Before you try to get a ticket for a more or less sold out tour, read some other reviews on the Tull´s official site
www.j-tull.comIn the forum you can see that not everybody is happy with the current tour, especially with violinist Lucia.
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I can see how Lucia the violinist might not be popular with those Tull fans who fall very definitely on the heavier side. Her guest appearance with the band has prompted a new injection of interest in the band's classical influences and, I must admit, even for a classical musician (which I basically am), hearing JUST the violin part of the Sibelius Violin Concerto without accompaniment and over-played (as Lucia blatantly does) is a bit testing. The work's success really depends on the interplay between soloist and orchestra..... listen to someone like Isaac Stern playing it... That Lucia does seem a bit full of herself and I don't think she would last 5 minutes in a concert hall with a full orchestra and the critics of Gramophone magazine or such like!
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Glad you enjoyed the show. I saw the "Lucia" version of Tull in the States back in November and found it quite pleasing. I'm amused by negative assessments of her performance as somehow 'substandard' from a classical musician's perspective -- not at all dissimilar to early critical assessments of Ian's flute playing, and yet, despite all his snortling and breathy overbearing, he seems to have done rather nicely for himself. Lucia's 'over the top' performances are, in my estimation, entirely consistent with the contrarian Tull tradition. My smile widens with every purist's complaint. I know Ian is fond of thrusting his flute between Martin's legs during guitar solos... too bad he didn't sieze such moments with Lucia, or she with him! In any event, I couldn't help but feel she had breathed new energy into the band, and I for one hope she holds a future there. Thanks for your enthusiastic review.
