Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1984
Jethro Tull returned to Newcastle City Hall in September 1984. The tour was to promote their new album Under Wraps. This new release introduced an 80s electronic/synth-pop sound, to a mixed reaction from fans and critics. The concert was, however, a big success, with quite a long set drawing from many of Tull’s albums (by 1984 they had released 15 albums!). Tull also played a couple of track from Ian Anderson’s solo album Walk Into Light, which was released in 1983. 
Under Wraps #1; Locomotive Breath (Instrumental intro); Hunting Girl; Under Wraps #1; Later, That Same Evening; Nobody’s Car; Apogee; Thick as a Brick; Level Pegging; Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day; Pussy Willow; Clasp; Living in the Past; Serenade to a Cuckoo; Fat Man; Fly by Night; Made in England; 
European Legacy; Black Sunday; Aqualung; Locomotive Breath; Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Too Young to Die; Different Germany; Thick as a Brick (reprise).
Thanks to Doug for the picture which was taken at the City Hall at Tull’s visit in 1982. The band at this point consisted of Ian Anderson (flute, vocals and part-time detective for this tour concept), Martin Barre (guitar), Dave Pegg (bass), Peter-John Vettese (keyboards) and new man Doane Perry (drums). The programme consists of photos of the band members, depicting Ian Anderson as a super-sleuth (the subject matter of the songs on Under Wraps is heavily influenced by Ian’s love of espionage fiction), and lyrics from some of the songs which were performed during the concerts.
Archive for the ‘Jethro Tull’ Category
26 Jul
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1984
24 Jul
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1982
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1982
The Broadsword and the Beast tour
The next time I saw Jethro Tull was in 1982 at Newcastle City Hall. They had just released The Broadsword and the Beast which was their 14th studio album. The line-up of Tull at the time was: Ian Anderson on vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, crazy dance and cocked leg; Martin Barre on wondrous electric guitars; Dave Pegg (ex-Fairport and friendly folkie) on bass guitar; Peter Vettese on keyboards; and Gerry Conway on drums. There was no support act, and the ticket made sure that we knew: “Please note. No support Jethro Tull on Stage 8pm prompt”. This was quite a theatrical show with lots of props and the band wearing medieval clothing. The set was a mix of old and new, with quite a few acoustic songs. I was still concerned about the folk influence at this stage, but enjoyed the show, as always. 
Setlist: Clasp, Hunting Girl, Fallen On Hard Times, Pussy Willow, Broadsword, Jack-In-The-Green, Seal Driver, Heavy Horses, Weathercock/Fire At Midnight/Flute Solo (including God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Bourée)/Sweet Dream, Flying Colours, Songs From The Wood, Watching Me Watching You, The Swirling Pit, Pibroch, Beastie, Too Old To Rock’N’Roll…, Aqualung, Minstrel In The Gallery, Locomotive Breath/Black Sunday, Cheerio
Thanks to Doug for the picture, which he took at this gig, showing Martin Barre in his best gear.
A bootleg recording of the Newcastle gig exists, often entitled “The Beastie of Newcastle”.
“Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding. Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.
Bless with a hard heart those who surround me. Bless the women and children who firm our hands.
Put our backs to the north wind. Hold fast by the river.
Sweet memories to drive us on for the motherland”
(The Broadsword and the Best, Ian Anderson, 1982)
22 Jul
Jethro Tull Newcastle City Hall 1977
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
21 Jul
Jethro Tull War Child tour Newcastle Odeon November 1974
Jethro Tull War Child tour Newcastle Odeon November 1974
Jethro Tull returned to Newcastle in November 1974, during the tour to promote the War Child album. Support for the tour was all-girl band Fanny. This time Tull had graduated to playing the massive Odeon theatre, which hosted a number of gigs in the early 70s and had a slightly larger capacity to that of the City Hall. Ian Anderson and co were at their pomp best at the time, and this album and tour saw them returning to straight songs after the concept albums Thick as a Brick and Passion Play. 
