NOTHING IS EASY: LIVE AT THE ISLE OF WIGHT 1970

Ian ANDERSON is insane! Or more appropriately, he is an insane performer! The energy he brings live to stage is nothing short of 'disturbing'. Think Joe Cocker with a weapon (flute) in his hand! Truly Ian ANDERSON is one of the most charasmatic and humourous characters in prog music.

This lovely DVD is not just for TULL fans, although they will no doubt consider this performance at The Isle of Wight in 1970 a masterpiece! Any fan of Prog music NEEDS to see TULL perform live in their 'prime'.

In actuality there are only 5 songs performed by the TULL from the actual Isle Festival (plus 'Bouree' in the form of a small interlude). There is also another performance included from "The Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus" in which the TULL perform 'A Song For Jeffrey' with none other than Tony IOMMI on guitar. The performances here sum up EXACTLY what the TULL are: Ian ANDERSON dominating the stage, backed up by competent performances by the rest of the band (too bad not enough is seen of underappreciated guitarist Martin BARRE, as well as John EVAN on keyboards who is not seen at all!)

The highlight (for me) from this show was Ian's performance of 'My God'. This tune had not yet been released ("Aqualung" not coming out until the following year). Very powerful stuff! However this is the only 'real' prog tune you will be exposed to here from the TULL. Most of the other tunes (while excellent) are from their earlier, bluesy years.

Modern day Ian ANDERSON wittily narrates the entire show, discussing the Isle of Wight Festival, its bands, the atmosphere and politics at the time. But coming in at a mere 1 hour 20 minutes (short for most musical DVD's) and having zero in the way of bonus material, I was left wanting more, more, more! And much to my chagrin, Stevie NICKS is nowhere to be found in this concert. Damn you Hugues! ;-)

So, the performances by TULL are powerful and excellent. It's just that there are only 5-6 of them, and only 1 of these are definitively a progressive tune. Otherwise this DVD would have warranted a masterpiece rating to be sure! Highly entertaining and recommended. TULL fans if you don't have this in your collection, you should be ashamed!