TAAB2—A Recap of Ian Anderson’s Concert Tour

I’ve always wanted to see Jethro Tull, ever since that song “Aqualung” came out, so I was a fair amount of excited to attend former frontman Ian Anderson’s concert last night at the Chumash Casino.  The frontman is the voice, after all, the most recognizable quality to a band, and Mr. Anderson delivered that voice pitch perfectly & more. A veritable Pied Piper of many generations, the flautist, guitarist, and mandolin-playing vocalist had a story to tell—a couple of stories, really, performing albums: Thick as a Brick 1 & 2—and a rapt audience to whom to tell it. An audience that could & did sing enthusiastically along.
 

Let’s get a better look at those…

So, we’ll be sitting in his lap, then?

Jim and I couldn’t have had a better vantage point. Treated to front row seats courtesy of a friend in the rightest of places, the show that commemorated the fortieth anniversary of the first album’s original release began not ten feet from where we sat. Left leg elevated and bent in his trademark, scissoring, Taebo-like stance, the sixty-something crooner wove a web of enchantment with his mad piping skills, engaging demeanor & resounding voice. Add in the props of cavorting, fellow vocalist Ryan O’Donnell— cane & umbrella, bowler, jester outfit & cassock as appropriate—and all of a sudden you had a performance on par with a rock opera!

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Backgrounded  by projected graphics that varied between shadow shows & colored lights, and images of war, school, church & industry, the progressive rock music was much more than a sequence of sets strung together. The playlist unwound like the continuing biography it was, the biography of fictional child character Gerald Bostock introduced in the original TAAB as the writer of the poem that inspired the lyrics for that album. Gerald is fifty in TAAB2, and his life has followed one of various paths; scenarios suggested in lyrics narrative & philosophical, and dramatized through the capering antics of both lead singers.

Gnu Free Documentation License

The two-hour plus show was so artistically done and overall enjoyable, I’m hard put to pin down a favorite part, but I’ll give it a shot. The spoofed YouTube video of a: “posh bloke in a garden setting” portraying Ian as a tour guide at a sumptuous estate was brilliant, as was violinist Anna Phoebe Skyping in a stringy contribution while juggling baby & domestic duties, while both guitar and drum solos by Florian Opahle and James Duncan respectively—were phenomenal. (The drummer being Ian’s own progeny, of course.)

Last but not least, the “Death by Chocolate” gelato we picked up on the way out of Samala Showroom was a good bit(e) too, and the incidental jackpot won from a one-armed bandit was pure money. Sure Santa Barbara is nice, but the amenities of Santa Ynez Valley—and Chumash Casino & Resort—are a great bet, too.

This post is featured in Arts & Entertainment category of: Scifi News & Chat