News Update: August 2000
We are nearing the end of the second leg of our North American tour with a total of forty shows played. The third leg, taking in the west coast of the USA, begins in Las Vegas on Sunday 27th August and the rest of the dates are found elsewhere on this website.
No great recent dramas to speak of but a couple of crew physical collapses forced the attendance of paramedics. The heat was the culprit, probably combined with exertion and late night carousing the night before.
The weather has been reasonably kind to us (and more importantly, the audiences) and the thunderstorm season has threatened but not caused more than the odd bumpy airplane ride and a couple of flight delays.
As a fervent watcher of the Weather Channel here in the USA, I have come to realise that what we take for granted in Europe by way of variable weather, gets scary headline rating in the Americas and the TV interpretation promises more, usually, than it actually delivers in the way of meddlesome effect on the travelling itinerary of us humble musos. (I write this, however, in an airport lounge while waiting two and a half hours for a flight delayed by thunderstorms.)
My personal thanks should be offered to the audiences of Columbus and Youngstown for their warm appreciation and remaining mostly seated for our concerts, rather than bobbing up and down like bloody jack-in-the-boxes to get drinks, visit the lavvie-loo etc., putting me off my stride and irritating their fellow punters in the process. Is seems to be the increasing norm in the USA to take seats after our set has begun and to think nothing of coming and going throughout the show. Where I come from, this is considered the height of rudeness and is often prevented by disallowing access to seats until the next break in performance.
Still, you might argue, we are but lucky visitors to a foreign country and must abide by and accept the local culture and customs. Hmmn: not too sure, myself. I occasionally go to a show and am well rehearsed in the art of bladder-emptying-with-forethought as well as imbibing what ever is required in the way of liquid or other sustenance suitably in advance of death by thirst or hunger. To get up from a seat in the front few rows and disturb performer and neighbours would fill me with horror and self-loathing. At least wait until the end of a bloody song you rude buggers. Whoops: there I go. I came out and said it after all. You know, I feel better already.
Some new concert tour news: our agent Kenny Bell has procured some dates in Spain, Portugal and Israel for the period end of October through mid-November. We have approved these shows from both production and cost points of view and, subject to contract, will be winging our way on the appointed date. Watch for the appropriate announcement of details on this website soon.
Our friends in Germany will be pleased to hear that we are intending to tour next summer and we will look for shows in Austria, Switzerland and Italy at the same time.
That nice man who makes my bamboo flutes, Patrick Olwell, gave to me, after a concert at Wolftrap, near Washington DC, a splendid present of a bamboo flute in the key of F sharp, to supplement my collection of his instruments. F sharp is an interesting key, being a pig to play on the conventional and more complex concert flute. It allows forays in the keys of G sharp minor, B, and E flat minor to boot and will be put to good use on my next solo concept album, “Stairway To Topograhic Futures Passed.”
A brief piece on the amplification of flutes will appear in a future edition of this website, in response to the many questions which I receive by E-mail and letter on the subject. Another piece on which I am working is an outline of the world of small wild cat species (take that, you cat haters!) and will be completed when I return briefly to the UK next week.
The recent news story regarding the recent WIPO decision to remove the “dot com” sites jethrotull.com and jethro-tull.com from the clutches of one Denny Hammerton, cybersquatter extraordinaire, is discussed elsewhere on this site. However, the j-tull.com and jtull.com addresses will remain valid for this site for the forseeable future.
See you soon, poppets, petits chouxfleurs, schmetterlings and diddums.
Still waiting in the lounge.
IA
August 2000