Fan Experiences - Balloon Festival
When
I heard
that Tull were coming to the little town of Shirley in Long Island I was
overtaken with joy with the fact that I could be close to one of the most
inspirational bands of my life. I got the tickets and waited patiently
(yeah
right) for that Friday night. I took a good friend of mine along
whom is
also a fan. You can't take just anyone to a tull concert...they have
to be
hardcore. The stage was simple yet the act was anything but. Bikers
and
baby boomers swarmed around me, Dan and I could tell that we were the
youngest in the audience. Some were staring probably thinking we got
the
concerts mixed up and thought the juliana theory was playing instead of
jethro tull. But if anyone wanted to challenge me at Tull trivia or
ask what
kind of flute Ian had I could answer within a second.
Our seats were
anything but stellar, but we knew we'd get up front by the end of the
evening. Then they came on. I was in shock and Dan had his
horns in the air
and kept screaming "holy ****! its freakin' TULL!" They started
with Skating
away..one of my favorites, they they played thick as a brick... my absolute
favorite tull song. Ian's miniature acoustic guitar sounded amazing.
Then
mid way everyone started to fill the seats in..it was time for Dan and I
to
make out move. We got closer...but not close enough. Then...
it
was time for
aqualung....we heard the first note and made our way to the front. We
ran up
hoping we'd get right up to breath the air of the eclectic rocker. Everyone
followed and there was a small group pressed against the stage. Dan
was in
shock and I proceeded to cry as I was four feet from my idol.
They
went off
stage after aqualung, and I was puzzled cause they usually play locomotive
breath. Then to everyone's surprise, we heard the piano play the
first bars
of the song. It was the best song of the night. Afterwards the
crowd
chanted "jethro tull" for a good 10 minutes. I didn't want
to leave. I was
enamored with the smell of the smoke, the roar of the fans and the sound
of
the flute that night. Dan and I walked home... its not everyday you
have rock
icons in your backyard.
I am a teenager...with a stereotype on my
shoulders.
That we don't appreciate the classic sound of the real generation of
music. But a small portion of us do. We sit in dens and put on tull and
zeppelin and wish we were in that era. We respect the music. Pop
culture will die
out one day that's for sure...but classic rock...tull..will never die out.
It's timeless. So even though I wasn't born when the single first
came out,
I still have a love of the music that not many of my friends can share
with
me. I will wear my aqualung t-shirt with pride...even if it's in a
high
school where some peers will say "who is jethro tull?"...I'll
smile and
proceed to slap them on the heads and walk away.
- Amanda Popp
The content of this article belongs to an independent
reviewer and may not represent the views of Tullworld.com. For
questions about reproduction of this article, please e-mail: patrick@tullworld.com
It is unlawful to copy and or use any information
on this page without author consent and proper credit given.
