My Review: Grand Theater at Foxwoods, November 8th, 2015
Nov 9, 2015 14:40:14 GMT
Gerrald Bostock and tootull like this
Post by bambooflute on Nov 9, 2015 14:40:14 GMT
Well, this has certainly been a controversial tour! If you believe that the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about, then IA can rest easy. Not all the discussion has been positive, but Tull fans have been buzzing like an overturned beehive...
I attended the Jethro Tull Rock Opera show at the beautiful Foxwoods casino, in the equally beautiful Grand Theater, on November 8th, 2015 (about twelve hours ago, as I write this). The tickets were a gift for my birthday last April, and I was looking forward to it; this concert marked my 28th time seeing Ian/Tull. Please read to the end to get my full view of the proceedings - there were ups and downs, but it was well worth seeing.
Based on a quick look around before the show, the 4000 seat venue seemed full...or almost full. I don't have the facts and figures regarding total attendance, so any official verification is welcome.
Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see an unedited show - two sets with intermission and encore - as casino concerts usually have a 90 minute time limit in order to get people back into the casino where they can spend more money gambling, eating, drinking, and shopping!
As for the show itself: Well, to be honest, after the initial thrill of seeing Ian Anderson's bound onto the stage playing the flute, the first set was a huge disappointment. We all know that Ian's voice is spent nowadays - I go to hear him play flute and acoustic guitar, which he still does brilliantly. So... how does he get around the problem? Having "virtual guests" sing many of the vocals was an unsatisfying solution. I don't want to see IA retire just yet - perhaps it is finally time to go all instrumental? Ryan O'Donnell's presence on the previous few tours was a big help, but to see this highly talented young man reduced to an actor on the screen was a letdown. Added to this, the first set was poorly paced, with some lackluster versions of "Back to the Family" and "Wind Up..." The changed lyrics did not work and during "Wind Up" I felt like I was spending a night at the cinema rather than seeing a live show... Florian Opahle's overt use of "wah-wah" effects grew extremely tiresome. I wouldn't have minded if he sat this tour out... Unnur Birna Björnsdóttir is a decent singer, but her voice was not suited to much of the material. Her voice worked well on some songs but not others. "Aqualung" remains a terrible and over-rated song, but at least they got it out of the way early. On the plus side, I enjoyed "With You There To Help Me" and "Farm On The Freeway." These performances, good as they were, could not save the first half.
I'm pleased to report the second set was a HUGE improvement. Two of the new songs, "And The World Feeds Me" and "Stick, Twist, Bust" were excellent, and I could actually perceive the words to "And the World..." (something that could not be said of the other new tracks). "Jack-In-The Green" was most welcome, particularly as I love IA's acoustic songs, and was missing this kind of material in the LOUD first set. Ian played and sang it well. I groaned a little when the band launched into "A New Day Yesterday" (having seen it too many times in the past), but they won me over before the end and I enjoyed the song. The high point of the entire evening had to be "The Witch's Promise." I had never seen this one live, and I was spellbound, forgetting all of my problems and getting lost in the moment. This alone was worth attending the show. Even "Locomotive Breath" surged with new energy, and brought the crowd to its feet.
Nice to get a new encore, too - I never expected to hear "Requiem" live - this is a rare example of an IA acoustic song that I didn't like, but seeing it in concert gave me a new appreciation for the piece. This segued into "Fugue" (actually "Bouree" with other bits added) - it was a wise move to end the show with a flute instrumental, thereby sending the crowd home with the memory of Ian playing to his strengths.
The entire "storyline" was a misfire. Believe me, I HUGELY appreciate the fact that Ian's lyrics tend towards more thoughtful, cerebral musings than the usual "hey, baby, baby" vernacular of most rock and pop music... BUT... in this case, the story was disjointed, a bit confused, and seemed too thin to tie all the songs together. My advice: go to the show and enjoy the music, and don't fret over the plot.
In summary, an evening with some duds, but the positives outweighed the negatives. That second set really saved the show; as I said, I got lost in the music at times and really enjoyed myself. Well worth seeing, if not perfect.
The only lingering question is: where do we go from here? (No, that's not a quote from Marillion) I would love to see IA again before he retires, but I hope he either goes all instrumental, or actually brings Ryan or Unnur (or some other singer) along IN PERSON to help him sing. Leave the video projector at home, and forget about storylines.
