A nice stroll along in the sun to the Usher Hall in Edinburgh to catch up with Jethro Tull on their Curiosity Tour in support of last year’s Curious Ruminant album. There is no support tonight and the place is packed as the band stroll onto the stage early at 7:30.
They launch into a three-song starter from their 1968 album This Was with the blues-infused opener “Some Day the Sun Won’t Shine for You,” featuring some fabulous harmonica from Ian before launching into “Beggar’s Farm.” It has an almost jazz-infused blues feel about it, with the guitar riff carrying it along on the back of Ian’s vocals and some intense flute playing.
The flute starts up along with David on bass as we hear “A Song for Jeffrey,” which is one of my favourite songs. It just has a fabulous groove and my foot is tapping away with the drums and guitar; just a great song. We get it all tonight, from 1968 right up to 2025.
The guitar kicks in with that well-known intro that heralds the fabulous “Thick as a Brick” – albeit a shortened version as Ian says – but it is still one of those classics that everyone knows and loves. “Mother Goose” is like one of those wandering troubadour songs, and you could just imagine Ian wandering about Ye Olde villages singing this one. It was nice to hear it tonight.
We get some “Songs From the Wood,” another familiar favourite with some superb harmonies and fabulous guitar from John Clark, along with some tasty keyboards from John O’Hara. Scott’s drumming tonight was just fantastic. Ian reckons the song “Fat Man” from 1969’s Stand Up album would get him cancelled in this day and age if released now. It’s a fabulous wee song with Ian on a mandolin, I think it was, Scott on bongos, and John Clark on what looked like a penny whistle. Great stuff.
We do get a couple of modern tunes tonight from the new album with the title track “Curious Ruminant,” and it just comes alive on stage for me compared to the album version. It’s a great foot-tapper of a song. We also get the slower, but no less enjoyable, “Over Jerusalem.”
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There are several classics on display tonight and possibly my favourite Tull song, “Living in the Past,” amongst them. It really gets your whole body moving with the pace and tempo of Ian’s flute and his vocal speed. The drums just cruise along, with the bass and guitar keeping the same pace to make this song the complete package for me. This is Tull all wrapped up in perfection.
The Bach cover “Bouree” is always a joy to listen to. The band has a short break before coming back on with the likes of the intense “Aqualung.” We also get a lone outing from the excellent Crest of a Knave album with the superb “Budapest.” It does have a Dire Straits kind of vibe to it, and that is a good thing as it has such a nice feel and just cruises along with superb vocals, the guitar in the background, and some lovely keyboards from John.
The band end a most enjoyable night with what else but the fantastic “Locomotive Breath.” The keyboards play us in with some tasty guitar before it fully kicks in, and it is just glorious, complete with steam locomotive video graphics on the rear screen. It was a tremendous ending to the night.
This was just a fabulous night of rock music played by a band on top form. Ian was just fabulous at 78. Some of the higher notes obviously were not quite there, but he still has a great voice and the flute playing was just exceptional and mad all night. I thought John on guitar was superb and some of his solo breaks were just inspired. Scott was fantastic on drums with a great rhythm style that really filled in all those spaces, with David on bass being his rhythm foil with some stunning bass riffs. John on keyboards was superb and, along with the rest of the band, you could see they were all having a great time.
At the start of the show, Ian asked the audience to not take any photos or video until the encore of “Locomotive Breath” and I must admit I never saw one phone, which was so refreshing to see. They were all out come the encore, though, including mine! I wander out the venue with “Living in the Past” playing in my head and a big smile on my face, happy in the knowledge that all is good with bands like Jethro Tull still on the go and still packing out venues. If you can get out there and catch them live, do it. It was just a fantastic night of classic rock music. Until next time.
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Yes, just saw this show in Bradford’s St George’s Hall last night, and it was outstanding! Kicking off, as you say, with three top tracks from their first album “This Was,” and astounding harmonica playing from Ian. Then, for the rest of the evening, leaving chronology aside for a wide range of songs from the following decades. Great playing from all, including their very good young guitarist Jack Clark, who is definitely up to Martin Barre standard. Great sound (clear without being too loud), great dynamic lighting too, and very clever synchronisation between the live band and the stage-size video… Read more »
Thanks for the feedback (and your own review!). Gary wrote this one so I’ll pass your words on, but I’m trying to remember my last gig at St George’s… must have been Paradise Lost or Chuck Berry back in the late 90s or early 2000s!