{"id":4700,"date":"2014-09-19T15:21:31","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T22:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/?p=4700"},"modified":"2014-09-19T16:20:11","modified_gmt":"2014-09-19T23:20:11","slug":"ian-anderson-plays-homo-erraticus-best-of-jethro-tull-in-costa-mesa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/2014\/09\/19\/ian-anderson-plays-homo-erraticus-best-of-jethro-tull-in-costa-mesa\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Anderson Plays ‘Homo Erraticus’ + Best Of Jethro Tull In Costa Mesa"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Andrew Bansal<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

September 18th 2014, Segerstrom Center For The Arts, Costa Mesa CA: <\/strong>A highly influential figure in the world of progressive rock, British singer and multi-instrumentalist and conceptualist Ian Anderson is best known for his work with Jethro Tull, but aside from that he’s also pursued a solo career that has spanned more than three decades. His sixth solo studio album ‘Homo Erraticus’, a concept album that follows the life of fictional character Gerald Bostock, much like Jethro Tull’s ‘Thick As A Brick’ (1972) and Anderson’s own ‘Thick As A Brick 2’ (2012), was released in April 2014 via KScope Music. He embarked on a two-month US tour last week to perform this new album in its entirety, along with a full set of Jethro Tull selections. The tour arrived in Southern California last night for a gig at the lovely Segerstrom Center For The Arts in Costa Mesa.<\/p>\n

Beautiful from the inside and outside, the Segerstrom immediately instills positive thoughts and vibes the moment one enters its premises, and even though the venue is primarily used for broadway musicals and theatrical events, whenever they host a rock concert, it’s a chance I certainly do not miss, as the wonderful stage, the immaculate sound system and the intimate setting at the Segerstrom in itself enhances the experience of watching a rock band, whoever it may be, and makes it worth the long trip even for LA folks.<\/p>\n

As I walked in to find my seat, upon observing the demographic here it almost felt as if the show was open only to ages 50-plus. I felt underage, underdressed and out of place, but being fully aware of Jethro Tull’s influence on a plethora of high-profile rock and metal groups over the years, I was curiously excited to bear witness to this Ian Anderson performance.<\/p>\n

The lights dimmed at 7:40 and Anderson’s ensemble appeared on stage to play the ‘Homo Erraticus’ set. The story of the album was told through a vivid array of mind-bending visuals projected onto the screen in the stage backdrop while the band played the songs in the foreground. Musically, the material has a folky style and comprises more of flute and spoken-word type vocals and lesser prominence of guitar, which perhaps suits the nature of the story. Anderson was delivering great vocals, the band was sounding crystal clear and achieved a perfectly balanced mix of instruments despite the multitude of layers, but perhaps for first-time listeners of this material it was a bit of a challenge to be able to understand and appreciate what the album attempts to convey, which seemed to heighten their anticipation for the second half of the show even further. At 9:35, the set ended, the band disappeared for a brief intermission, and this crowd was ready for some Jethro Tull tunes.<\/p>\n

At 10 PM, they returned and starting with the 1969 tune ‘Living In The Past’, they laid into the Jethro Tull set amidst loud cheers from the crowd after and during every one of the ten songs they played in this portion of the show. The set took the audience through a chronological journey of Jethro Tull’s career, and before the start of every song, the screen showed a clock ticking to its release date. Ian Anderson’s flute was expectedly the centerpiece of the sound at all times during both sets, but the Jethro Tull material sounded decidedly more guitar-oriented and hence more ‘rock’ than the Homo Erraticus album played before the intermission, garnering an energetic response from the crowd, which remained completely seated throughout Homo Erraticus but got off their seats towards the latter portion of the Tull set.<\/p>\n

Anderson’s age-defying performance was inspiring to watch, and coupled with that typically dry, witty British humor which he briefly showcased when he spoke between songs, he put forth an entertaining show and clearly possesses a group of excellent musicians who are well capable of keeping up with him. ‘Aqualung’ followed by the encore offering of ‘Locomotive Breath’ together formed the highlight of the show and was the perfect way to end the evening on a high, but besides, the set also included ‘Critique Oblique’ off of the 1973 album ‘A Passion Play’ which was remixed by modern prog rock luminary Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree).<\/p>\n

Progressive rock in its formative stages was very ahead of its time as was proven by bands such as Jethro Tull who pushed its boundaries to the very limits and beyond, and it was extremely interesting to get a taste of it through this Ian Anderson live experience which really exhibited the broad and expansive nature of prog. Fans of modern prog rock and metal can certainly get introduced to the roots of the genre with Anderson’s show, and comes as highly recommended.<\/p>\n

