When I heard earlier this year that Ian Anderson was going to go out touring and play the entire Thick as a Brick album with back-up musicians for its fortieth anniversary, I knew I’d have to go. So being a good sport, my friend Kim agreed to be dragged along the other night to the Long Beach Performing Arts Center for yet another Jethro Tull concert, even though he’s not really into their music. We were in guy mode and didn’t see any crossdressers this time (unlike the 2009 show). I had a great time and was amazed to hear how practically note-for-note they played that entire classic album, which Ian has always claimed was originally meant to be a parody of the progressive rock scene of its day. I remember hearing it when I was about ten years old and immediately thinking, “What is this?” and I was hooked, even though at that age I had no idea what the album was really about – still don’t but it’s held up amazingly well over the years.

Earlier this year, Ian also released a sequel, Thick as a Brick 2, which I immediately thought was a really bad idea. But after listening to it a few times it does have a few very strong tunes and overall holds up okay even though it can’t possible match the original album from ’72. After the intermission they played the entire follow-up album and did the inevitable encore with “Locomotive Breath” from the Aqualung album. All in all, it was a great show though the energy of the audience seemed a little dampened. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it and will probably keep going to Ian’s shows for as long as he keeps cranking it out.

Kinky Kollege – Like I mentioned in the last post I’m also going to the Kinky Kollege convention in Chicago this weekend to help my friend who’s speaking there. I had two shoots in just the last few days so I’m frantically trying to pack today and keep my bags under 50 pounds (not easy!) I’m way behind on email again so I apologize for anyone who’s waiting to hear from me. Hopefully I can catch up on things after Halloween. Have a fun one if you’re going out dressed!