Above all, the evening was a reminder of how beautiful most of these songs are... Ian's legacy will always be this great body of work that is unlike what anyone has done before or since.
(Four out of Five Stars)
-David
I attended the Jethro Tull Rock Opera show at the beautiful Foxwoods casino, in the equally beautiful Grand Theater, on November 8th, 2015 (about twelve hours ago, as I write this). The tickets were a gift for my birthday last April, and I was looking forward to it; this concert marked my 28th time seeing Ian/Tull. Please read to the end to get my full view of the proceedings - there were ups and downs, but it was well worth seeing.
Based on a quick look around before the show, the 4000 seat venue seemed full...or almost full. I don't have the facts and figures regarding total attendance, so any official verification is welcome.
Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see an unedited show - two sets with intermission and encore - as casino concerts usually have a 90 minute time limit in order to get people back into the casino where they can spend more money gambling, eating, drinking, and shopping!
As for the show itself: Well, to be honest, after the initial thrill of seeing Ian Anderson's bound onto the stage playing the flute, the first set was a huge disappointment. We all know that Ian's voice is spent nowadays - I go to hear him play flute and acoustic guitar, which he still does brilliantly. So... how does he get around the problem? Having "virtual guests" sing many of the vocals was an unsatisfying solution. I don't want to see IA retire just yet - perhaps it is finally time to go all instrumental? Ryan O'Donnell's presence on the previous few tours was a big help, but to see this highly talented young man reduced to an actor on the screen was a letdown. Added to this, the first set was poorly paced, with some lackluster versions of "Back to the Family" and "Wind Up..." The changed lyrics did not work and during "Wind Up" I felt like I was spending a night at the cinema rather than seeing a live show... Florian Opahle's overt use of "wah-wah" effects grew extremely tiresome. I wouldn't have minded if he sat this tour out... Unnur Birna Björnsdóttir is a decent singer, but her voice was not suited to much of the material. Her voice worked well on some songs but not others. "Aqualung" remains a terrible and over-rated song, but at least they got it out of the way early. On the plus side, I enjoyed "With You There To Help Me" and "Farm On The Freeway." These performances, good as they were, could not save the first half.
I'm pleased to report the second set was a HUGE improvement. Two of the new songs, "And The World Feeds Me" and "Stick, Twist, Bust" were excellent, and I could actually perceive the words to "And the World..." (something that could not be said of the other new tracks). "Jack-In-The Green" was most welcome, particularly as I love IA's acoustic songs, and was missing this kind of material in the LOUD first set. Ian played and sang it well. I groaned a little when the band launched into "A New Day Yesterday" (having seen it too many times in the past), but they won me over before the end and I enjoyed the song. The high point of the entire evening had to be "The Witch's Promise." I had never seen this one live, and I was spellbound, forgetting all of my problems and getting lost in the moment. This alone was worth attending the show. Even "Locomotive Breath" surged with new energy, and brought the crowd to its feet.
Nice to get a new encore, too - I never expected to hear "Requiem" live - this is a rare example of an IA acoustic song that I didn't like, but seeing it in concert gave me a new appreciation for the piece. This segued into "Fugue" (actually "Bouree" with other bits added) - it was a wise move to end the show with a flute instrumental, thereby sending the crowd home with the memory of Ian playing to his strengths.
The entire "storyline" was a misfire. Believe me, I HUGELY appreciate the fact that Ian's lyrics tend towards more thoughtful, cerebral musings than the usual "hey, baby, baby" vernacular of most rock and pop music... BUT... in this case, the story was disjointed, a bit confused, and seemed too thin to tie all the songs together. My advice: go to the show and enjoy the music, and don't fret over the plot.
In summary, an evening with some duds, but the positives outweighed the negatives. That second set really saved the show; as I said, I got lost in the music at times and really enjoyed myself. Well worth seeing, if not perfect.
The only lingering question is: where do we go from here? (No, that's not a quote from Marillion) I would love to see IA again before he retires, but I hope he either goes all instrumental, or actually brings Ryan or Unnur (or some other singer) along IN PERSON to help him sing. Leave the video projector at home, and forget about storylines.
Above all, the evening was a reminder of how beautiful most of these songs are... Ian's legacy will always be this great body of work that is unlike what anyone has done before or since.
(Four out of Five Stars)
-David