Classic Rock Radio

JETHRO TULL'S IAN ANDERSON AT THE MCCAW HALL 

IN SEATTLE, WASHINGTON ON 12 SEPTEMBER 2014

Jethro Tull’s legendary “Prog God” Ian Anderson and his band of talented musicians made their way into Seattle, Washington to perform at the elegant McCaw Hall Friday, 12 September 2014.

For over 40 years, Ian Anderson has been enchanting people from all over the world with his unique style and forming his flute sound as the main attraction in a rock and metal arena. With his 5th solo studio album ‘Homo Erraticus’ just being released on 14 April 2014, Ian filled the seats of McCaw Hall with an anxious audience waiting to see the theatrical performance of his new concept album of British History.

The show opened with a pre recorded, short skit of Ian Anderson confined to a hospital bed being treated by his bandmates, turned doctors. The hilarious skit proves that the diagnosis is Ageism and Ian Anderson is NOT too old to rock! The show on the huge projection screen ends and Ian’s band - Ryan O’Donnell (vocals, stage antics), Florian Opahle (guitar), John O’Hara (orchestral conductor, piano, keyboards, and accordion) David Goodier (bass and double bass guitar) and Scott Hammond (drums and percussion) continue the skit on stage in medical wear, chasing poor Ian around with a bedpan.  The skit ended and the band took their places behind their instruments, still in medical wear for the first few songs.

Ian Anderson and his guitarist Florian Opahle kicked it off with “Doggerland,” which starts off with a brilliant flute and electric guitar bicinium. The show continued on with the new album, ‘Homo Erraticus’ brought to life in its entirety, as a theatrical/concert performance. Ryan O’Donnell made his way around the stage acting as co-frontman to Ian Anderson and was very entertaining as a singer, mime, and poet, bringing lightheartedness to the somber message of war, religion, and history.

With an incredible performance by the entire band, we were launched into a World War II battle with an instrumental called, “Tripudium Ad Bellum.” The song has an urgent delivery of marching drums, bass and flute that lead us into battle. The middle of the song is an amazing melodic flute solo with sounds of percussion and a fantastic riff! Having to take the good with the bad, the screen behind the band displayed real images of a horrific war that took the lives of many. For me, this was a highlight and unforgettable moment of the entire performance.

For the second half of the show, we were promised some classic Jethro Tull songs. After twenty minutes, the band came back and with the years rolling back to 1969 they enraptured us with the first song, “Living In The Past.” To the delight of everyone, on the huge screen behind the band were images of a young Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull performing somewhat, in sync with the live performance.

Ian took us from 1969 all the way to 1987 thrilling us with hits “Teacher,” “Too Old To Rock N Roll; Too Young To Die,” and “Aqualung,” amongst many other classic Tull tunes that haven’t been performed in quite some time. “Sweet Dreams” which was written as a single at the request of Jethro Tull’s management, was a big hit with the audience, as well.

The encore was AMAZING! The audience stood up immediately at the astounding piano intro to “Locomotive Breath!” Florian Opahle came in with a blistering solo that would make him a worthy opponent of Martin Barre’s. We cheered and hollered throughout this performance and it wouldn't shock me if the band had trouble hearing themselves play!

Some of the wonderful characteristics of Ian Anderson is how he expresses himself lyrically, musically, and while performing. His soul is stitched around his music and the message is very clear, he has a lot to say and he’s definitely not too old to rock n roll!

Setlist:

Homo Erraticus Album: 1st half of show

Doggerland
Heavy Metals
Enter the Uninvited
Puer Ferox Adventus
Meliora Sequamur
The Turnpike Inn
The Engineer
The Pax Britannica
Tripudium Ad Bellum
After These Wars
New Blood, Old Veins
In for a Pound
The Browning of the Green
Per Errationes Ad Astra
Cold Dead Reckoning

The Best of Jethro Tull: 2nd half of show

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)

Encore:
Locomotive Breath
(Jethro Tull song)

Review by:
Jill Maciel/West Coast Correspondent

Photo Courtesy of http://jethrotull.com/