The single from the album was Bungle in the Jungle, which was quirky but also pretty catchy. If I remember correctly, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond did a nifty version of (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window? during the concert, and the band was accompanied by a string quartet. This was classic Tull at their best. Setlist: Minstrel in the Gallery; Wind Up; A Passion Play (excerpt); Thick as a Brick; My God (including Flute Solo with Bouree); Cross-Eyed Mary; (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?; Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day; Wond’ring Aloud; Ladies; War Child; Sealion; Bungle in the Jungle; Aqualung; Back-Door Angels; Locomotive Breath; Hard-Headed English General; Back-Door Angels (reprise)
20 Jul
Jethro Tull Sunderland Top Rank 1972
Jethro Tull Sunderland Top Rank 1972
There is a story surrounding this gig. You won’t find it listed in any of the Tull gig histories on the internet, but it definitely took place, and I remember it well. I first heard of this gig directly from the local promoter Geoff Docherty. I was in the Rink (or Sunderland Top Rank to give it is formal name) buying tickets for another event, and Geoff was in there ay the same time. “I’ve got Jethro Tull coming in a few weeks time” he said. Now I already had a ticket to see Tull play at the City Hall in early 1972, as part of the tour that they were doing to promote their new lp Thick as a Brick (TAAB). The tour was already advertised, and the only North East date was the City Hall concert, so an extra Sunderland date prior to the tour didn’t seem very likely. But sure enough, posters advertising the gig with support Tir Na Nog soon appeared outside the Rink, and I bought tickets with a group of mates. Gigs at the Rink at that time tended to be on a Sunday night, and I think that was the case for this concert. The gig was obviously a warm-up for the TAAB tour. I returned my ticket for the City Hall (they would let you do that in those days, as long as they could sell it on), as I didn’t fancy seeing the band twice within a few days (big mistake, as it turned out). 
The night of the Sunderland gig came, and it was excellent. It was great to see Tull play in a relatively small ballroom venue, and I was right down the front, straight in front of Ian Anderson. The place was full, but not too packed. But the gig wasn’t quite what I had expected. First Tir Na Nog didn’t play. They were support for the main TAAB tour, but weren’t at this gig. And the other surprise was the set itself. I was expected an early run through of the Thick as a Brick album, but what we got that night was a Jethro Tull favourites set, which was great, but it also meant that I never got to see TAAB played live in its entirity until recently. The strange thing was the band had the stage set up ready for the TAAB show, with the telephone there ready to ring, but they didn’t perform any of the album. Anyway it was a great gig. Looking back I should have made the effort to go along to the City Hall as well. Not sure why I didn’t. Maybe it was sold out by that point, not that that usually stopped me. Oh well, writing this blog sometimes unearths regrets that I have about gigs that I missed, but hey ho such is life :). The line up of the band had changed since the last time I saw them with Barriemore Barlow replacing Clive Bunker on drums. Thanks to John for the scan of his poster and to Doug for the photograph of Ian Anderson, which he took at Newcastle City Hall some years after this gig.
19 Jul
Jethro Tull Sunderland Empire March 1971
Jethro Tull Sunderland Empire March 1971
Jethro Tull are a special band to me. They are one of those bands I grew up with. I was heavily into them in the early 70s, as were many of my mates, and Stand Up was an album that we listened to again and again. I remember marvelling at Ian Anderson on Top of the Pops, his mad crazy eyes staring at me through the TV, and his eccentric garb shocking my parents. Their early singles were classics. My favourites were The Witches Promise, Teacher and Sweet Dream. I first saw Jethro Tull in concert at Sunderland Empire on 20 March 1971, the day after their classic album Aqualung was released.I was 14 years old at the time. Early gigs are very important in shaping musical tastes for the rest of your life, and this one certainly did that for me. Tull played two shows at the Empire that evening, and I decided to go along to the late show with a few mates. We felt very grown up, being allowed to go to the “late” show, and felt sure that the band would play better at the second concert. We had good seats in the “slipper” to the left of the stage. Support for the gig was Steeleye Span, a newly formed folk-rock band, who delivered a pretty good set. But we were there to see our heroes Jethro Tull. By this relatively early point in their career, their line-up had already changed several times, and was Ian Anderson on flute and vocals, Martin Barre on guitar, Clive Bunker on drums, John Evan on keyboards and Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond on bass. I think they started with Nothing is Easy, and the set featured a number of Tull favourites, and some tracks from the Aqualung album. We were just blown away by Jethro Tull that night, and by Ian Anderson in particular, who is one of the most charismatic performers, and was at the height of his craziness in those days. And so started a lifelong obsession with this band. I have seen them quite a few times since that gig, and watched their line-up and their musical style change over the years. But in those days in the early 70s so many years ago for me and a group of mates, Jethro Tull were legends and were one of the bands that we returned to again and again. Published setlist from a gig in 1971: Nothing Is Easy; Aqualung; With You There to Help Me; By Kind Permission Of; Sossity: You’re a Woman; Reasons for Waiting; My God; Cross-Eyed Mary; Wind Up; Locomotive Breath; Hard-Headed English General; Wind Up (reprise)
18 Apr
Ian Anderson plays Thick as a Brick Newcastle April 17th 2012
Ian Anderson Plays Thick as a Brick Newcastle City April 17th 2012
Went along with Will and Norm to see Ian Anderson and his merry band play Thick As A Brick 1 and 2. Thick As A Brick 1 is, of course, the original Jethro Tull album which was released in 1972, and Thick As A Brick 2 is a new album which has just been released by Ian. I was late getting away from work, so I had arranged to meet my friends through at the City Hall. I managed to arrive just 10 minutes after the 7.30 start time, so only missed a very small part of the show. The show was in two parts, with the first set being the old album. There was a short interval, followed by the new album played in its entirity. 
