has remained an integral part of the group, relieving Anderson of a decent amount of the singing involved, appears onscreen only. In Tull fan circles, he’s become pretty much a star in his own right – as has Anderson’s four band members: bassist Grieg Robinson, drummer Scott Hammond, keyboardist/musical director John O’Hara, and Florian Opahle, who does a good job recreating Martin Barre’s guitar work. Bassist David Goodier, who played with both Tull and Anderson since 2002, appears onscreen with O’Donnell in Anderson’s virtual world along with Reykjavík, Iceland-based singer-violinist Unnur Birna Bjornsdottir as the agriculturalist’s wife, whose major onscreen presence and vocals enhance the entire production. Anderson, shot voice and all (he permanently shredded his larynx in 1984 during the “Under Wraps” tour and refuses to sing an octave lower in the register of his speaking voice, which remains unchanged), still lifts his leg in now-trademark fashion that draws cheers when soloing on his flute in a way not unlike the Radio City Rockettes when they do their trademark kick line. He also parades back and forth across the front of the stage, tip-toeing while soloing like a rather large imp, again, to the delight of his fans. Those still expecting to see the long-haired bearded wild man of the early ‘70s were disappointed. The mostly bald Anderson was shorn of his long locks years ago and he traded in his long plaid coat, knee boots and cod piece for a normal pair of pants, white tee shirt and vest as well. For the past four years, Ian Anderson has been experiencing a genuine creative Renaissance unlike few artists who have been composing, recording and performing for nearly 50 years – regardless that those musical ignoramuses who decide who gets nominated for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and continue to behave as if this brilliant musician doesn’t exist. He does and millions of fans worldwide know it. Mazel tov, Ian.
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 22, 2016 8:18:19 GMT
www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2016/oct/21/concert-jethro-tull-written-and-performed-ian/#With his show clocking in at just over two hours (two sets plus intermission), Ian Anderson showed that he is still a master performer and musician.CONCERT REVIEWS DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO Jethro Tull, written and performed by Ian AndersonThe band about a man is now a rock opera By Daniel Knighton, Oct. 21, 2016 Jethro Tull the band may be on hiatus, or may be kaput, but Ian Anderson is keeping the name going strong. Anderson is back with his Thick as a Brick 2/Homo Eroticus band, but this time presenting the show as a rock opera of sorts. A very heavy “Aqualung” featured guitarist Florian Opahle on Gibson Les Paul.Jethro Tull: Written and Performed by Ian Anderson breathes new life into the band’s namesake, agriculturist and inventor Jethro Tull (1674–1741), by bringing him to modern-day farming amid social strife, climate change, and food shortages via video clips and song. Interacting with performers on the screen using pre-recorded tracks, Anderson and crew play and sing live and on point. The progressive style of music Jethro Tull (the band) has built its catalog on pair quite well the theatrics of Ian Anderson. His trademark flute in hand, Anderson opened the show with “Heavy Horses” and “Wind Up” slowly bringing the audience into the fold, then getting them to their feet with a very heavy “Aqualung,” featuring guitarist Florian Opahle on Gibson Les Paul and a younger, shaggier Ian Anderson via video clips. With the show clocking at just over two hours (two sets plus intermission), Ian Anderson showed that he is still a master performer and musician, keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats with an appropriate mix of old Tull hits and a few new songs written for this show. Concert: Jethro Tull Date: October 17 Venue: Balboa Theatre Setlist: Heavy Horses/Wind Up/Aqualung/With You There to Help Me/Back to the Family/Farm on the Freeway/Prosperous Pasture/Fruits of Frankenfield/Songs From the Wood/And the World Feeds Me/Living in the Past/Jack-in-the Green/The Witch’s Promise/Weathercock/Stick, Twist, Burn/Cheap Day Return/A New Day Yesterday/The Turnstile Gate/Locomotive Breath/[Encore] Requiem and Fugue
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 22, 2016 8:28:10 GMT
