The heating has broken at Stourbridge Town Hall and, although the audience arrived fully aware, it appears that no one had remembered to tell the band. “My fingers are frozen!”, declared Martin Barre , just before another display of his incredible dexterity and expertise on the guitar. For more than two hours, in front of a relatively small but very enthusiastic crowd, Martin and his band revisited the Tull back catalogue along with some of his more recent songs and a number of covers. Pleasingly, this wasn’t just the more familiar songs that might have been expected, the show including lesser played deeper cuts from across the decades, such as “Under Wraps 2”, “Still Loving You Tonight” and “Home”. With the freedom to choose what songs he performs, Martin is evidently content to drop the needle at various points from his forty-odd years with Tull and not stick to a rigid set list.
Billed as “An acoustic evening with Martin Barre and friends”, Martin was joined by long term vocalist and guitarist Dan Crisp, along with Alan Thomson on bass and slide and Alex Hart on vocals, guitar and percussion. Alex initially took the stage alone to perform a couple of her solo songs along with a superb cover of Neil Young’s ‘Old Man’, before Martin took centre stage for the jazz inspired ‘Empty Cafe’. Dan was in fine voice throughout, not just on the Tull songs where he succeeds in capturing Ian Anderson’s phrasing but is not simply an imitator, but also on the covers of ‘Can’t Find My Way Home’ and ‘New York Minute’. The first half closed with a number of selections from Aqualung, including the ever popular ‘Mother Goose’ and ‘Hymn 43’.
Although he gives the impression of being a reluctant frontman, Martin was nevertheless happy to engage in between-song banter and anecdotes with both band and audience, recalling a gig in Stourport back in 2019 when Robert Plant turned up. With Dan taking a break, Alex took over on vocals for ‘One White Duck’ and ‘Life is a Long Song’ plus a wonderful version of Willie Porter’s ‘Unconditional’. A more unusual cover was Long John Baldry’s ‘Everything Stops for Tea’, that saw Martin swap his guitar for teacup and saucer, providing the most bizarre moment of the night. We were then in more familiar territory with ‘Fat Man’ and ‘Teacher’ that closed out the second set. This was a well balanced show with just the right amount of Tull songs, and the new arrangements really did make them sound fresh and inspired, Martin and band breathing new life into old tunes. He clearly still loves performing and hopefully we will get the opportunity to catch him again in the near future.
Set list:-
Fix This
Old Man
Blackbird
Empty Café
As Told By
Can’t Find My Way Home
Sossity; You’re a Woman
Spanish Tears
Home
Slipstream
Under Wraps #2
Wond’ring Aloud
Cheap Day Return
Mother Goose
A Jig / Hymn 43
Serenade to a Cuckoo
Cross Road Blues
Sea of Vanity
One White Duck
Life Is a Long Song
Bourrée in E minor
It’s My Round
Trinity
Unconditional
Strangers and Lovers
New York Minute
Everything Stops for Tea
Fat Man
Teacher
Still Loving You Tonight
