Jethro Tull and Anoushka Shankar in Bangalore
December 2nd 2008 Palace Grounds, B'lore
The scheduled time : 7.30pm
By Harris P.M.
 I was there by 6.45pm. got a lucky break where someone wanted to sell an extra ticket at a discount. so got the highest ticket for a bit less. was inside the venue before 7pm. Sadly, for the first time in my life, I was alone for a rock concert. Althaf couldnt make it, Sajan didnt like crowds and Schiller was late. I had managed to miss Tull before on all previous occasions in India and was damn well not going to miss it this time around, company or no company! Anyways, there i was, all alone and found myself in a seating place. To my surprise, though Anoushka started off at 7pm accompanied by Tanmoy Bose on Tabla, a flautist, tamburu etc. She started off with her own composition and went on to play her father's composition. She impressed us with her mastery of a tough instrument. She was looking quite fetching too. She stopped after 40 minutes or so. And then our man Anderson and his band Jethro Tull got on stage after they took away all remnants of Anoushka from stage. I was actually surprised, and at that moment, pleasantly so, as i didnt want Tull to be adulterated with the so-called "fusion". But later on, she proved me wrong with some fiery playing which went down well with vintage Tull.
 The band started off with an old staple and went on to play all their classics.
Thick as a Brick, Living in the past, Aqualung, Locomotive breath, Mother goose, Nursey, Too Old to Rock n Roll, Heavy Horses. They played a set of new stuff. Celtic Cradle was a fabulous instrumental piece where Anoushka and Tanmoy played along wonderfully. Anderson paid tribute to Anoushka by covering a song of hers. It was wonderful to have sitar bits and tabla playing along in Locomotive Breath and many other classics without taking away anything from the original, but au contraire, adding a new dimension to them.
 Over the years, listening to Tull on tape and then on CDs the impression one gets is that of non-definable genre of eclectic music. But boy oh boy they blew me away with their heaviness on stage. The band members must be all in their 60's, but Anderson's antics on stage, his energy and his humour were amazing. Too old to rock n roll was preceded with a comment on how energetic and agile on stage Mick Jagger was at 65 and that he was never too old to rock n roll and was too young to die. He spoke about global warming and carbon footprint and said that the farmers should stop using tractors to reduce the carbon foot print and use Heavy horses! They played a Bach composition called Bouree(?), which was amazing. There to he started off talking about this old geezer, who had composed this piece 300 yrs ago!
 It is amazing how over the years the speakers of the PA system get smaller and the sound gets better. Tribute must be paid to Reynolds for the wonderful sounds. One hardly missed a note.
 An amazing concert. Some fabulous guitar work by Martin Barre who also used the german Recorder at times. I loved the bass playing of David Goodier who did a bit of backing vocals as well as some work on the block. The keyboardist John O'hara was a virtuoso himself, taking up the accordion now and then and another Recorder. Doane Perry, the drummer was exceptional too. The way the band gelled on stage and could turn, stop or start at on a dime can only come with years of playing together, which, in this case translates into decades! Last but never the least, tribute must be played to the man himself, who is synonymous with the name of Jethro Tull, for his singing, his metallic flute playing, his mandolin playing, his harmonica playing, his acoustic guitar playing and impressive showmanship.
Halfway thru the set, I moved off to the standing area and was happier. A wonderful night out. I am sorry for my friends who didnt make it. Excuse the quality of pics. they were all taken on my nokia 8800.
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