www.villagelife.com/entertainment/jethro-tull-the-band-to-celebrate-jethro-tull-the-man/October 20, 2016 | Posted by Three Stages Jethro Tull, the band, to celebrate Jethro Tull, the manRebecca Murphy Village Life correspondent Ian Anderson and the band Jethro Tull are bringing their celebratory performance of the band’s newest production “Jethro Tull” to the West Coast during the month of October with a performance at the Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom on Monday, Oct. 24. Anderson is known as the frontman for the classic rock band, writing most of its songs and being its longest consistent member. In this newest project, the band’s namesake, who lived from 1674-1741, is “reimagined” in today’s world. The performance includes live music from the band, along with interactive video of virtual guests. In a phone interview with Anderson, he explained the impetus for the performance. “It’s kind of creepy being named after someone in history books,” he said. “But while driving through Italy in 2014 and looking at the different crops, I wondered what Jethro Tull would have thought of this. I looked him up online and found out he did, in fact, travel to Italy during his lifetime. I try to include what was known about him and position him in today’s society and the near future. It’s a little scary what with cloning and genetic engineering of crops, but we need the Jethro Tull of today to feed the world.” Tull, an English agriculturist, writer and inventor during the 18th century, was first enrolled in law school as per his parents’ request, but turned his attention to music and agriculture when ill health prevented him from entering government service. Fortuitous change He traveled through France and Italy to improve his health and became interested in the different methods of food production. Pursuing his interest in music, specifically the church organ, Tull developed his first agricultural mechanical device, the seed drill. He learned the mechanics of the organ and incorporated organ foot pedals into a device that sowed efficiently at the correct depth and distance apart, then covered the seed with dirt. While seed drills were not new at the time, Tull’s was noteworthy because it used internal moving parts. Its innovative rotary mechanism also became a basis for all subsequent sowing implements. He also invented a turnip drill, a horse-drawn hoe and a four-bladed plow. Although his book, “The New Horse — Hoeing Husbandry” (published in 1731) describing his farming systems and inventions he developed over 30 years created some controversy at the time, his revolutionary ideas were implemented by large landowners and have formed the basis of modern agriculture. Inform and entertain Acknowledging that Tull was not always correct in what he thought or created, Anderson cited the possible growth of the world from 7 billion in 2016 to 12 billion by the end of the decade. He said he feels there are certain responsibilities that come with living on this planet and bringing that awareness to the audience is part of the story, along with the entertainment factor. “As I was driving in the car (through France and Italy), I had my laptop open and began to make a list of songs that I had written,” said Anderson when asked how he chose the songs he did for that particular part of the performance. “Before I had gotten very far I realized this looked like a set list,” he continued. “I knew there would be holes (thus the new songs). There were changes to some of the existing lyrics (of the old songs)” to bring them into the present. The performance is done in a recitative-style or musical declamation of the kind usual in the narrative and dialogue parts of opera and oratorio. Interspersing the narrative parts of the performance with the new and earlier songs, “Jethro Tull” taps the subjects of intensive food production, population growth and climate change. “I feel in this day and age that people should perhaps have one-and-a-half children and cut down on the eating of meat,” said Anderson. “The world that we knew (or grew up in) is a very different world we have today.” While he added that it is not his job to tell people what to do or how to live their lives, Anderson related that he has a personal responsibility to broach topics. On the eve of the Brexit vote, he said, “The job of people like me is not to tell people how to vote but to remind people to get out there and vote. We are in a position now where we are going to have to be very, very clever if we are going to survive and as a songwriter I can sometimes pose uncomfortable questions to people.” Existing and new Songs from an existing repertoire that take the audience through the narrative include “Heavy Horses,” “Farm on the Freeway,” “Songs from the Wood,” “Aqualung,” “Living in the Past” and “Locomotive Breath.” The new songs have not yet been recorded but have been performed onstage in Europe and on the East Coast. Although not a vegetarian or vegan, Anderson said he realizes the need for people to eat less meat in order to reduce waste production (including methane gas) and use less water. “The performance is a way to give a new lease on life to Jethro Tull and the agricultural revolution, which along with the industrial revolution, was a major time in history,” he said. “But people aren’t coming to the show to hear about that,” Anderson said. “They’re coming to tap their toes. The performance is a way to give them entertainment and find a new and interesting way to present Jethro Tull.” Performance of “Jethro Tull” is one night only at the Harris Center for the Arts, 10 College Parkway in Folsom, on Monday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at (916) 608-6888 or online at HarrisCenter.net.
