In a recent interview, Rush drummer Neil Peart commented that stamina and smoothness are the key attributes he feels the 58-year-old version of himself has over the younger models. Jethro Tull, on the Vancouver stop of their current tour commemorating the 40th anniversary of their monumental Aqualung, proved Peart’s hypothesis correct.
Working through various tracks from other albums while intermittently working through Aqualung, the 60-plus-year-olds demonstrated a steadiness and resolve that was the foundation of the evening.
Their meter and pacing were hypnotising and showed no sign of slowing down. The hour-and-45 minutes they were on stage rushed by, even with the half hour "pee break AKA intermission," which seemed more for the grey-haired majority in the audience than the musicians onstage.
Starting with “Living in the Past” could have been an ironic move, but its soft-jazz intro blossomed into a driving force complete with heavily articulated off-beats. The statement was clear: this is not your granddad’s Tull! An odd sentiment, because the youngest song played was over 20 years old.
Age was a presence but never became an elephant in the room. It was addressed head-on by front man cum comedian Ian Anderson, who acknowledged that after his last colonoscopy he realized his backside housed a great view and was a good place to insert his prog-rocker head.
To confirm his theory, the band wheeled out prog-rock classics, including a truncated 10-minute version of the 40-plus-minute “Thick as Brick” along with other 10-minute opuses including “Budapest” and, of course, the encore, Aqualung’s FM hit “Locomotive Breath.” With such communal appreciation from the assembled Tull-heads, these epics seemed far from self-indulgent.
This current trend of tours based on seminal albums must be close to running its course, though. While it might have been a great idea at one time — a fitting tribute to a deserving piece of art — two elements are making the practice seemingly less savory: 1) the sheer number of bands jumping on the bandwagon and 2) the tedious predictability of the setlist when the album is played in sequence.
Article comments
1 - Jon Sobel
Great to hear that these guys can still work it. Tull never stopped being one of my favorite groups even after all these years.
2 - Chris Petty
Catch these fellows every time the hit Atlanta. SOOO disappointed there not here for this tour. Still GREAT!
3 - Allhumanparts
Only disappointment was the apparently permanent damage done many years ago to Ian Anderson's vocal cords. He struggles to find most of the notes now, but is still a strong frontman with much of the same manic energy that made the shows so much fun in their heyday. And the vocal cord issues had no effect on his trademark flute work.