Tull in The Backyard

Background: I wrote this on 01 Feb 2006 after the Tull concert, but I can't find anything anywhere online. It is possible I never did post this piece.

This is the earlier piece about anticipating the Tull concert.

Tull They Come

About an anticipated Jethro Tull concert

Bhavin's WritingsBhavin Jankharia

Here is the text of what I had written.

And so it finally happened. After decades of waiting, a real, true-blue, rock concert actually happened this week, in Matunga/Sion, at the Shanmukhananda Hall. 

 Among many growing-up influences, up there along with Led Zep, Deep Purple and Pink Floyd, was Jethro Tull. Ian Anderson and his flute have always had a cult following in India, and once I hit my teens, there was no escape. The sound was different, captivating and enticing. And if Zep had “Stairway to Heaven”, Tull had “Aqualung”.

So this was one show I was determined not to miss, especially since I hadn’t been able to attend Ian Anderson’s earlier performance in Mumbai. The day the tickets were announced, we bought our quota. The general advice was to avoid the front-row Rs. 3000 ones and to go for the back-row Rs. 2000 ones; advice which we followed , only to realize that the Rs. 3000 tickets were really the better ones. As luck would have it, with a quarter empty hall, once Tull started playing, we were bumped up to the front rows for free.

 Alms for Shanti was the opening act. Uday Benegal sings well, and Jayesh Gandhi plays guitar really well, but honestly, the group needs a good song-writer. They did a couple of decent numbers, but everyone was just anxious to have Mr. Anderson and his gang up on stage and gave poor Uday and Jayesh a bit of a hard time, even though Mr. Anderson did make a surprise guest appearance on two numbers. 

 Once they left and Tull started, it was a different matter. The first hour was slow and easy with “Jack in the Green” and classical lifts from Mozart and Bach. Mr. Anderson kept on a steady banter with the audience, but once the band got into its groove, it was just the music for the next hour…which finally ended with a bang with “Aqualung”. Obviously, they had to come back for one encore…which had to be…and was…Locomotive Breath. Uday joined Ian Anderson on the vocals and Jayesh Gandhi did a couple of guitar riffs as well to add depth to the number.

The next two weeks are heaven – Bryan Adams on Saturday and then the One Tree Music Festival next week with Uriah Heep and the Blues Brothers. Wow! And so what, if you have to drive to the MMRDA grounds.

I'ts nice to be able to walk to a concert and back, as if its your backyard. But I wonder if this will work out in the long run. The acoustics aren’t really all that hot and somehow Shanmukhananda Hall just does not cut it for such shows. Picture Ian Anderson on the mike talking about “bugger me stiff”…with the Shankaracharya’s photograph above him. 

And despite the NCPA and Homi Bhabha and Andheri Sports Ground and MMRDA Grounds….the only place worth having these shows is one…Rang Bhavan. Somehow, in some way, by hook or by crook, it needs to be revived. 

PS: A word of advice to those who come from outside Matunga/Sion. Park your car at least half a kilometer away in one of the smaller lanes and then approach the Hall on foot, or just take a cab. The approach to the Hall is so chaotic that if you bring a car, it is likely you’ll miss the first half hour of the show.