Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1977
In 1977 Jethro Tull released Songs from the Wood, which was their tenth studio album, and the first of a trio of folk rock albums, the others being Heavy Horses. Of course, folk influences had always been apparent in Jethro Tull’s music, but on Songs from the Wood, they came to the fore. At the time I couldn’t quite get away with this change of style. I much preferred the rockier, blues-oriented side of Tull. Looking back this album and Heavy Horses were two of their best, and the 1977 tour was also excellent. There were also some line-up changes in the Tull fold. David Palmer, who had worked with the band from the early days as their orchestral arranger, joined as a full-time member of keyboards, and John Glascock joined on bass. Glascock was familiar to me, as I had seen him play alongside Stan Webb in Chicken Shack at some great gigs in the early 70s. 
The programme tells me that the support act for the 1977 tour was Leo Kottke, but I have no recollection of seeing him play that night. However, I do remember seeing Leo play at the Cambridge folk festival a couple of years earlier. He is a great acoustic guitarist who plays some amazing slide guitar on tracks like Vaseline Machine Gun. As you would expect, Tull’s set included a few songs from Songs from the Wood, along with old favourites. At the time I was very unsure about the new acoustic tracks, but songs like Jack-in-the-Green and Songs from the Wood stand up against some of Tull’s best. Setlist: Wond’ring Aloud; Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day; Jack-in-the-Green; Thick as a Brick; Songs from the Wood; Conundrum; To Cry You a Song; A New Day Yesterday (with flute solo including Bouree); Velvet Green; Hunting Girl; Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Too Young to Die; Beethoven’s 9th; Minstrel in the Gallery; Aqualung; Wind Up; Back-Door Angels. Encore: Locomotive Breath
22 Jul
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Posted by Mitch on July 29, 2013 at 1:21 pm
I was at this concert.
You are right about the support act – Leo Kottke did not appear.
Support was from Richard Digance.
Posted by vintagerock on July 29, 2013 at 1:25 pm
Many thanks Mitch
Best wishes Peter