March 30, 1977 review: Jethro Tull in Memorial Auditorium



On my desk at The Buffalo News, I still have a souvenir from this transformative time for Jethro Tull – a little plastic tree stump, hollowed out to be a pencil holder, stamped with the title of what was then their latest album, “Songs from the Wood.” 

March 30, 1977

To Tull the Truth, Jethro’s Act

Has Smoothed Out Rough Spots 

          He tips a red bowler hat: “I’m Arnold Stirrup and I’m the support act this evening.”

          Support act, indeed. It’s Ian Anderson, the satyr who directs Jethro Tull and he’s come out alone to get things started.

          He resembles a country squire in his riding pants and vest. He strikes his acoustic guitar and the rest of the band slips in behind him – a hint of the precision 12,000 fans will set the rest of the evening Tuesday in Memorial Auditorium.

          The basis of Tull’s act hasn’t changed over the years. It’s only become refined. It’s roughly the rock ‘n roll answer to celebration of the Maypole, which Ian Anderson renders with his flute.

          The rest of them (now five, with extra man David Palmer working a miniature pipe organ) lurch about in familiar fashion.

* * *

KEYBOARDMAN John Evan resembles Harpo Marx in his white suit and curly hair. Guitarist Martin Barre wears broad stripes and sunglasses. New bassist John Glascock does a particularly effective turnabout and dip.

          As ever, Anderson’s poise and precision set the pace. His antics draw cheers from the combustible devotees. He’s the ancient god Pan reincarnate once again for a gasping solo in “Aqualung.” An ovation brings him back for an encore.

          Applause for his new “Songs from the Wood” indicates he may be on the upswing again. Otherwise, it’s old Tull favorites from five years ago that set the fans off.

          Anderson gives them all that with a dancer’s impeccable sense of control. He works hard in a the two-part set and his special effects – especially the strobe, which makes him seem like a figure reveling in air – are a welcome change.

* * *

WHAT’S MORE, the cruelty and antagonism is gone from his humor. Even where he used to be bitter, he avoids it – like in his intro to the widely ignored “Too Old to Rock ‘N Roll, Too Young to Die,” where its failure was blamed simply on “the cyclical order of fashion.”

          Tull remains hard-working troupers, bawdy ones too, but there’s now redeeming grace. It shows in their final touch – two large balloons thrown off stage during encore.

          “It’s for you,” the first one says. The second one echoes: “So is this one.”

          Tull’s fans shout their agreement. Everyone thinks it’s the best show they’ve seen all year.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Jethro Tull in performance on the “Songs from the Wood" tour in 1977.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Ian Anderson had indeed become a country squire. He’d recently gotten married again, bought a farm in Buckinghamshire northwest of Greater London and started to explore English folklore. The high spirits on stage were an afterglow of the sessions for the “Songs from the Wood” album, which the band considered a happy high point in their history. A departure from the albums that immediately came before it, it was hailed as a return to form.

Here’s the setlist, courtesy of setlist.fm: 

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 (tour instrumental featuring a drum solo)

To Cry You a Song

A New Day Yesterday (featuring a flute solo, an instrumental rendition of “Living in the Past” and a snippet of “No Rehearsal”)

(second set)

Velvet Green

Hunting Girl

Too Old to Rock ‘n Roll, Too Young to Die

Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 – IV. Finale (Ode to Joy)

(Ludwig von Beethoven cover)

Minstrel in the Gallery

Cross-Eyed Mary (with “Pop Goes the Weasel” snippet)

Aqualung

(encore)

Guitar solo

Wind-Up

Back-Door Angels

Wind-Up (reprise)

Locomotive Breath

Pomp and Circumstance (Land of Hope and Glory) (Edward Elgar cover)

Back-Door Angels (reprise)

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