Jethro Tull

In the beautiful "Stand up", Ian Anderson sings: "Ieri era un nuovo giorno, ma adesso è un giorno vecchio".

“Living in the past” may well be more rewarding, but for Jethro Tull, that very past seems to have become something very close to a shadow, a nostalgic afterthought.

In the middling setting of a not-quite-full Teatro Tendastrisce, the usual mix of generations waits anxiously for the delayed entrance of those who, in the long run, will prove to be the enchanting ghosts of the “once upon a time there was one of the most interesting English bands straddling the 60s and 70s”.

The lights go down and, for a moment, everything seems to stop: Anderson picks up his small acoustic guitar and the first chords of “Life Is A Long Song” ring out.

Despite his still-distinctive look and charismatic presence, the “Pied Piper” has visibly aged. The dark, rasping voice heard on “Up to me” and “My God” has become that of a loyal sixty-something who, by now, has only the desire left to carry a piece of history around the world.

Tull start out soft and composed: “Skating Away (On The Thin Ice Of The New Day)” is thus accompanied by the melancholy accordion of the excellent keyboardist Andy Giddins.

The Roman audience applauds enthusiastically for what will prove to be a show steeped in revival. The blues harmonica that opens “Living in the past” and the flute solo that follows, complete with the famous “crane stance”, indeed seem to reinforce a myth that is well and truly cemented.

Often overlooked by the various compilations, the debut album “This Was” takes on notable importance here. Anderson leads the whole band through the jazz jam “Serenade To A Cuckoo”, while Barre traces the hypnotic blues line of “Beggar’s Farm”.

Unfortunately, the whole thing is undermined by the terrible acoustics of the Tendastrisce, which muffle the Perry-Noyce rhythm section and flatten out the lead guitar.

Jethro try to get the show off the ground with the first part of the legendary suite “Thick As A Brick”, but it's precisely the most gripping passages that fail to deliver the same thrills as the record.

The progressive vein, however, does take its place on stage. “The good news,” Anderson jokes, “is that Mr. Mozart is dead. That allows me to do whatever I like with his music.” And so begins a sort of long instrumental medley of classically-tinged rock variations, somewhere between an epileptic flute and a hard-blues guitar.

In the end, the venue nearly comes down on the immortal opening of “Bourée”.

The second part of the concert, by contrast, comes across as “harder”, the theatre's acoustics permitting.

This is where, naturally, Jethro Tull's most celebrated album, “Aqualung”, comes into play.

The first notes are the acoustic ones of the brief folk piece “Cheap Day Return”, which almost immediately morph into the hard-folk gem “Mother Goose”.

Anderson sounds the charge, and “Cross-Eyed Mary” and “Hymn 43” shine, unexpectedly, in the cool Roman night. Then, a sudden jump forward in time, and from the excellent “Crest Of A Knave” emerges the mini-suite “Budapest”. It's only a flash, though, because things quickly go back in time as Barre sets the crowd alight with the incendiary riff of “Aqualung”.

The five musicians stand in a row on stage, smiling because the concert is over. Everyone knows, though, that "the show must go on", since there can be no Jethro Tull live show without "that song".

Amid applause and whistles, the crowd surges to its feet as Giddings alone appears, bent over his keyboards, and no one would dare doubt what song is about to start. "Locomotive Breath" is Tull's final signature, complete with giant balloons launched into the crowd and stadium-style singalongs. A fan pops one of them, as if to symbolize a legend that has burst – one that now amounts to a lovely evening to remember, a story to take home and tell friends.

This is Jethro Tull today: "too old to rock 'n' roll, too young to die".

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google