Ian Anderson The Sage Gateshead 19 Sep 2011
Will, Norm and I went along to see Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull at the Sage last Monday. Ian seems to be touring endlessly, sometimes with Tull, sometimes solo. Although I would much prefer to see a full Tull show, a chance to attend a show by the great showman flautist is not to be sniffed at. The set was a mixture of some old Tull favourites, some less known tunes, and a few classical pieces thrown in. All of these were done largely acoustically by Ian, a keyboard player and guitarist (Florian Opahle). Florian is a pretty slick guitarist and Ian’s flute playing was just superb; the smaller band setting allowing him to play longer solos than he would normally play within the context of a Jethro Tull show. Monday’s concert was in the smaller Hall 2 of the Sage, which is a much more intimate setting than the larger Hall. It was good see Ian Anderson again; and to have a chat with our old Tull mate Doug. A good evening, which will keep us all going until Jethro Tull come around again; and we also can’t wait for Ian to return next year; when he plays the City Hall with his “Thick as a Brick” show, which promises to be pretty special.
Jethro Tull website
Setlist: First half: Boris Dancing; Mother Goose; Up To Me; Set-Aside; Overture; Wond’ring Again; Florian guitar solo; Hare In The Wine Cup; Bach’s Prelude In C Major/Bouree
Second half: Up The Pool; The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles; The Poet and the Painter; Adrift and Dumbfounded; A Change Of Horses; Bach’s Toccata and Fugue; Budapest
Encores: Aqualung; Locomotive Breath
ticket
flyer for next years Thick as a Brick tour
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