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Post by steelmonkey on Oct 22, 2016 15:27:22 GMT
'Jethro Tull', The Rock Opera'...is beyond brilliant. Ian still blazing his own utterly unique path thru rock and roll history. While Stones, Who etc play the same old stuff in front of a hundred thousand in the desert...appearing as speck from miles away under a giant video screen, Ian devises an utterly unique, high-tech, multi-media performance that doesn't even have a name....rock theater? Song cycle ? Musical theater? because the integration of video with live performance is so advanced. Every attendee in every seat in the house had a great view of band and backdrop....clearly by design.
I saw an amazing theater piece during which, over and over, in each song, in fact, a Jethro Tull concert kept bursting out.
My highlights ( not in order): Witches Promise, each and every new song, Farm on the Freeway and, of course, tear-jerking Requiem.
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Post by JTull 007 on Oct 22, 2016 15:44:25 GMT
'Jethro Tull', The Rock Opera'...is beyond brilliant. Ian still blazing his own utterly unique path thru rock and roll history. While Stones, Who etc play the same old stuff in front of a hundred thousand in the desert... appearing as speck from miles away under a giant video screen, Ian devises an utterly unique, high-tech, multi-media performance that doesn't even have a name....rock theater? Song cycle ? Musical theater?because the integration of video with live performance is so advanced. Every attendee in every seat in the house had a great view of band and backdrop....clearly by design. I saw an amazing theater piece during which, over and over, in each song, in fact, a Jethro Tull concert kept bursting out. My highlights ( not in order): Witches Promise, each and every new song, Farm on the Freeway and, of course, tear-jerking Requiem. FEEL THE BERN (TULL) !
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Post by steelmonkey on Oct 22, 2016 16:40:36 GMT
The joy of Tull friends. Have now had the pleasure of seeing 4 concerts next to or very near Salamander ( Susan) and her husband, Bob. Such nice people. All she could talk about on the way out of the venue was seeing them again TONIGHT in San Jose. I have to wait three more days for my second dose. Sound man, Mike, btw, sends greeting to Jim.....was very nice to me after I bragged of being Jim's friend.
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Post by JTull 007 on Oct 22, 2016 20:00:52 GMT
The joy of Tull friends. Have now had the pleasure of seeing 4 concerts next to or very near Salamander ( Susan) and her husband, Bob. Such nice people. All she could talk about on the way out of the venue was seeing them again TONIGHT in San Jose. I have to wait three more days for my second dose. Sound man, Mike, btw, sends greeting to Jim..... was very nice to me after I bragged of being Jim's friend. Thanks Bernie I look at the TULL Crew as ROCK STARS & HEROES ! They make everything happen right and keep the show on the road every night!
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Post by bunkerfan on Oct 22, 2016 22:46:22 GMT
'Jethro Tull', The Rock Opera'...is beyond brilliant. Ian still blazing his own utterly unique path thru rock and roll history. While Stones, Who etc play the same old stuff in front of a hundred thousand in the desert...appearing as speck from miles away under a giant video screen, Ian devises an utterly unique, high-tech, multi-media performance that doesn't even have a name....rock theater? Song cycle ? Musical theater? because the integration of video with live performance is so advanced. Every attendee in every seat in the house had a great view of band and backdrop....clearly by design. I saw an amazing theater piece during which, over and over, in each song, in fact, a Jethro Tull concert kept bursting out. My highlights ( not in order): Witches Promise, each and every new song, Farm on the Freeway and, of course, tear-jerking Requiem. Great review Bernie. You've brought back all my memories from last year at The Sage Gateshead flooding back. And, as you mention, the integration of the video and the live performance is amazing with perfect timing. I also agree, Requiem is a real tearjerker!
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Post by steelmonkey on Oct 22, 2016 23:23:36 GMT
Big boys DO cry.
