Ian Anderson, now 67 years old, has been a bandleader for over 50 years. Most famous with, of course, Jethro Tull who recorded over 20 albums and has sales over 60 million. The latest Anderson creation “Homo Erraticus” rolled into the UB Performing Arts Center on Tuesday Nov 4th. New band members Florian Opahle on guitar, John O’Hara on piano, David Goodier on Bass, Scott Hammond on drums, and Ryann O’Donnell on additional vocals back Anderson on flute and guitar.
The show opened with a short movie depicting an institutionalized Anderson “dying,” surrounded by a stodgy medical team giving up on his long haired, bearded persona. When they leave the room, Ian pops out from under the covers, grabs a flute stashed in the bedside cabinet and runs out of the room mumbling “I’m not dead yet!” as the film fades the real Anderson appears onstage. His appearance these days is quite different than the movie with not much hair on his head and much less of a beard. The symbolism is obvious here. Jethro Tull, the band, is “dead.” The music, however, will live on tonight.
The band launched into music from “Homo Erraticus” and for the next 40 minutes Anderson weaved his minstrel-like magic in the new music. A rear stage screen flashed a short film relating to each song. “Doggerland” and “The Browning of the Green” were two stand out tunes that dealt with the loss of nature in today’s world. Images of row houses replacing forestland and lyrics criticizing land developers gave a clear message that Anderson injects into most of his work. Nature is lost in most of our modern lives. The first half of the show closed with a 20 minute selection of “Thick as a Brick” with Anderson and band in perfect form. One-legged flute traded licks with blazing guitar and the rest of the band was as tight as any Tull incarnation. One thing lost to time, besides the hair, was Anderson’s voice. No longer able to hit the high notes, he has enlisted the young O’Donnell to accompany him in the vocals. A theatrical flavor graced the stage as the two stood side by side, trading lead vocals all night long.
The second half of the show was what most of the crowd came to hear, Jethro Tull music. The new band, led by a very animated and athletic Anderson prancing about the stage, offered up a “greatest hits” set that started with “Living in the Past.” Other Tull songs such as “Teacher,” “Critique Oblique,” “Songs from the Wood,” and the appropriate “To Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die” were covered with unbridled enthusiasm and expert musicianship. The set closed with the most popular “Aqualung” which saw Anderson soloing on the acoustic guitar.
Much has been written about his ground breaking style of flute playing, less about the fine guitar skills Anderson has brought to his music. Both were in great form for this 67-year-old legend. The encore of “Locomotive Breath” brought the satisfied crowd to its feet, singing along and clapping right to the end. Anderson shows no signs of slowing down as a musician and with this new band and vocal assistant, the show will go on as long as that one leg will hold him up.
Setlist:
Doggerland
Enter the Uninvited
Puer Ferox Adventus
The Engineer
Tripudium Ad Bellum
The Browning of the Green
Cold Dead Reckoning
Bourée (Jethro Tull song)
Thick as a Brick (Jethro Tull song)
Living in the Past (Jethro Tull song)
With You There to Help Me (Jethro Tull song)
Sweet Dream (Jethro Tull song)
Teacher (Jethro Tull song)
Critique Oblique (Jethro Tull song)
Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die (Jethro Tull song)
Songs from the Wood (Jethro Tull song)
Farm on the Freeway (Jethro Tull song)
Aqualung (Jethro Tull song)
Locomotive Breath (Jethro Tull song)
We would like to thank David Wedekindt from UB and Anne Leighton from Leighton Media for the credentials to review the show.
