Ian Anderson Plays Acoustic Jethro Tull
Where: Lyric Opera House, 140 W. Mount Royal Ave., Baltimore; ticketmaster.com
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Info: $24.50 to $54.50; ticketmaster.com
One doesn’t often think of Ian Anderson, longtime frontman of classic rockers Jethro Tull, as understated.
Anyone who’s seen Anderson during the band’s 40-plus-year reign knows that prancing, dancing, twirling and shouting are as much of Anderson’s onstage persona as his raspy voice and signature flute. Yet when he speaks of his own shows, whether it’s with Tull or a solo effort such as he’s now embarked upon, he’s surprisingly understated.
“It’s a good idea not to expect anything,” Anderson said. “We’re liable to do anything, so it’s a good idea to keep an open mind.”
In this age of bands promoting their shows and albums in every medium available, Anderson lets his classic, Grammy Award-winning catalog do the talking. “Living in the Past,” “Cheap Day Return” and, of course, “Aqualung” are generally staples in any Tull or Anderson show.
But Anderson is a smart showman who doesn’t coast on his laurels. He not only weaves newer solo songs into sets but reworks classics, often with the help of classically trained, young violinists he brings on tour.
“Acoustic is my forte, what I do best,” Anderson said from his London office. “It’s what I intended to do as a teenager. I didn’t like loud music; I liked jazz and blues.”
That preference is something he’s integrated into rock shows dating all the way back to the 1970s, when Tull often traveled with chamber orchestras and solo violinists. About five years ago, though, Anderson again incorporated young guest musicians into concerts.
Fan Rob Graham said those guest artists add extra effect to the show.
“Not only was the combined sound fresh, but the energy was over the top,” Graham said of the Anderson solo concert he attended in Concord, N.H. “I can only imagine the thrill most of these [young musicians] had being able to play along with a legend in front of a live audience.”
But Anderson said he gained as much from the young musicians.
“[Playing with them] is a learning experience for me, seeing what I can get out of it,” he said. “It’s a mutual thing.”
That quest to continually improve is what fan Tibor Shanto, of Toronto, thinks sets Anderson and his bandmates apart.
“When you listen to some of the old songs on the [rereleased “Living in the Past” DVD] versus when they first came out, his playing now is so much better … [and] continues to demonstrate his growth as a musician,” he said. “Few in rock continue to do that.”