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 23, 2016 7:55:00 GMT
'Jethro Tull', The Rock Opera'...is beyond brilliant. Ian still blazing his own utterly unique path thru rock and roll history. While Stones, Who etc play the same old stuff in front of a hundred thousand in the desert...appearing as speck from miles away under a giant video screen, Ian devises an utterly unique, high-tech, multi-media performance that doesn't even have a name....rock theater? Song cycle ? Musical theater? because the integration of video with live performance is so advanced. Every attendee in every seat in the house had a great view of band and backdrop....clearly by design. I saw an amazing theater piece during which, over and over, in each song, in fact, a Jethro Tull concert kept bursting out. My highlights ( not in order): Witches Promise, each and every new song, Farm on the Freeway and, of course, tear-jerking Requiem. You've surpassed yourself Bernie. Probably summed up the whole Opera and the experience in one post. Cheers Mate - reckon you're looking forward to your next concert
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 23, 2016 8:11:32 GMT
www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/10/saturday-afternoon-coming-down.phpPOSTED ON OCTOBER 22, 2016 BY STEVEN HAYWARD IN CHURCHILL, CONSERVATISM, MUSIC SATURDAY AFTERNOON COMING DOWNScott was very kind this morning to draw attention to my Weekly Standard article “Crisis of the Conservative House Divided.” I would have done so myself, but I was on the road all day yesterday on a completely frivolous and speculative venture: I drove up to Modesto, the location where American Graffiti was filmed set, to meet up with my two best pals from high school (we call ourselves “The Executive Committee”) to take in Ian Anderson presenting a sort-of reconstituted Jethro Tull. Because I’m too old to rock and roll but too young to die. And also “Living in the Past,” which they played! And yes, Ian Anderson still strikes his stork pose of playing his flute on one leg, at age 69. It was a little shocking, though I suppose predictable, that I was among the youngest in the crowd. I guess 70s prog rock hasn’t become a hipster thing. (Which is fine with me.) If I hadn’t been so busy last week I might have thought to try to organize a Power Line meetup for central valley readers. Maybe next time: the Gallo Performing Arts Center is a nice facility. I’d go there again. Meanwhile, I’ll add just one thought, for now, to my article. I mentioned that our official political culture now constricts what opinions can be considered legitimate, and in dong so essentially says that conservatives (and by extension the Republican Party) are illegitimate unless we simply change our mind and join the liberals. Our monotone media is one major cog in the opinion conformity machine. This is not a new observation by any means, and it was perhaps best expressed in Winston Churchill’s 1931 essay “Mass Effects in Modern Life.” Here’s the relevant passage: Public opinion is formed and expressed by machinery. The newspapers do an immense amount of thinking for the average man and woman. In fact they supply them with such a continuous stream of standardized opinion, borne along upon an equally inexhaustible flood of news and sensation, collected from every part of the world every hour of the day, that there is neither the need nor the leisure for personal reflection. All this is but a part of a tremendous educating process. But it is an education which passes in one ear and out at the other. It is an education at once universal and superficial. It produces enormous numbers of standardized citizens, all equipped with regulation opinions, prejudices and sentiments, according to their class or party. It may eventually lead to a reasonable, urbane, and highly-serviceable society. There you have it, Saturday readers. Jethro Tull and Churchill. In one post. It’s what we do here.
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Post by steelmonkey on Oct 23, 2016 20:51:44 GMT
Friend reports some video backdrop glitches in San Jose, and total breakdown during Witches' Promise.../after which, per friend, band seemed to spend a lot of time nervously looking back at screen. I wonder how many heads rolled.
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Post by JTull 007 on Oct 24, 2016 0:47:15 GMT
Jethro Tull: Written and Performed by Ian Anderson (SOLD OUT) LINK 3 Stages at Harris Center for the Arts 10/24/2016 Tickets: Note: Although this event is sold-out, there are a limited number of partial view seats are available to purchase by contacting the Ticket Office.
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Post by salamander on Oct 24, 2016 6:13:19 GMT
John and I were wondering the same, Bernie. One blackout lasted for quite a while. The crowd, as John put it, "was a little rough around the edges" in San Jose. There were more ovations following favorite songs, and lots more dancing in the aisles. Can you imagine? It was a blast!
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Post by maddogfagin on Oct 24, 2016 7:44:28 GMT
Friend reports some video backdrop glitches in San Jose, and total breakdown during Witches' Promise.../after which, per friend, band seemed to spend a lot of time nervously looking back at screen. I wonder how many heads rolled.
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