Locomotive Breath Strikes Again (Musings on the Jethro Tull Concert)
JETHRO TULL - AqualungSitting on a park bench
eyeing ittle girls with bad intent.
Snot running down his nose
greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.
Drying in the cold sun
Watching as the frilly panties run.
Feeling like a dead duck
spitting out pieces of his broken luck.
Sun streaking cold
an old man wandering lonely.
Taking time
the only way he knows.
Leg hurting bad,
as he bends to pick a dog-end
he goes down to the bog
and warms his feet.
Feeling alone
the army's up the rode
salvation a la mode and
a cup of tea.
Aqualung my friend
don't start away uneasy
you poor old sod, you see, it's only me.
Do you still remember
December's foggy freeze
when the ice that
clings on to your beard is
screaming agony.
And you snatch your rattling last breaths
with deep-sea-diver sounds,
and the flowers bloom like
madness in the spring.
Last Friday the song was still ringing in my ears after the dust had settled on the IIM-B grounds. I had for the second time in almost a decade witnessed a genius at work. Ian "Locomotive Breath " Anderson had just left me awe-struck with the most wonderful exhibition of Flute playing. An intoxicating sound which had transported me to the beautiful farms of Britain with Ian Anderson as my guide. What do you call a man who plays the flute, acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar, saxophone, Hammond organ, drums, keyboards, trombone, a variety of whistles and the violin, must be somewhere nearer to genius and bangalore got an ample exhibition of it. It wasnt only the music but the showmanship and the satirical charm exuded by the wildly energetic 59 yr old which left the crowd awestruck. The heartening thing to see was the eclectic mix of the original flower children with the young ones of today. I can safely say that this is one concert where the average age of the concert audience was in the late 20's and early 30's. Ofcourse we got the wonderful jamboree evergreen songs which we have come to expect from Jethro Tull, and also his takes on J.S Bach and Mozart. For me this was the second coming of giant whom i had the pleasure to see in jugalbandi with Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia before. I was just a newbie then and even now i was left craving for more. I want to spare a thought for the people who missed the concert because they hadnt heard of Jethro Tull and went to the Badams's Concert instead. This concert was that of a musician, a wonderfully eccentric man who believes in what he plays and not of a commercial singer who just for the sake of money writes some pop songs. Anyways its kind of a prolific month for concert in Bangalore with Jethro Tull, Badams and Uriah Heep performing in a matter of a week. Still excited for the Uriah Heep concert on thursday though i have heard just a few songs of theirs but looking to learn more and update "The Pod of All Things" ( thats my 60 gb ipod which is almost like a part of my body nowadays).
posted by wizardowozz @ 1:38 AM
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