Ian Anderson at McCaw Hall, Seattle

Is it a sign of gentrification that a once stalwart rocker plays at an auditorium usually devoted to opera? Or that most of the audience was, like me, on the upper side of 50? Perhaps, but we have to look at the time frames involved. Jethro Tull’s first album was released 45 years ago and the most recent Tull song played this evening, barring Ian's Homo Erraticus, was released in 1987, 24 years ago. Now, I expect to see Mr. Anderson stroll around on stage rather than leap, which happened, and I also expect him to still put on a good show, which also happened. In a nutshell, it was a good concert, but it was wanting in several areas. Let’s look at some of the details.
     The performance was billed as Ian Anderson Performs the Best of Jethro Tull, Plus the New Album. Many citizens of the U.S. would undoubtedly balk at the title of that new album, the aforementioned Homo Erraticus. I have this album and like it a lot; it is the most Tull-like of all of Ian’s solo albums. The first half of the show was this album in its entirety. The performance was tight and professional, with no acknowledging of the audience or improvisation. In other words, a little lackluster. The video screen in the back provided some needed visuals, and some very entertaining ones, but I also found them frequently distracting. I was there to see a concert, not a set of videos. One thing about Anderson performing his recent material is that it was written to account for the limitations his vocal chords have long had since they crapped out on him in the mid-80s. Still, the performance kept most of the audience in their seats. A younger crowd, I think, might have spent more time at one of the bars, or as it were, one of the lines for the bars. Not bad so far. The second half was a slightly different story.
     The Best of Jethro Tull began, as Homo Erraticus had, with a video, but an old one rather than new. A very young Ian Anderson walks through a door dressed in only a night-shirt. Middle-aged women, as far as I could tell the only women in the audience, all cooed at how cute he looked. Not that they saw him as a hot young man but more that they saw him as a baby. Their response was more motherly and groupie. I, as a middle aged man, laughed, for long have I appreciated the often self-deprecating humor of Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull, and this was certainly a good piece of it. Lights out, and a video clock shoots to a date in 1970. The band opens the set with Living in the Past, a good selection. And a good rendition. After the straight playing of the previous set, this one contained a little jamming and was definitely livelier. The band feels it, and the audience feels it. There were several reasons for this. First, is that Homo Erraticus is actually pretty filled with pretty intricate music, so the band had to concentrate the entire set. Secondly, the Tull material is more familiar to all involved, including Ian’s band, Ian himself of course, and the audience. People tend to respond to the familiar more emphatically than to the new and let’s face it, the best of Jethro Tull moniker was the main sell for this show. I will give Ian credit though, for performing his newest material, unlike some other bands and artists similarly long in the tooth whom I will not mention right now. Thirdly, and in part due to the second point above, most of the Tull music played was not as intricate as the new solo album.   At least not what they performed, with a possible exception or two. Archival videos of Ian from ages past dominated the background video screen. At times, this too was intrusive, but not always. In fact, one of the highlights of the show was the video for Sweet Dream; the performance of the song was quite rousing as well. There were two surprises for me in terms of selection. Most of the songs played were what one might expect. However, both With You There to Help Me and a section from A Passion Play, were not. Since the studio version of With You used a lot of effects, this version sounded difficult to pull off but it worked pretty well. The Passion Play edit was awesome, though. Another song that seemed difficult was Songs From the Wood. I know this was not Jethro Tull, but the band, including Ian, struggled to get through all the intricate twists and turns, twists and turns Tull themselves always played with apparent ease. Seeing it played this night made me realize how insane its structure actually is. I have deeper respect for the song and for Tull, which as actually saying quite a bit. There is a reason why I have seen them a dozen times.
     Ian Anderson is a consummate performer who always does his best to put on the best show he can. Even when he flubs his introductions (never his music as far as I could tell), he pulls through and makes everyone laugh for it. His band is first rate, especially Florian Ophale who pulled off Martin Barre’s guitar parts quite well, including the solo for Aqualung. It was not Jethro Tull, but was instead a set of good renditions of classic Tull material. Oh, and Homo Erraticus too.

copy and paste it to a word document...usually what I do with long posts.

Got a comp ticket to an Ian show at a small theater near our place.  First half was the new album, but he definitely lost half the crowd (there were even people leaving before the first set was up).  The second half was the Tull show - I think most people thought that Ian WAS Tull and were disappointed.  I thought the first half had life but the second half was just a legacy show.  Not a bad night, but I never would have paid to see the show.