I’ve wondered about this for, oh, ten years or so.
WTF does MU stand for?
Musician’s Union, according to Wikipedia.
Not just “virtually,” but physically united on the “last supper” mini-poster that came with the LP. The only past member not present was Mick Abrahams, who does not appear on any of the album’s songs.
Funny this thread, we were just talking 10 minutes ago about maybe seeing them this year. I haven’t seen them in (counts on fingers…and toes…and comes up short) almost 30 years. Has anyone seen them in the last, I dunno, five years, who can attest to whether they’re still a good show or not?
Ian Anderson’s voice has been shot since he blew it out on the 1984 tour, so you can’t expect him to sound like he did in the old days. But his flute playing is as good as ever, with a cleaner tone than the old huff ‘n’ puff days, and a lot of note-bending tricks inspired by world music. They’re basically an oldies act these days–there hasn’t been a new Tull studio album in a decade–and the set list tends to concentrate on their first four albums. Still, they always throw in an obscure surprise or two.
Musician’s Union, eh? Ok then.
I saw Tull during their WarChild tour in '74 (?). I had gone in knowing only ‘Bungle in the Jungle’ and was blown away by the show. They quickly became my favorite band and I devoured everything Tull I could find for the next few years.
Wait…1974 was, what, 36 years ago!?! Holy crap.
Has anyone heard their Christmas album that came out a few years back? The track listing looks like it would be quite good.
mmm
I know what Mean Mr. Mustard is talking about. I first saw Jethro Tull at the Palace theater in Albany, NY in November of 1971. Here’s the playlist:
- My God
- Thick as a Brick
- Aqualung
- To Cry You a Song
- A New Day Yesterday
- Cross-Eyed Mary
- Up To Me
- Tomorrow Was Today
- Hymn 43
- Nothing Is Easy
- Wind Up
- Guitar Solo
- Locomotive Breath
- Wind Up (reprise)
It cost $4.00, and ruined me for all other concerts.
It looks like it’s been exactly 30 years since I saw them (that was my 3rd time) - I quit on them live after A came out, and not-live after Broadsword.
Here’s a set list from this year:
For some reason this list makes me less interested, rather than more…
I like it a lot. The new songs are really good, and the adaptations of traditional tunes–mostly in prog-friendly odd time signatures, including a wink to “Living in the Past” in the 5/4 version of “We Three Kings”–are a lot of fun. The remakes of old Tull songs on Christmas/winter themes feel a bit like padding, and I’ve never liked “Another Christmas Song” much, but I guess those songs had to be there.
I saw them earlier that year. Aqualung had been out for a couple of months, and Barrie Barlow had just joined the band. Ian Anderson came out with his acoustic guitar, sat on a stool under a spotlight, and opened the concert with “My God.” After the line “…and don’t call on him to save,” the stage lights blazed up, revealing the full band as they slammed into the riff. If there had been any chairs (the audience sat on a bare concrete floor), that would have knocked me off mine.
Really? I think that’s a damned interesting set. Looks like they’ve ditched all the first album stuff they’d been doing, although there’s still an awful lot of Stand Up. (Great album, but it seems like they’ve been celebrating its 20th anniversary for the last 20 years. And they have some 20 other albums’ worth of material to choose from.)
Part of the problem is probably that I’ve overlistened to them. At first glance:
Dun Ringill - love this song
The Water Carrier - like this song
Life Is A Long Song - love this song, great companion to Going Up the ‘Pool
Eurology - don’t know this
Nothing Is Easy - used to like this, but there’s something very 60s blues that rubs me the wrong way now
A New Day Yesterday - used to like this, but the same comment more or less
Songs From The Wood - like this fine
Fat Man - good enough
Bouree - this is essentially his signature piece, it’s fine
Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young To Die - really sick of this
Birthday Card At Christmas - don’t know this
A Change Of Horses - not ringing a bell
Bug - not ringing a bell
Budapest - not ringing a bell
Aqualung - truly hate this song
Encore: Locomotive Breath - only works with full slammin’ piano, I’ve heard them do it several different ways
Perhaps I should make up my own dream set list…
I saw them in 1993 and was completely and entirely impressed. I didn’t notice a thing regarding vocal issues; Ian Anderson sounded just fine.
I saw them on (presumably) the same tour - or it could have been 1994 - and fucking loved them. I agree with your analysis - no vocal issues I could hear.
Here’s a set list I threw together that would totally please me (note that I know very little post-Stormwatch Tull):
Songs from the Wood
Bouree
Nothing is Easy
My Sunday Feeling
Black Satin Dancer
Salamander
Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day
War Child
A Song for Jeffrey
Teacher
Cross-Eyed Mary
Someday the Sun Won’t Shine For You
Baker St. Muse
Up To Me
My God
Bungle in the Jungle
I can live without Aqualung, but I do still love me some Bungle.
Eurology: instrumental from Ian’s last solo album, Rupi’s Dance
Birthday Card At Christmas: good uptempo song from the Christmas Album (also appeared as a bonus track on Rupi’s Dance)
A Change Of Horses: new, unreleased song–long, slow, Indian-influenced.
Bug: Martin Barre instrumental
Budapest: long, multi-sectioned song from Crest of a Knave; I think this is probably Tull’s single best song of the '80s.
Agree with you about “Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Never liked it that much in the first place; it hasn’t improved with age. At least they usually shorten it live.
Played that at a gig yesterday; one guy there seemed to be really digging it.
Saw them 10 times between 1992 and 2004, and never once heard Too old to Rock and Roll or Bungle in the Jungle. I’d like to. Just once.
At the 2004 show they played the whole Aqualung album (not in order, it wasn’t until later that I realized that this was the case). This was the last day of the tour 2 days before they recorded the Aqualung Live album in DC. We stayed around after the show and I got all the guys to sign my Thick as a Brick LP and my large Minstrel in the Gallery promotional cutout thing. They always rock. Ian’s replaced the keyboard and bass player since then.
Speaking of MU, how great is “Rainbow Blues?” MU was the first cassette I ever bought of Tull and that song is part of what grabbed my attention and made me want to learn more about this unusual British band.
I saw them 3 times between '93 and '97. Ian sang on par with his ability on the Crest of a Knave album, which was quite a bit reedy and strained when compared to his earlier days, but still gave amazing performances.
I’ll also add an early obscure song, Sweet Dream, they played in a long extended free-for-all encore and totally rocked it (insert one-legged smiley)
I have seen them twice in the last 10 years and they sounded great.
Not quite obscure, as it was also featured on the live double-album “Bursting Out” (or “Busting Out” if you choose to believe the name printed on the spine of the LP), an album I listened to probably way too much.
I saw Tull live in 2006 or so, and it was an awesome show. I really like the Christmas album - there is a playfulness in the approach to the traditional carols, but it is also respectful. I don’t get enough excuses to play it, though.
Si