Jethro Tull's Mann gig gets audience on its feet, eventually 

By Richard Ferrara
Special to the Daily News
 

Jethro Tull drew a high-spirited full house to Barbara B. Maim Performing Arts Hall on Wednesday night. A motley crowd of longtime adult fans, teenagers and aging hipsters sporting vintage Tull T-shirts cheered while opening act Willy Porter played a set of impressive acoustic guitar numbers.

Undoubtedly, the highlight of Porter's performance came when he asked the crowd for suggestions and then spontaneously created a song about old people driving slow in the left lane. He left the stage with a partial standing ovation and surprisingly loud applause for an opener who isn't well known.

Suddenly the lights went down and everything grew dark. A flute sounded from offstage. The lights shot on as lead singer and flutist lan Anderson came nimbly bounding out garbed in black, a bandanna tied to his forehead.

The crowd erupted and the band kicked in, launching into one of its most popular numbers, "Living in the Past,” from the milestone “Aqualung" album. Anderson danced all over with his shiny flute, his eyebrows raising as he piped away and bobbed his head to the music. He looked like a sideburned Pan in slacks.

After the song, Anderson paused briefly to greet the audience in his deep British accent. He seemed to be in a rather talkative mood, making witticisms and telling anecdotes. The crowd loved it.

Another song from "Aqualung" — "Cross-Eyed Mary" — followed. In between vocals Anderson stood on one leg while he played his flute, crossing the other above his knee, a move he made famous on stage back in the Jethro Tull heyday of the 1960s and 70s. All the while his face contorted to the music.

I couldn't help laughing. How often do you see a rock band led by a quasi-medieval flutist?

Anderson soon strapped on a miniature acoustic guitar and began to tell the audience about England's folklore and the many elves and goblins that inhabit its countryside, leading up to "Songs from the Wood." He followed that with a performance of "Thick as a Brick," condensing the album into a 10-minute jam that was nicely accompanied with a sweet solo by electric guitarist Martin Barre. The excitement seemed too much for one crazy hippie in the crowd, who danced in a frenzy, screaming maniacally and sparking his lighter in an attempt to get Anderson's attention. However, he at least was showing enthusiasm; the rest of the crowd seemed overly comfortable in their seats during the most intense segments.

Anderson calmed things down later with a solo acoustic version of "Wond'ring Aloud," playing alone on his tiny guitar and showing the soft, melodic side to his voice. The tone was continued with "Elegy"; he sat on a speaker and played his flute in the spotlight, looking off into the distance.

Toward the end came the moment many had been waitmg for.

"Sitting on a park bench/ eyeing little girls with bad intent," Anderson sang. Everyone recognized the first lyrics of the Tull's most popular song, "Aqualung," and cheered. During the most heated moments of the song, Anderson ran offstage to grab a camera, then came back to shoot pictures of himself making crazy faces with the crowd in the background. I did a double take when a 6-foot brown rabbit ambled onto the stage at one point, shrugged and walked off.

The band left the stage momentarily in the traditional pre-encore fashion, then were hailed back by the crowd. Anderson came out with a gigantic balloon balanced on his head and bounced it out into the crowd. During the final two songs of the encore, two giant balloons circulated in front of the stage. Finally, the crowd was on its feet and pulsing.

Before the concert ended, I found myself up near the stage batting at the balloons and screammg like a madman. The crazy hippie from earlier was suddenly beside me. "Man, this is awesome!" he hollered into my face.

I had to agree with him.