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As I noted a few days ago, I made a trek south to see Martin Barre perform last week. It was the first time I'd seen him play live since Jethro Tull stopped in Madison back in 2004. I met Martin and other Tull folk backstage before that show and he was all smiles and quite friendly. Ian Anderson's wife, Shona, came over and made a joke at my expense and the 3 of us had a good laugh.

Barre was fired, I guess you'd say, from Jethro Tull in 2011 or thereabouts, and he's been pursuing a solo career since. I'll admit to not following it closely, though I did review his Stage Left album back in c.2004 for Green Man Review.

Although I couldn't play a guitar if my life depended on it, I regard Martin Barre as one of the best guitarists ever to come out of the rock world. He always seems to play the right notes, to play what a song needs instead of demanding to be heard strictly as a virtuoso. As a jack of all trades kind of player, he can do big, heavy riffs like "Aqualung" or judiciously add color to a song like "Velvet Green". His playing on Crest of a Knave stands out and adds a steely edge to that album but drives Thick As a Brick more as a part of an instrumental ensemble in a way that keyboards and flute could never manage alone.

Plus, he adapts the sound of his guitar to suit the song. Just listen to the tones he uses on A Passion Play. And how did he get that sound on "Hunting Girl"?

He is currently on the "A Brief History of Tull" tour and I think Barre deserves to play Jethro Tull songs just as much as Ian Anderson. Barre seems extremely proud of his work in Tull and justifiably so. And as the Tull catalogue has been re-released in these fancy box sets, I really think that Barre (and other band members) has been denied due songwriting credits. Maybe I just don't understand the process of crediting composers. But when I was listening to the song "Calafel" from the The Broadsword and the Beast box set from this past summer, I heard some riffing that would be reused 6 or 7 years later in "Part of the Machine". So why wasn't Barre credited on that song?

The concert last week featured highlights from Tull's career spanning 1968-1987. The early, pre-Barre days of Tull were well-represented with the bluesy "Some Day the Sun Won't Shine for You" and the genuine blues of "Cat's Squirrel" which featured the most psychedelic squirrels you'll ever see on the video playing at the back of the stage. Barre took up the flute for Roland Kirk's "Serenade for a Cuckoo", though he remained on two legs throughout the performance.

"Sossity; You're a Woman" followed but the band backtracked and played some tunes from Stand Up. And then they did "Nothing to Say". I don't think this song was ever played live by Tull on the Benefit tour and briefly made an appearance in the setlist in 1995 for a few shows. Benefit has more or less always been represented live by "To Cry You a Song" and "With You There to Help Me" (with an odd performance of "Play in Time" or "Teacher"). I just simply adored "Nothing to Say" that night. A real highlight for me. It has great dynamics and has a slightly darker tone that most Tull songs. But that's Benefit for you.

Singer Dan Crisp also played electric guitar here as on other songs and this added heft to the sound whereas it would have had flute and piano in Tull's hands.

It seems that Crisp and bassist Alan Thomson (donning a fine tartan suit that night) have been with Barre for a while while drummer Terl Bryant is new. I think. Crisp soloed once or twice but his guitar was mainly filling out the band's sound. I was impressed by his singing as he mostly sang like Dan Crisp and threw in some Ian Anderson vocal flights without sounding like a parody or slavish imitation. He did his own thing while still making it sound familiar.

"Nothing to Say" was followed up by "My God" and, when those big slashing chords came in, they sent a chill up my spine. The flute solo was replaced by some of Palladio, a contemporary classical piece by composer Karl Jenkins. It fit perfectly. We got a snippet from Thick As a Brick and "Flight From Lucifer" from A Passion Play. What great songs! So much drama and heightened tension when performed live. A couple ditties from War Child were woven into "Black Satin Dancer" and the first set came to a close.

"Acres Wild" was an early highlight of the second set. It's catchy and fun and has a great folky bent to it that Bryant's drums really propelled. It gained power with only electric guitar for the melody. "Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow" was an unexpected treat and was followed by both versions of "Under Wraps". Perhaps because The Broadsword and the Beast box set came out this year, we got a trio of songs from that album. "Watching Me Watching You" stood out for me. Although there were lots of triggered sounds, including bursts of guitar, the drums were acoustic and Barre once again took up the flute. Not a super drastic rearrangement but it was fresh spin on the song.

"Steel Monkey" from 1987's Crest of a Knave closed out the history lesson and the show ended with an iconic duo from Aqualung: "Locomotive Breath" and "Hymn 43".

There were a couple times when I found myself missing a flute part or a dash of acoustic rhythm guitar but I suspect that these instances were due to the fact that I have been listening to the Tull versions of these song for decades and know them in their original forms inside and out. Barre and Co. rearranged the songs to be more electric guitar oriented and so had more muscular, slightly heavier personas than the originals.

The band's playing was tight, energetic, and everyone seemed to be having fun and this is what live music is all about.

There is now more video from the show on Youtube: