1967-68 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980-81 | 1982-84 | 1987-89 | 1990-94 | 1995-98 | 1999-2001 | Home
NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS
25 November 1972
JETHRO WITH RED LONGJOHNS AND GORILLA SUIT — driving 'em wild ...
Jethro Tull sold out Madison Square Garden. They appeared with Gentle Giant, who were unbearably gigantic, but certainly not gentle.
Tull took 40 minutes to set up, finally opening with 40 minutes' worth of Thick As A Brick. We wanted to see them do 'Sympathy For The Devil' — or have Mott the Hoople come out and beat them up with a little ultraviolence.
Drummer Barrie Barlow is a bit too repetitive on the high hats, mustering a lot of drill figures and exercises, not very exciting. He hangs onto a beat long enough to pull in his audience, and then, when he finally has them, changes to another tack.
He did come out in his red longjohns in an incredible change-clothes strip, flashing about like a dog in heat with a hydrant, soon followed by keyboard man, John Evan, attired first as a public-scratching gorilla, and then as a big white rabbit.
Bass player Jeffrey Hammond Hammond served as a BBC-type moderator, reading off the news from Thick As A Brick. Ian Anderson provided some flashy phallic flutings, and proved that he is, as ever, master of Jethro's destiny. The crazed audience couldn't get enough.
LINDA SOLOMON
Thanks to Harry Auras for this article.