Jethro Tull
There's a fair few bands in the world that I have listened to for several years that I do not really expect to ever see live. Jethro Tull was in that category for the longest time, until last Friday.
The gig was at the local Caribia Holiday Club, a garish spa hotel we have sitting right by our student village. Now this is far from ideal, considering their 'concert hall' also doubles as a basketball court, which makes for some harsh acoustics. Still, Jethro Tull playing ten minutes from my place, I got to go for that.
The band was great. I have not really listened to their albums so much of late, but their live show was on another level altogether. They had a few lights and a bit of smoke, and didn't really need anything else. Ian Anderson is still a madman with his flute, and has a very wry sense of humor about his performance. This goes for the rest of the band as well, who have been around long enough not to take themselves too seriously.
Someone who I feel deserves special mention is their new guitarist, Florian Opahle. The guy is 24 years old, very easy on the eyes, and is simply amazing with the guitar. He could be something huge in the future. Already, he was an absolutely excellent addition to the band, putting the rock in the progressive.
The best part was hearing truly inventive variations on old tunes, and even some brand new ones. Progressive rock can all too easily become a freejazz-clusterfuck that totally loses the plot, but there was none of that here. It remained strong all the way; interesting, engaging, and at times very amusing with pop-culture references woven into the song.
Now, while the band was great, the audience was shit.
Many parts of the average human psyche remain a mystery to me. Especially the part that makes someone buy a fifty Euro ticket to a concert, two months in advance, and then show up to the gig late, and drunk off his feet. More puzzlement is created when this is followed by heckling the band, and annoying the audience with totally random, loud outbursts that may or may not have something to do with the music.
I mentioned the shit acoustics earlier, and thanks to them, every incoherent yell from these apes could be heard clearly all through the hall. It got to the point after the intermission - from which these people also came back two songs late, and were unable to find their seats - that Ian Anderson actually told them to fuck off, and did not talk between the songs any more. Fuck those hecklers for that, as Ian had some true gems to tell about those songs, and we missed out on half of them thanks to these fuckwads.
I could go on and on about these fucking geniuses, but I'll spare you. I only wish I could have been spared from them myself, or that I had at least gotten the chance to push one of them in front of a taxi afterwards.
It is doubtful that I'll be attending this particular venue again, except for the Finnish acts that it seems to suit far better. For international acts though, I will make that trip to see them somewhere else.
If you do get the chance to see Tull live, I suggest you go for it. While Ian has turned from a strange beanpole of a hippie into more of an aged biker, he is still a genius, and needs that live setting to really blossom. I plan on getting their Live at Montreaux DVD the first chance I get.
The gig was at the local Caribia Holiday Club, a garish spa hotel we have sitting right by our student village. Now this is far from ideal, considering their 'concert hall' also doubles as a basketball court, which makes for some harsh acoustics. Still, Jethro Tull playing ten minutes from my place, I got to go for that.
The band was great. I have not really listened to their albums so much of late, but their live show was on another level altogether. They had a few lights and a bit of smoke, and didn't really need anything else. Ian Anderson is still a madman with his flute, and has a very wry sense of humor about his performance. This goes for the rest of the band as well, who have been around long enough not to take themselves too seriously.
Someone who I feel deserves special mention is their new guitarist, Florian Opahle. The guy is 24 years old, very easy on the eyes, and is simply amazing with the guitar. He could be something huge in the future. Already, he was an absolutely excellent addition to the band, putting the rock in the progressive.
The best part was hearing truly inventive variations on old tunes, and even some brand new ones. Progressive rock can all too easily become a freejazz-clusterfuck that totally loses the plot, but there was none of that here. It remained strong all the way; interesting, engaging, and at times very amusing with pop-culture references woven into the song.
Now, while the band was great, the audience was shit.
Many parts of the average human psyche remain a mystery to me. Especially the part that makes someone buy a fifty Euro ticket to a concert, two months in advance, and then show up to the gig late, and drunk off his feet. More puzzlement is created when this is followed by heckling the band, and annoying the audience with totally random, loud outbursts that may or may not have something to do with the music.
I mentioned the shit acoustics earlier, and thanks to them, every incoherent yell from these apes could be heard clearly all through the hall. It got to the point after the intermission - from which these people also came back two songs late, and were unable to find their seats - that Ian Anderson actually told them to fuck off, and did not talk between the songs any more. Fuck those hecklers for that, as Ian had some true gems to tell about those songs, and we missed out on half of them thanks to these fuckwads.
I could go on and on about these fucking geniuses, but I'll spare you. I only wish I could have been spared from them myself, or that I had at least gotten the chance to push one of them in front of a taxi afterwards.
It is doubtful that I'll be attending this particular venue again, except for the Finnish acts that it seems to suit far better. For international acts though, I will make that trip to see them somewhere else.
If you do get the chance to see Tull live, I suggest you go for it. While Ian has turned from a strange beanpole of a hippie into more of an aged biker, he is still a genius, and needs that live setting to really blossom. I plan on getting their Live at Montreaux DVD the first chance I get.