jethro tull

JETHRO TULL

Jethro Tull has been an integral part of my being even before I was consciously aware of my own existence. After only 365 days on this earth I was taken to THE Tull concert on my very first birthday. A 100 people were called for the celebration and after that a massive convoy made for Tull's very first appearance on Bangalorean soil. In those days he was sort of in his prime but still kind of old and geriatric, but still they/he were stuff of legend. my parents had seen him years ago in concert. I think I got the best possible inaugural birthday gift ever. On Feb 19th 1992 I witnessed the Tull concert perched on my dads shoulders high above the swaying crowd, completely ignorant of what was going on but not oblivious, but instead unnaturally observant as I witnessed this rock phoneme which would forever be ingrained in my essence.

Then again 13 years after his taste of Bangalore, Tull was back, with a new band, hairstyle and look, but the same Tull.

I bought the tickets a week in advance seething with excitement at the return of a part of my soul, buried deep in the layers of time. 14 years I had spent on this earth but still my roots anchored me down deep into the magic of rock.

At the last minute my dad couldn’t make it due to a trip to Delhi, unfortunately he missed the return of the legend but caught bits of it via cell phone from the concert.

Thus my mother agreed, grudgingly, to set out upon this expedition into the distant past. Along with us we took the Tull men Mrythunjai Marol and Navrun a bewildered Vivek Yagnik who had never heard of Tull before, but could not refuse a free ticket, as jai’s father too could not make it. Thus we set out on the great expedition to the glory of Tull, with our hand drawn Tull T-shirts crafted out of our love for the music.

On arrival at the IIMB campus we were met by hoards of all of Bangalore’s vast “old rocker” crowd, marching like an army in their massive legions their long gray hair and flowing beards dancing in the strong cold wind, all around an uncontained excitement buzzed.

The long winding cue too enter the realm of music seemed to go on forever and as I stood and waited for an hour as the mosquitoes feasted on my blood my enthusiasm began to waver and reached an all time low. I sat dejectedly on the ground waiting lost in old forgotten thoughts.

This quickly evaporated as our most unlikely companions rekindled our hope and brought life to the boring atmosphere. Vivek and Navrun had managed to escape the line, run to the gates and sneak right up to the stage, as they gazed as the blaring lights were tested and the guitar orchestras tuned up. Vivek kept us all notified with and an unending stream of commentary via his cell phone. He was ecstatic and his enthusiasm rekindled all our hopes, we realized the power of rock as it managed to convert this blithering simpleton into a bundle of controlled rock energy. He urged as on and we were spurred by his description of the magic that was taking place at the end of the seemingly impassable cue.

As the news vans drove in we found ourselves at the gates of rock haven
We pushed through and were searched for booze, drugs and guns. I was searched twice and this is a source of great pride to me, to be considered a notorious rock gangster.

Finally we made our way into a vast field into which people were slowly pouring in. It was surrounded by tall sheets of corrugated metal .At the very end stood a massive stage shrouded in a thick white fog which rapidly turned to different shades of purple, green, blue, yellow as the lights were being tested. Dark forms could be seen scuttling around the massive stage. The field was separated into two halves by a wooden barrier cutting straight across dividing the two ticket holder 1200 and 600 RS, we were in the 600 RS section. Further from the hallowed stage, yet in this section people were calm relaxed and chilled, stretched out lying down in the grass, without a worry in the world, munching on the snacks available at the corners of the field. In the center of the field was the massive tower of lights and speakers that stretched up into the sky, on which were perched the camera men, near this we found our long lost companions yagnik and Navrun who had braved great perils to make it here.

Half an hour passed and the field was jam-packed, then the lights began to dim and went out .the crowd stood up on their feet waiting expectantly, a great silence fell and everything was still. Suddenly Banagalores native rock band thermal and a quarter began to play and the crowd released a massive collective sigh followed by the rumbling noise of groans, hisses and boo’s.
This is not usually the response thermal receives but this crowd was here for a reason and that reason was Tull, they had no patience to listen to anybody else. But the crowd did warm up to thermal a bit, its in our nature and when the played classics like radio Ga. Ga. they got a good response, but the largest cheer they got was when they announced that they were playing their last song. Finally they left the stage with a smattering of applause from the back, but a loud chorus of “thank god” “we want Tulle” from the more unruly IIMB crowd at the front.

Again there was silence as Tull refused to appear, as the minutes flew by, the crowd begun to sit down and wait patiently again. After 15 full minutes an angry buzzing started to hum through the crowd as they were beginning to get slightly agitated, but still no Tull,

Now I couldn’t contain my excitement anymore and got up to my feet, screaming “we want Tull. We want Tull”. Slowly the rest of the crowd started to join in and the chant “we want Tull” reverberated around the field with a deafening roar, but still Tull did not appear, the chants slowly died out, and I sat back down quite disappointed.

Suddenly the stage glowed with a bright, blinding light like the dawn breaking through the dark clouds of night. A guitar could be heard loud and clear, strumming up an old forgotten tune, rapidly followed by the booming drums, earthy base and finally the ropy voice of … none other than Tull himself.

I leapt up to my feet and along with every single person in the entire crowd screamed at the top of my voice. The deafening roar that greeted the band spurred them on and they picked up the pace as Tull jumped, danced and hopped around on stage, looking as youthful and energetic as ever.

The next hour was a blur; the music wound across the field mesmerizing the crowd .I was uplifted by the melodies washing over me. It reminded me of times long past and places I have not and will never visit; yet all of it seemed completely familiar to me. The music flowed, quick and bright then suddenly slow and melancholy changing mood effortlessly and swilling through songs smoothly, after a while I was lost in the music and could remember no more.

