Jethro Tull wins back audience

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33611, 13 August 1974, Page 14

Jethro Tull wins back audience

If a band starts a concert 40 minutes late it has a hard job ahead of it to soothe the audience and get everyone in a good mood again.

According to the leader of Jethro Tull, lan Anderson, it was a mis-tuned piano that delayed the start of their concert in the Town Hall last evening. Forty minutes is a long time to sit and watch model aeroplanes and balloons being thrown around the auditorium. However, the band came up with over two hours of entertainment just as good as the performance they

gave when they last visited Christchurch. lan Anderson is a superb musician—he wrung wonders from his wind instruments, in particular the saxophone and the flute, and his voice matched them. One number and the audience had forgotten the long wait. “Thick as a brick,” “Queen and Country” (from their yet-td-be-released new L.P.), “Aqualung,” and “My God, My God,” were belted out in tremendous style. Most of the audience were coming back for a repeat performance of the concert a few months ago, expected it, and got it. It’s a pity the “bouncers” stopped the audience dancing near the stage, because Jethro Tull’s music is music to dance to. “A cought will be heard throughout the entire audience . . . sweet papers crackling will be heard by about 200 people,” says the admonitory blurb on the Town Hall ticket holder. It’s about time one was added about smoking marijuana—it would be a pity to burn the place down for the sake of those trendy puffs. The lighting effects men deserve a word of praise for last night’s efforts—for once everything went well and some imaginative lighting displays were used during the concert. —C.B.R.