Jethro Tull
Live at Montreux 2003
CD/DVD
Eagle Rock Entertainment and Eagle Vision USA

Recorded and filmed during the band’s first and so far only appearance at the famous Montreux festival, this release on both CD as a two-disc set and on DVD finds Jethro Tull in fine form.

Since the mid-’90s, the band (which has had a consistent line-up until this year’s tour) has seemed to be a little looser in its professionalism, mixing up set list options and enjoying shows more, especially mainstay leader Ian Anderson and guitarist Martin Barre. Though last year’s tour with violinist Lucia Micarelli would be the one to really have on CD and DVD, these releases still have some satisfying segments.

Sure there’s the inevitable “Locomotive Breath” and “Aqualung” at the end of the show (”Budapest” too, pretty much a set staple for the past two decades now). But some of the finest moments come in the lesser-known songs and varations on arrangments for longtime favorites.

The first part of the performance is generally acoustic and finds the group in a bluesy mode for “Some Day The Sun Won´t Shine For You,” which is followed by the philosphical whimsy of the ever-tuneful “Life is a Long Song.” A Christmas-ish, more true to the original Bach “Bouree” is a treat, as is a version of “Pavane.”

The band cooks along on the lustful “Hunting Girl” and kicks into Tull-style jamming blister-rock for “Nothing is Easy.” The sound is crisp, Anderson’s voice (which may or may not have been tweaked in production, but it doesn’t matter) is still best for the acoustic numbers, though his trademark flute plays well off Barre’s always under-rated riffing.

The DVD is well-shot - nothing landmark or risky here - another slice of live history to contrast Eagle Vision’s Live at the Isle of Wight from 1970, issued a couple years back. Two very different Tulls, one young and raw, the other much older, wiser, but still dedicated to crying you a song.

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