Band : Jethro Tull

Album title : Jack In The Green – Live In Germany (Recorded Between 1970-1993)

Label : Eagle Vision

Distributor : PIAS

Release date : April 2008

Release : DVD

If there's one thing that has to be said about Jethro Tull, it's that they have had a pivotal role in combining (Blues) Rock music with the Classical! Not only did they use several vintage acoustic musical instruments on stage, but foremost there was frontman Ian Anderson's introduction of flute playing into Rock (something which would later gratefully be copied by Dutch act Focus).

After the first albums during the '60s, the band gained an overnight worldwide popularity, underestimated completely by both journalists and concert promoters. Germany now, has always had a very important role in the band's career on mainland Europe, and the band's first gig there goes back to February 21, 1970. That first gig at Frankfurt's Jahrhunderthalle was almost the cause of a ban on all future "Rock" gigs at the hall, seeing as thousands of fans of the band had gathered outside the venue, with many of 'em unable to enter due to all tickets having been sold. Some trouble makers picked up some stones that were laying about outside the venue, and started throwing in the glass doors. The damage came to the equivalent of some 10,000 euros, which represented the amount of the complete box office takings at the time. Damage paid for by the concert organizer, even though it wasn't his responsability, and had to promise reliability for all damage occuring on future concerts organized by him. When Jethro Tull's manager heard about this, he took out hís check book and paid half the amount, as there had been an agreement to split the box office in half. No wonder the band was always received with open hearts afterwards, eh!

Anyways, back to the material at hand, which biggest part was recorded for German tv's Rockpop In Concert program in 1982, while the band was touring to promote that year's Broadsword And The Beast Album. However, the only tracks off that album were the gig opening "Follow On Hard Roads" and "Pussy Willow", plus that evening's closing bonus "Cheerio", the rest of the completed by the recent "Heavy Horses" (off the 1978 album by the same title), the DVD naming "Jack In The Green" (off 1977's Songs From The Wood), the Jethro Tull classics (hard to imagine àny JT gig without thóse) "Aqualung" and "Locomotive Breath", and a 4-minute keyboard solo. Which gives you only two songs on which Anderson uses his flute, and only makes up for some 42 minutes of show...quite enough to fill an hour's tv program (let's not forget the introductions, etc), but by far enough to fill a DVD. So, the makers of the DVD have gone looking for additional German footage that hadn't been used yet, picking from a total of 4 sessions. First, we go to the band's appearance at Rocksummer 1986, whence came footage of the track "Hunting Girl" (originally on the Songs From The Wood album). That same year Tull also played at Out In The Green, from where comes a live session including "Thick As A Brick" (off the 1972 album by the same title), "Black Sunday" (off 1980's A), a 7-minute improvisation session (the last two with Anderson playing his flute), and the title track off 1976's Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die, and finished by a short (unannounced) revisitation of "Thick As A Brick". The following footage takes us to 1993, with live-in-the-(tv)-studio footage including renditions of 1968's This Was album's "My Sunday Feeling" (flute again) and a track called "So Much Trouble" (with Anderson playing the mouth harmonica for a change)...which I simply cannot place (I think it's a Jethro Tull adaptation of a Blues classic, really...surely sounds that way)! Last but not least, you've got some very éarly recordings (and apparently the makers can't agree whether they're from 1970 or the year after) including stage-without-audience recordings for the songs With You There To Help Me (over 10 minutes long, and including a nice piano "solo", originally appeared on the 1970 Benefit album) and the aborted Nothing Is Easy (off 1969's Stand Up).

Thanks to the additional material, the DVD's duration is stretched to just under 95 minutes...which should be acceptable to Tull fans. Don't kow if I would personally put down the dough...though that would depend on how much is asked for the collectable, right!? DVD, thus no rating!

Tony.