There’s little doubt that when Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson plays Wolf Trap this week, his mind will turn to one of his top fans who won’t be in the audience.
Tony Snow, the late press secretary to President Bush, had struck up a friendship with Anderson years back. Not only did they have a friendship that included their families, but Snow even joined Anderson on stage at D.C.’s DAR Constitution Hall a few years ago for a rocking rendition of “Locomotive Breath,” one of the band’s best-loved tunes. Snow died last month at age 53.
“Some people ask me, usually vehement liberal Americans, how I could count amongst my few real friends an arch-Republican spokesman for the Bush administration,” Anderson said in a tribute to Snow on www.j-tull.com. “Well, Tony and I disagreed on most things political and came to robust verbal blows on the subject of climate change, but that’s the charm of friendship. Life would indeed be a bore if all of your buddies agreed with everything you said and tap-danced to the same tired riff.”
No one can accuse Anderson or Tull of tired riffs. Since the band’s breakout in 1968, Anderson has constantly reinvented Tull with never falling prey to the “old rocker trying to be young.”
“We have more of a relaxed way of playing and presenting our concerts,” said Anderson. “We try to put it on with personality and musicianship and do things that are spontaneously arrived at.” Indeed, Tull 2008 is a very different show from the elaborate shows of yesteryear that featured numerous on-stage personas that helped make Tull a top draw.
But make no mistake, the modern-day Tull show is as merry as ever, thanks in large part to Anderson, who seems as limber as a teenager after 40 years in the business. Concertgoers can attest that Anderson’s trademark prancing, snorting, jumping and twirling are still in full evidence as the band moves from one familiar song to another — “Living in the Past,” “Cheap Day Return” and “Aqualung.”
But the reason the Grammy Award-winning Tull sells out these days is also because of its musical depth. Although the band still performs the beloved favorites, it weaves in new and revised classic numbers that showcase the musicians’ blues roots.
“I really wanted to get Tony up on stage at Wolf Trap to have a flutey moment together, if only for one last time,” Anderson said on his site. “Sadly, that will not now happen. But the memories of a good American, loyal to citizen and nation, will remain a treasure.”
If you go
Jethro Tull with the Young Dubliners
» Venue: Filene Center, Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna
» When: 8 p.m. Wednesday
» Tickets: $25 to $42
» More info: (877) 965-3872; www.wolf-trap.org
