Nostalgia

Some years ago when I was naïve in the ways of music, I lived with my parents with my collection of vinyl albums, cheesy pop posters and an attitude. A neighbour gave me a Jethro Tull album to audibly peruse. I wasn’t really that fussed but ended up giving it a spin and loving it. Soon after he asked me to go and see Jethro Tull with him at Manchester Apollo. Along we went and I sat there not knowing really what to expect, I think I was still a teenager at the time. Someone came on and announced that the support band had failed to show or could not play for some reason and that Jethro Tull were going to play a longer slot. Indeed they did and played for over 3 hours. So, I was invested into the legend of Tull and have since been a life long fan. I sat in awe as the lead singer Ian Anderson stood for ages balanced on one foot playing a flute, its lively sounds weaving in and out of carefully crafted guitar riffs. I recall 3 hippies sat on the row before me smoking something that drifted back towards my innocent nostrils and had an obvious effect. Tull played their hearts out; there were no fancy fireworks or lighting – just solid music.

Yesterday the postman delivered a live double cd of theirs called ‘Bursting Out’ I’d ordered over the net and all the nostalgic memories came flooding back as I gave it a spin and recalled that marvellous night back in the early 80’s and the best band I’ve ever seen live.