Anderson, who of course has aged himself some thirty years since, is no longer the wildman in concert who made you once ponder the line between genius and insanity.
He is however, still every bit the flamboyant showman. Some thirty years plus removed from their heyday as one of the top grossing concert attractions in the world, it is still no wonder watching this DVD why Jethro Tull maintain a rabidly devoted following all these years later.
Here Anderson plays the role of the perfect host, playing the part with both class, and equal amounts of humor. Introducing their classic flute instrumental "Bouree" for example, Anderson describes the piece as "sleazy cocktail jazz played at the worst Holiday Inn you can imagine."
There are plenty more of those Tull classics you love and remember here as well. From early songs like "Nothing Is Easy," and "With You There To Help Me," to the classics from Aqualung like "My God" and "Locomotive Breath," all the bases are covered here. For those wondering what Jethro Tull has been up to all these years since, the newer material from more recent albums like the title track from J Tull Dot Com is also here.
Other than Anderson, the only remaining member of Jethro Tull from their seventies heyday is guitarist Martin Barre (who has also taken up the flute). Barre, by the way, still sounds great here. Rounding out the band these days are keyboardist Andrew Giddings, bassist Jonathan Noyce, and drummer Doane Perry.
In addition to this DVD, Jethro Tull's Live In Montreux album is also available as a 2-disc audio CD which is divided into both acoustic and electric sets. On this DVD however, things are more evenly mixed, and the 5.1 audio mix alone is well worth the investment for those with high-end systems.
Although lacking the unpredictability of their more youthful years, Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull show they have aged both gracefully and quite nicely in this concert. As Ian Anderson himself once said at a concert I saw back in the seventies, "Jethro Tull is still kicking ass."
And indeed they are here. Live At Montreux 2003 comes out this Tuesday August 21.
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