Set List:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Homo Erraticus:
\n01. Doggerland
\n02. Heavy Metals
\n03. Enter The Uninvited
\n04. Puer Ferox Adventus
\n05. Meliora Sequamur
\n06. The Turnpike Inn
\n07. The Engineer
\n08. The Pax Britannica
\n09. Tripudium Ad Bellum
\n10. After These Wars
\n11. New Blood, Old Veins
\n12. In For A Pound
\n13. The Browning Of The Green
\n14. Per Errationes Ad Astra
\n15. Cold Dead Reckoning<\/p>\n

Best Of Jethro Tull:
\n01. Living In The Past
\n02. With You There To Help Me
\n03. Sweet Dream
\n04. Teacher
\n05. Critique Oblique
\n06. Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die
\n07. Songs From The Wood
\n08. Farm On The Freeway
\n09. Aqualung
\nEncore:<\/em>
\n10. Locomotive Breath<\/p>\n

Remaining Tour Dates:<\/strong>
\n09\/19\/14 – Las Vegas NV – Pearl Concert Theater
\n09\/20\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Mesa AZ\u00a0–\u00a0Mesa Arts Center
\n09\/21\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Albuquerque NM\u00a0–\u00a0Kiva Auditorium
\n09\/23\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Dallas TX\u00a0–\u00a0Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House
\n09\/24\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Midland TX – Wagner Noel PAC
\n09\/26\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Austin TX\u00a0–\u00a0Austin City Limits
\n09\/27\/14\u00a0–\u00a0San Antonio TX\u00a0–\u00a0Tobin PAC
\n09\/28\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Stafford\u00a0–\u00a0TX\u00a0–\u00a0Stafford PAC
\n09\/30\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Atlanta GA\u00a0–\u00a0Symphony Hall
\n10\/01\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Nashville TN\u00a0–\u00a0Ryman Auditorium
\n10\/03\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Charlotte NC\u00a0–\u00a0Blumenthal PAC
\n10\/04\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Durham NC\u00a0–\u00a0Durham PAC
\n10\/05\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Richmond VA\u00a0–\u00a0The National Theater
\n10\/16\/14 –\u00a0Naperville IL\u00a0–\u00a0Pfeiffer Hall
\n10\/17\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Springfield IL\u00a0–\u00a0Sangamon Auditorium
\n10\/18\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Milwaukee WI\u00a0–\u00a0Pabst Theater
\n10\/19\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Cedar Falls IA\u00a0–\u00a0Gallagher Bluedorn PAC
\n10\/21\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Minneapolis MN\u00a0–\u00a0State Theater
\n10\/23\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Elizabeth IN\u00a0–\u00a0Horshoe Casino
\n10\/24\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Charleston –\u00a0WV\u00a0–\u00a0Clay Center
\n10\/25\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Greensburg PA \u00a0–\u00a0The Palace Theatre
\n10\/26\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Bethlehem \u00a0PA\u00a0–\u00a0Sands Bethlehem Event Center
\n10\/28\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Burlington VT\u00a0–\u00a0Flynn Center
\n10\/29\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Providence\u00a0RI –\u00a0Providence PAC
\n10\/30\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Ridgefield\u00a0CT\u00a0–\u00a0The Ridgefield Playhouse
\n11\/01\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Lynn MA\u00a0–\u00a0Lynn Auditorium
\n11\/02\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Albany NY -Palace Theatre
\n11\/04\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Buffalo NY\u00a0–\u00a0Center For the Arts
\n11\/06\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Washington DC\u00a0–\u00a0Lincoln Theater
\n11\/07\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Atlantic City NJ\u00a0–\u00a0Caesars \u2013 Circus Maximus
\n11\/08\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Huntington NY\u00a0–\u00a0The Paramount
\n11\/09\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Red Bank NJ\u00a0–\u00a0Count Basie Theater
\n11\/10\/14\u00a0–\u00a0Montclair NJ\u00a0–\u00a0Wellmont Theatre<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Andrew Bansal September 18th 2014, Segerstrom Center For The Arts, Costa Mesa CA: A highly influential figure in the world of progressive rock, British singer and multi-instrumentalist and conceptualist Ian Anderson is best known for his work with Jethro Tull, but aside from that he’s also pursued a solo career that has spanned more … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Ian Anderson Plays ‘Homo Erraticus’ + Best Of Jethro Tull In Costa Mesa”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4700"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4708,"href":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4700\/revisions\/4708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}