and a good one. I attended the show with my friend Craig and his wife Valerie (who works at PRS and shipped Martin's guitar out to him last month). This review is by Scott Houston and friend of Craig's.... (I missed the Madrigal in my list and royally butchered the new song name)....
An Evening with Jethro Tull
Monday, December 3, 2007, 8PM
Strathmore Music Center
North Bethesda, MD USA
Sold Out
Ian Anderson
Martin Barre
Doane Perry, Drums
David Goodier, Bass
John O'Hara, Keyboards
The Calliandra String Quartet
In rough order of performance:
For future confirmation and correction of this list see
http://www.ministry-of-information.c...etlist/07c.htm
Someday the Sun Won't Shine for You
Living In The Past
The Donkey and The Drum
The Water Carrier
Pastime with Good Company (King Henry's Madrigal)
Songs From the Wood/Heavy Horses
Sossity... You're a Woman/Reasons for Waiting
Fat Man
Bouree
Nothing Is Easy
<20 minute intermission>
My Sunday Feeling
Thick as a Brick (abbreviated)
Aqualung (improvised)
America
My God
Budapest
<Encore>
Locomotive Breath
My Review:
The Strathmore Music Center has better acoustics than any other venue
I've seen Jethro Tull in the past. I've seen Tull about fifteen times
over the past 29 years. The maturity of the band along with the
formality of the Strathmore made this concert more refined - It wasn't
your traditional rock concert. I sat along side the stage in the 2nd
level promenade box seats only about 40 feet from the stage looking
down at the band from the left side.
This Jethro Tull concert included the Calliandra String Quartet, four
young women from the New England Conservatory of Music. Years ago, it
was a novelty to have a major rock band perform with an orchestra.
Over time, Jethro Tull has included classical musicians into their act
almost seamlessly. Instead of having the quartet perform as a warm up
act, the quartet joined Jethro Tull after the first song and played
with them throughout the concert. Many Tull songs are certainly well
suited to a string quartet. For example, when performing Budapest, not
traditionally one of my favorite songs, the quartet added a great deal
to the performance. The women obviously enjoyed the music and had a
lot of fun playing it. That made Budapest one of the high points of
the night.
Here are some other high points. Tull opened the first and second acts
with enjoyable English folk-rock songs from their first album. King
Henry's Madrigal showed off the great talent of both O'Hara on the
keyboards and the quartet. Songs from the Wood and Heavy Horses were
highly enjoyable and have aged very well with time. Two of my all time
favorites, "Sossity" and "Reasons for Waiting" were merged together
into a wonderful but brief number. I read somewhere that "Sossity" is
Martin Barre's favorite. That makes it even more enjoyable for me. Fat
Man is a joyous spectacle with the band members lining the front of
the stage with bongos and assorted exotic stringed instruments. I
loved it.
I appreciate Martin Barre more each time I see him - he gets better
every year. As always, Ian Anderson was a great entertainer. I noticed
the upper register of Ian's voice has been missing for a number of
years. He normally feigns the highest notes and everybody understands.
It seemed that a little more of his voice was missing at the
Strathmore. As a 40-year old band, few care to notice it and instead
sit back and enjoy the performance. I haven't seen John O'Hara and
David Goodier to date although I believe O'Hara has had a long
association with the band. Both musicians were excellent. Doane Perry,
a more veteran band member, performed excellently and his enthusiasm
and professionalism shined.
The crowd seemed more youthful and upscale than in past Tull concerts
I've attended. I believe there were a larger number of people in their
teens, 30s and 40s. A mixture of lifelong Tull fans and curious
newcomers.
In summary, I enjoyed the concert. The Strathmore performance was more
refined, subdued and full of improvisation and collaboration. As the
night moved on, I felt starved for the hard hitting punch that brought
me back to Tull concerts of the past. For example, the thrill of their
unusual cover of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" - complete with a smoldering
young violinist and her screaming violin - at the 2005 Constitution
Hall performance. Perhaps a loud, pounding, rocking performance of
Locomotive Breath, Hunting Girl, or Sweet Dream. However, great
entertainers such as Jethro Tull know they must keep changing their
performance lest they get stale and irrelevant. Jethro Tull have
certainly remained relevant after 40 years.
--Scott Houston