Jethro Tull - The Congress Theatre, Eastbourne May 16th, 2026

It's rather refreshing to see a group of Jethro Tull's magnitude in a provincial, seaside theatre.  A fair few heritage acts are bypassing the Eastbourne's of the planet to merely focus on main cities.  Even though it's a Saturday, the town itself if pretty quiet. I guess most of them were gearing up to this evening's show, as the venue is very nearly sold out. The gig starts with a pre-record of Ian Anderson very politely asking us to not take photos or videos until the last song. A Squirrel on the video presentation also echoes those thoughts. You can't argue with that.....

"It's 1968!", Ian says, as he appears with Guitarist Jack Clark (who impresses very much this evening) to float into the opening song, "Some Day The Sun Won't Shine For You".  A lovely arrangement on this. Two more from their debut album, "This Was" come right on after. "Beggar's Farm", and "A Song For Jeffrey". The latter has a wonderful hook to it. It's also introduced on video by none other than Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, who the song was written for.  It's only a few year's leap to the next song, though stylistically, it's a hop, skip and a jump into a truncated version of "Thick As A Brick".  Originally straddling the full two sides of an LP, it must have been quite a task to edit it down and make it sound this effective.  "Mother Goose" from "Aqualung" is hot on it's heels, from very much the same era. 

By the mid area of the first half of the first set, and the arrival of "Songs From The Wood", the versatility and variety of Tull has already been firmly on display. Progressive, Classical, Jazz, Rock, and the musical kitchen sink are all in the recipe. John O'Hara (Keyboards), and David Goodier (Bass), have been Tull members for 20 years apiece, next year.  With Drummer Scott Hammond celebrating 10 years with the group next year, the longevity of the majority of the line-up is evident through the smooth and massively impressive performances. The last few years have seen a cavalcade of new music from the pen of Ian Anderson, with three new studio albums appearing in as many years:- "The Zealot Gene", "Rokflote" (sorry, I couldn't get the Umlauts to work on my keyboard!), and "Curious Ruminant", from last year.  "The Navigators" from "Rokflote", shows that Ian has lost none of his spark, with wonderful melodies flowing.  The title track of "Curious Ruminant" whacks the point home with regard to recent output, prior to whizzing back through the years for "Living In The Past" and "Bouree"

Set Two fires off with "My God", another gem from "Aqualung", giving way immediately to the recent past with "The Zealot Gene". Whenever two separate phases of Tull's career follow each other this evening, they do so in a seamless fashion.  "Progressive" is a word that suits them perfectly. "Budapest" is a scarce dip into the 1980's (as far as this evening is concerned, anyway).  "Aqualung" closes out the show, with some wonderful improv.   A short interlude, and then "Locomotive Breath" proves the perfect encore. 

I have no idea where Ian Anderson keeps finding his inspiration and song writing skills from, though they keep appearing, and in the finest of fashions.  Many superlatives have been aimed at Tull over a period of many years, and this evening once more proves that they are all justified.  An eccentric, much-loved, wonderfully unique and musically pre-eminent group.  Here's to the 60th Anniversary in just over a year or so.