Ian has assembled an excellent band and the show is very theatrical with one guy playing the part of Gerald Bostock, and singing quite a lot of the vocals. The additional singer is a good move, giving Ian a break from singing at times. The show was supported by video and the use of props, and came over very well indeed. The situation around Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull is somewhat confusing to say the least. While it appears the Jethro Tull have not formally split, Ian Anderson is doing more and more things as solo projects, and Martin Barre has also started his own band, New Day, which will also feature Tull songs in their set. It also seems strange that Ian has chosen to revisit Thick as a Brick at this point, and that he is treating it as a solo project, when Martin Barre has been so intrinsic to the Tull sound for so long. 
Not with standing this, we all agreed that this was the best time that we have see Ian Anderson or Jethro Tull for some time. We also ran into a few old friends, which was nice.
16 Feb
Mick Abrahams Sunderland 1977
Quite a nice looking ticket for this gig, and an intriguing event. This was a guitar demonstration by Mick Abrahams ex-Jethro Tull; billed as “Top London Session Man”. The event was organised by White Sound equipment who were a local guitar shop run by a guy called Bill White. Entry was free, and the idea was that it would promote the shop and Yamaha guitars. The gig was held upstairs in the Barnes hotel, and Mick played a number of guitars, trading some pretty neat licks. I recall a few gigs of this nature in the 70s, one at Newcastle Guildhall with the great Big Jim Sullivan playing guitar, and another at Middlesbrough Town Hall with Rod Argent demonstrating electric pianos and keyboards. They don’t seem to have such events these days. Mick Abrahams hasn’t been too well lately and is having a rest from gigging. Hope he’s well and able to gig again soon.
18 Sep
Ian Anderson The Sage Gateshead 19 Sep 2011
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
19 Sep
Jethro Tull South Shields Gypsies Green Stadium 17 Sep 2010
Jethro Tull South Shields Gypsies Green Stadium 17 Sep 2010
This gig had been set up a special one-off appearance tied in with the preparations for and events around this weekend’s Great North Run. Tull Guitarist Martin Barre was running in the race, and the opportunity must thus have come up for the band to play. The concert was in a large marquee which had been set up within the grounds of Gypsies Green Stadium, which is a sports stadium close to South Shields. Norm and I went along to the gig on Friday, we both recalled previous visits to the stadium in the 70s; one to see Tony McPhee’s Terraplane and the other to see Mohamed Ali on his visit to the region.
We arrived just as the support act Bessie and the Zinc Buckets were finishing their set, and ran into some old friends. Tull came on around 8.15pm; apparently there was a curfew of 10pm, as the venue is within a built-up area. We’d both seen Tull earlier this year, but couldn’t resist the chance to catch them again, in a different setting. The marquee was massive and pretty full, with devotees having travelled from far and wide to see the band. First up was Nothing is Easy, followed by other early Tull classics such as Beggars Farm, Nothing Is Easy, A New Day Yesterday, Songs From The Wood, Bourée, Thick as a Brick, My God. The set centred around the late 60s and 70s classic albums, which was great for us! Aqualung closed the show with the usual Locomotive Breath as the encore. Norm and I agreed that we enjoyed it more that we have in recent times, perhaps because of the different venue.
website: http://www.j-tull.com/
ticket and wrist band
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