|
Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull w/ The Push Stars
August 19, 2001 @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
 The chimney echoes of “Silvertown” filled the wide, slightly steamy room as
the milling crowd began to take their seats. Adding to the steam was
frontman Chris Trapper, who was sweating through his polyester suit with
every note. By the time song number two — a roaring “Meet Me On Main
Street” — came about, Trapper was already showing signs of vocal strain.
Off came the jacket and up went the tempo into the pumping and playful
film song “Everything Shines.” When brother Tom came up to offer
slick-fingered guitar support, the four-man trio really got it going. As
Ryan MacMillan and Dan McLoughlin kept the low end easy and tight, the
Trapper boys did their thing up front, dragging a bit through “Cinderella”
before climaxing in a slightly extended “Any Little Town.”
Though the boys did a good job at winning over the older, biker-laden
crowd (quite a different demo than they may have been accustomed to), when
Sir Ian and the boys took the stage, the Ballroom erupted. Though Mr.,
Anderson required the use of a cane to take the stage (the result of a
freak Folk festival accident), once he took it, he did not give it back.
Starting at the very beginning of the Tull repertiore with a bass-driven
“My Sunday Feeling,” the 30-year-plus quintet slowed into “Cross-Eyed
Mary” before veering off into a new song from the wood called “Roots to
Branches.” In between tripling solos, Ian impersonated his bandmates,
especially steadfast sideman Martin Barre, who could still lick it up as
well as his one-and-a-half-legged stage partner. After acoustically
telling the eco-concious tale of “Jack In The Green,” the band took a
moment to rest before venturing through all 391 epic seconds of “Thick As
a Brick,” each one of which which made even Anderson long for the days of
concept albums. The imposing march introducing an echoey “Sweet Dream” and
the feline dedication “Hunt By Numbers” gave soje justificationfor Tull’s
querelous Heavy Metal Grammy. But awards or no, the band showed how and
why they have lasted one-tenth as long as the original “Bouree,” which was
played tonight with a time-bending mixture of Bach-ian classicalism and
contemporary soul. Though the lovely visual aide for the centre stage
performance of “The Water Carrier” was quite lovely, the samples used to
express “The Secret Language of Birds” (aka “SLOB”) were a bit annoying.
Fortunately, Barre’s Gilmour-meets-Satriani solo intro to “New Day
Yesterday” brought back the Blues soul and prepared the crowd for a
room-rocking “Aqualung” and an extended encore of “Locomotive Breath.”
Though Anderson’s licks may not have been as sharp as they have been in
days past, and though his vocal gymnastics may have led to muffled
mumbling,
it was still Tull. It may be 30 years on but, despite the cane, it was
clear that, as the tour says, Tull still has a leg to stand on.
- Matthew S. Robinson
c. 2001, M. S. Robinson, ARR
|
