Song Review: Jethro Tull - “Thick as a Brick Excerpt” (Live, Nov. 15, 2008)
Spanning nine minutes but still massively abridged, Jethro Tull’s Nov. 15, 2008, performance of “Thick as a Brick” showcases a muscular band making the then-36-year-old number entirely modern.
This is mostly positive, though the also-modern Ian Anderson struggles at the mic, resulting in clipped vocal delivery and an artificially nasally tone that mars the bookending elegiac passages of the excerpted prog-rock anthem. Anderson otherwise shines, alternating between acoustic guitar, tambourine and flute and using the entire stage to flaunt his irrepressible showmanship.
Though he’s the undisputed band leader, Anderson is not the only essential Tull member in this lineup. Bassist David Goodier doubles on xylophone; drummer Doane Perry and keyboardist John O’Hara shine on their respective instruments; and ever-faithful guitarist Martin Barre serves as Anderson’s brotherly foil, as he’d done since 1968.
Tull has been periodically issuing videos from this Baloise Session in Switzerland - read Sound Bites’ previous coverage here - and putting a light on the band’s road toward its initial dissolution in 2011. On this one, Anderson gives the final word - Brick - to the audience, an appropriate move given his vocal issues.
Grade card: Jethro Tull - “Thick as a Brick Excerpt” (Live - 11/15/08) - B
6/15/26
