Posted on 12/12/2007 6:24:52 PM PST by An American in Turkiye
Wow. Just saw Jethro Tull in concert in Jacksonville, FL last night. Ian Anderson sounded horrible. He can still play the flute like he did in the 70's, but his singing was downright horrible. His stage antics were OK, but this is the first time I saw them in concert. I love Jethro Tull, but was disappointed that the set omitted Bungle in the Jungle and The Whistler. Any other Freepers see them in 2007? If so, any thoughts?
But I really have no desire to see anyone his age in tights...
L
Big Fan of Jethro Tull.
Too bad it was not up to their standards. Watch a video or DVD I guess.
Ping...
I hiked through his Scottish estate once. Amazing place. I have often wondered about this guy.
I am glad you had the chance to see them.
Do they still employ the transsexual keyboard player?
Really don’t think I could take it now and wreck the great memories..
(He did play Albany a couple weeks ago, heard nothing afterwords...)
If you want to hear a voice that has gone to crap, listen to the early and recent “Melanie”.
The guy who played piano decided he wanted to be a woman.
Is “it” still in the band?
Onstage antics? It’s Parkinson’s man.
I’m a Tull fan too. I guess some just hang on too long. I saw them twice back in the early 70’s and they were great. I’ll settle for my albums now I guess.
I’m a fan of Tull, but have never seen them in concert. I did see Rush last summer here in Washington DC, they were great, now they have not lost a beat in all of their years. Just wished they played some 2112.
Aqualung needed?
At his age more like Iron Lung.
I saw Gordon Lightfoot in concert in August in Idaho Falls. It was a nice concert but his voice, at 68, is pretty thin compared to what it was like in 1973 when I last saw him in Detroit.
Was that their “One Foot in the Grave” tour?
Back when they use to tour with Zeppelin they were known for heavy drinking and partying. Maybe that has now affected Ian Anderson's voice... mind you Plant's vocal have changed as well and most likely from age.
Heh - thanks.
“is ‘it’ still in the band?”
No, David, err, umm.. Dana Palmer I think she is called now, left the band back at the end of the 70’s.
They were such an awesome band when they were still attached to their blues roots. “A Passion Play” was released in 1973 and I’ve STILL not been able to sit thru the entire thing!
I've seen them live 5 times, first in 1973, twice in 1975, 1993, and 2002. The 1993 show was a bit of a shock, as Ian's vocals were cracking all over the place, something was obviously wrong with his voice. They piped in a recording of the opening vocal harmonies to "Songs From The Wood" while Ian mimicked singing it ... he wasn't, and it was clear that he wasn't! When the actual singing came in, his voice was weak and cracking. Turns out he was suffering from some sort of throat disorder at the time, which was speculated on all over the (then) early Internet what it might be, but was never really clearly explained (Ian has always been protective of his personal life).
In 2002, I had 3rd row seats to a Tull show, so was up close and could hear what was going on on-stage rather than thru the PA system. Ian's voice was much stronger at this show, although it still had a bit of weakness in it, probably due to age and the aforementioned malady from 10 years earlier.
If you listen to the early Tull albums, starting with "This Was", you'd notice that Ian never really had a strong voice to begin with ... it had a nice bold Baritone to it, but started to lose power in the Tenor range. What Ian did to compensate for that was to double-track his vocals on the recordings, closely following the first track but once in a while being slightly out of sync. It helped to 'thicken' his voice.
Live shows it didn't really matter, since Ian is such a huge presence onstage with his stage antics and magnificent Flute playing, always backed with a strong Rock n Rool band, although sometimes Tull would tour as an almost acoustic group, which I suspect might have been the show you just saw, hence no "Aqualung"
There have been several 'flavors' of Jethro Tull over the decades, not just the Rock n Rool one from the early 70's that we all know and love, but the Folk, Jazz, and Blues versions of Tull which still holds a hard core fan base in both the UK and US.
Sorry to get long winded in this post, but thought a little background explanation on what you experienced at your Tull concert was in order. Hope it made sense :)
Cheers,
MM
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