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To old to Rock 'n Roll to young to... you got it!.. the Tull are back with a UK tour, Jethro Tull are to celebrate their 40th Anniversary as a band with a mammoth 29-date UK tour. Most performances of “An Evening With Jethro Tull” will feature a special guest, who fans will know and recognise, as Ian Anderson honours past band members, friends and local musicians. As well as performing a Tull song or two, guests might also perform one of their own songs.

Ian Anderson is taking this opportunity to thank Tull fans for their continued support over the past four decades by performing a bumper show which will provide a comprehensive trip through their history. Much of the show will focus on the first 3 albums – performing such early favourites as Serenade To A Cuckoo, My Sunday Feeling, Living In The Past, Bouree, A Song For Jeffrey and A new Day Yesterday. The band will also treat fans to some new songs, which are as yet unreleased as well as perennial favourites from their long career.

The band will consist of Ian Anderson on vocals, flute and acoustic guitar and Martin Barre, who joined at the end of 1968, on electric guitar. The rest of Jethro Tull are: Doane Perry on drums and percussion since 1984; David Goodier on bass and John O’Hara playing piano and accordion – who are amongst the 26 musicians who have been recording or touring members of Jethro Tull in the last 40 years.

In their 40 years, Jethro Tull have sold over 60 million albums and have performed over 2,600 shows in more than 40 countries. There are several UK venues in which they have performed many times, including Bristol’s Colston Hall, The Manchester Apollo, Royal Albert Hall and the now-defunct Wembley Empire Hall. In their history, major US venues have included: 3 Madison Square Garden shows in 1975; shows at Red Rock, Jones Beach NY and the Boston Pavilion. Jethro Tull were the first band to play 5 consecutive performances at the LA Forum – a massive achievement for any British band!

It is evident that Anderson loves to tour, having played more than 130 shows in 2007. However, the band will slow down and perform a mere 80-90 shows in 2008. With the significant travel involved in touring, Anderson is acutely aware of climate change and says: “I have a personal carbon footprint equal to Al Gore’s – it’s large and I’m not happy about it but, like Al Gore, the upside is that I try to bring something with me on my travels to help awareness and in the last years have planted tens of thousands of trees as a personal carbon offset.” In his personal life, Ian tries to be as green as he can and takes trains, travelling economy, whenever possible and he uses a Toyota Prius which he call the Pious… because it makes him feel holier than thou! Not for the first time as, throughout the drug-fuelled 60’s and 70’s Ian never smoked pot, experimented with any drugs or complicated sex. However, he reserves the right to attempt a more orthodox Rock and Roll lifestyle in later life….

Another little known fact is that, in 1984, Jethro Tull turned up for an interview at the then brand new MTV studios in New York. As they had their instruments with them, Ian said, why didn’t they just play some live impromptu music, which they did. That day MTV Unplugged was born.

In recent years, Jethro Tull and their music have featured in several TV shows, from the Sopranos (where Tony Soprano sang a Tull song) to Saxondale, Friends and Ugly Betty, who featured a name check recently.

Jethro Tull website: The Official Jethro Tull Website - Home Page FOR GIG DETAILS AND DATES