Flute-playing rocker on bill at Christmas cathedral gig by David Whetstone, The Journal Dec 10 2012www.journallive.co.uk/culture-newcastle/2012/12/10/flute-playing-rocker-on-bill-at-christmas-cathedral-gig-61634-32394623/Attuned to organs and choristers, a cathedral will resound to a different beat this week, says David Whetstone.
AMONG the carol services at St Nicholas Cathedral this week is something which might seem incongruous – an appearance by Ian Anderson, wild flautist of Jethro Tull.
Often the City Hall has throbbed to Tull’s high-volume folk-rock. But this is a cathedral. Will the stained glass take the strain?
In Newcastle to assure the Dean and Chapter that everything will be fine is the Rev George Pitcher, who also has a slight air of incongruity.
He talks with the easy charm – and occasional profanity – of the Fleet Street hack that he was. He apologises for not sporting the dog collar of the Anglican priest that he is.
One-time award-winning industrial editor of The Observer and high- profile PR man, he was ordained into the Church of England, became curate of St Bride’s, Fleet Street, the journalists’ church, and for much of 2010 was in charge of public affairs – spin doctor, some called it – for the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He still keeps his journalistic hand in, blogging, tweeting and occasionally stirring up a hornets’ nest. And here he is at the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas extolling the virtues of a celebrated rocker who doesn’t openly profess to a belief in God. Of himself, George says: “I’m an Anglican priest and a freelance journalist, but I’ve followed Jethro Tull since my school days.
“I try to avoid using the ‘f’ word, fan, because I hate it. As a good Anglican, I don’t really do fanaticism but I’ve enjoyed Ian Anderson’s music over the decades.”
One Christmas, he says, he got Greg Lake – of supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer – to come to St Bride’s and perform his evergreen 1975 hit, I Believe in Father Christmas.
“There’s a melodic break and I got Ian to come and play that on the flute. It was gobsmacking. Greg Lake and Ian Anderson!
“I said to Ian afterwards that it’d be lovely if Jethro Tull did a fundraiser. They came the following Christmas, and we then did two or three years at St Bride’s. It became a routine.”
The relationship between rocker and priest is intriguing, even if the priest has supped with Fleet Street’s finest and the rocker, as George says, “does not play to the rock ‘n’ roll image”. While not a church-going Christian, George sees qualities in the Jethro Tull frontman which suggest he is not beyond redemption.
“He’s not terribly keen on us organised Christians, but I’d say he’s a man of great spirituality.
“He’ll read from St Luke’s (gospel), we’ll have a blessing and a prayer. It’ll be ‘Ian Anderson plays the Christmas Jethro Tull’ but with some sacramental stuff in there.
“Ian doesn’t want cathedrals to be just venues, although they are venues in a way. He’s said it would be wrong to make these rock ‘n’ roll gigs so there will be Christmassy stuff.”
North East favourites Kathryn Tickell and Bob Fox will guest star, but everyone knows 90% of Jethro Tull is Ian Anderson, and he’ll be the event’s powerful presence.
George says the first St Bride’s gig brought a lot of people into church for the first time in years, including a pair of bikers. One was heard to mutter to the other: “Looks like a church.” To which the other replied: “That’s because it is a church, you idiot.”
Buoyed by its success, Ian went on to perform in Exeter and Canterbury cathedrals; then, last year, Coventry, Salisbury and Manchester. Newcastle and St Bride’s are to benefit this year.
“There isn’t a cathedral that doesn’t have an organ or a roof that needs repairing, and Ian underwrites the whole thing,” says George. “He picks up the tab and doesn’t make a penny out of it.” George, who reconnoitres each venue and persuades Church of England colleagues that a rocker’s what they want for Christmas, jokes: “I don’t know if Ian feels he’s got some ground to make up.
“Maybe he’s reached an age where he realises he’s not immortal. But at this time of year, having toured the States and Europe, he sees this is an opportunity to give a little back.”
For Jethro Tull fans, evidence of Anderson’s spirituality is there to see in the band’s breakthrough album, Aqualung, which came out in 1971 with tracks called Hymn 43 and My God. All the proceeds of Friday’s 7.30pm gig will go to the cathedral’s fabric and ministry. Tickets are £25 from The Sage Gateshead: 0191 443 4661 or
www.thesagegateshead.orgJethro Tull front man stars in Christmas fundraiser for Newcastle Cathedralwww.inspiremagazine.org.uk/Stories/Local?storyaction=view&storyid=227Members of a Cathedral choir will swap hymns for prog-rock when they back the legendary Ian Anderson, of Jethro Tull fame, in Newcastle on Friday (December 14).
Ian Anderson and Friends will be performing a Christmas concert at the Cathedral Church of St Nicholas in the city centre to to help raise money for cathedral funds.
The event will include carols, classical music and several Jethro Tull songs, including one of the band’s most famous tracks, Aqualung, complete with an introduction played on the Cathedral organ. The song featured on the album of the same name, which was released in 1971.
Famed as the man who introduced the flute to rock music, and also for his trademark one-legged stance on stage, Ian Anderson (pictured right) regularly performs at concerts to support cathedrals and churches. Venues in which he has performed have included Salisbury and Canterbury cathedrals.
Michael Stoddart, Director of Music at St Nicholas (pictured left with choristers), said: “It’s terribly exciting. It’s a great way of bringing together all sorts of different aspects of life. It’s not often you can bring together classical, rock and religious music under one roof and that’s what makes it very exciting. And what a great musician to be working with.
“It brings a whole new dimension to what we can do in the Cathedral, especially with the new lighting and the effects which they will bring. Historically, rock music has been associated with cathedrals and it should be a fantastic event.”
Ian said: “I have played, in the past few years, in a number of cathedrals and churches in the UK and abroad. I like to combine elements of the Christmas tradition with the Jethro Tull repertoire as well as some classical music and church tunes. Combine this with two wonderful local musical guests, Bob Fox and Kathryn Tickell, and we should be able to offer audiences the chance to celebrate the season in great style.
“Bringing a different audience to the experience of the Anglican Church traditions offers them the chance to feel involved with their local church or cathedral life. No, I am not a true-blue Christian but I support the Church and value our great traditions of faith and worship. Even more, I value the architectural heritage of an age which will not come again. Once the roof falls in, it will turn into a block of flats or a Starbucks.
“As the organ and choir are integral to the Christmas Carol service, it feels appropriate to include them in the mix. As we do with prayer, blessing and readings. It is a very delicate balance of tradition, Anglican worship, and the secular musical world of rock and roll. And all of this for the modest, princely sum that is the price of a ticket, 100% of which goes to the Cathedral fund. Everyone‘s a winner.”
Ian Anderson has performed more than 3,000 concerts in 40 countries and his Christmas shows tend to be a mixture of rock, folk and traditional elements that reflect the church and cathedrals’ use as a sacred and historic space. Doors open 7pm for a 7.30pm start.
Tickets are £25 from the ticket office at The Sage Gateshead on 0191 443 4661.