Then my brother and mom jumped the fence into the 1200 section, I stayed put, but after a little while my mom reappeared grabbed me and dragged me across the barriers, past the guards and shouted at me to go as close to the stage as possible. This was the best advice anybody had ever given me.

And I raced up till I was just a few feet from the man himself. Now I was surrounded by the glowing ends of cigarettes and a big hazy cloud of smoke, but this I ignored as I swayed with the music.

Tulls flute rang out crystal clear and then brayed electrifying the next moment, he stood on one foot, his signature pose greeted by a sudden out burst of cheers from the crowd. He danced and pranced and leapt joyfully singing, dancing playing the flute and mandolin as he recounted long lost forgotten tales through song. Stopping now and then to recount a bit of history and old stories from the band in a comical manner and funny accent. He was truly a performer spitting wildly as the songs got progressively rockier.

Then the concert took an unexpected turn. From rock it turned a bit heavier to hard rock as Tulls flute danced among the riffs of electrifying electric guitar solos.

The band burst into the songs “thick as a brick” and “Burma” these were filled with mind-blowing solos from the flute and electric guitar, the crowd wreathed in pleasure and euphoria, now the concert was really starting to heat up.

As the opening riff of aqualung started up everybody up front just lost it and went absolutely crazy this was it, this was amazing, and this was raw rock.

This was it, I completely lost it, jumping up and down pushing and shoving everybody around me screaming the words at the top of my lungs, headbanging like there was no tomorrow, tears streamed down my face as I achieved nirvana. As the song reached its soft slow verse the whole crowd joined together swaying slowly, as if in a dream they all sung the words slowly, perfectly it was marvelous.

Then came the rock, like rolling thunder it broke apart the clouds of our deep trance sending us higher than we had ever been before.

The guitar came alive the words began to dance the song sped up and so the crowd came alive dancing moving swaying to the rhythm as it pulsated and jived and bounced and came alive

Now everybody was dancing the song took control completely

Then the guitar solo cam loud clear electrifying and everybody froze for a second but then went completely crazy as the guitar started to sing and weave a powerful mind-blowing tune which had us all hypnotized.
It gave way again to the old soft slow rhythm, which swayed and washed over us gently, calming the crowd as it dozed off like some great beast of legend.

Only to be broken by the powerful thundering chorus that defines the song with its harsh brutal strength that tore apart the crowd sending it into a high pitched fever.

Pounding, pulsating, ebbing and flowing like a thundering boulder rolling down a steep slope, and as the song ended the entire field was consumed by a roar of cheers that reverberated across the heavens, thundering through the entire campus, booming through the hills and mountains. It was beyond description.

With that Tull said his quick good-byes and amid roaring cheers left the stage, gone forever.

But through the pleading cries for an encore, could be heard the voice of one drunk man. He screamed “one more, one fucking more” he screamed so loud that u could actually hear his throat rip open from the strain and his vocal chords scream in agony. He climbed up on the fencing that surrounded the stage only to fall off and smash into the hard unforgiving earth. But again he dragged himself onto his feet and climbed once more, not giving up, hell bent on getting Tull back, he climbed and fell again and again till blood flowed freely down his face. Still he was screaming so loud that every body could here him. No one could restrain him; he knew what his purpose was.

Suddenly as if answering his bleating pleas, a lone keyboardist stumbled back on stage and sat down dazed for a second before determinedly started up the tune for Locomotive breath. At this the crowd went completely and absolutely berserk and I lost all semblance of sanity. Screaming and jumping trying to reach the heavens completely oblivious of anything and everything around me I danced to the tune of the song bellowing the words as everybody else joined in as one. The rest of the band raced out onto the stage as well and the greatest song of all time began as if it would never ever end. The opening riff as the keyboard belted out a lively tune accompanied by the electric guitar screeching out a introductory solo as the drums came to life booming like the drums of the gods.

The song is about a locomotive that cannot be stopped and describes its journey as it hurtles to oblivion. This is the only thing that could describe the crowd and me, a massive locomotive thundering uncontrollably to its doom, it cannot be stopped, it cannot slow down, it roars, hollers, screams, howls, shakes all the while hurtling forward with unquestionable power and strength. This is exactly what the crowd had turned into a rouge, raging locomotive whose breath could be heard for miles around, everyone was ecstatic the band was going crazy the people were even more insane the song was absolutely berserk it was amazing

My throat was sore my muscles ached as I leapt up and down I thought I was going to die my heart felt like it was about to explode and my breath came out in ragged wisps, punctuated by hacking coughs. But I was ready to die, face my mortality, it didn’t matter now, nothing mattered except the music. Everything became a blur my soul left my body and floated high above the crowd, I could hear nothing feel nothing see nothing but at the same time hear everything feel everything and see everything, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced before in my whole life

Suddenly Tull unleashed a massive balloon into the crowd and everybody rushed to touch it. But one man got to it first and with a mighty blow destroyed it with a massive pop. It was he, the drunken man that had summoned Tull once again. Then a look of great peace came across his face, he had fulfilled his purpose and with that he crashed to the ground in a drunken stupor.

Like him everything else is was blur and all I remember was stumbling back half dead across the fields littered with the carnage of the concert. Through the darkness weaving like a drunk completely high, singing and shouting at the top of my lungs oblivious of everybody around me, nothing else mattered. I was in heaven floating up among the clouds.

THE END by Nishant