Location: Seebronn (Rottenburg a. d. Neckar) / Festivalgelände / Germany
Date: 07/28/2011
In the state of Baden-Württemberg, a few dozen kilometers south of Stuttgart, the Rock of Ages festival goes down every year. As the name of the event already hints, the weekend in the little village of Seebronn is dedicated to fans of classic rock in all its colors and shades, and understandably it mostly lures in a seasoned gig-going crowd who spent their teenage years in the seventies and eighties. The festival is relatively young: the first edition, with Twisted Sister and Saga as headliners, took place in 2006, but despite its youth there’s no doubting the organizers’ experience. They’re the same people behind the Bang Your Head!!! festival, an event with a much longer tradition that takes place every year in nearby Balingen.
Despite being unsure about going almost until the last day, the three of us hit the road to Germany anyway. But wouldn’t you know it, an early start wasn’t enough to get us to the festival on time. A 10-kilometer standstill jam in front of the Munich ring road wrecked our plans, and the heavy traffic around Augsburg and Stuttgart, where we crawled along right during the end-of-workday rush, didn’t do us any favors either. The traffic jams turned our hair gray, we missed the sets by two young hard rock acts (China and The Poodles), and despite all the rushing we didn’t make it to the grounds until the middle of Wishbone Ash’s set.
MARTIN TURNER’S WISHBONE ASH
It’s worth stressing that this was Martin Turner’s version of the band. Guitarist/vocalist Andy Powell fell out with the other original members some time ago over the rights to the name, and the result is today’s two versions of the band. The “original” one with Powell in the lineup, and the other with original bassist Martin Turner as the commander.
The one-hour set served up Wishbone Ash classics, exclusively from the seventies, when Martin Turner was a member. A superbly tight lineup makes for an outstanding live outfit, which is exactly what the melos and melodic nature of Wishbone Ash’s music demands. The textbook vocal harmonies and Turner’s voice, still well preserved despite him being 64, carried us back to the first half of the seventies, when English musicians were writing rock history. Most of the repertoire came from the brilliant album “Argus” (1972), with the band also slipping in Ballad Of The Beacon, Rock N’ Roll Widow and Living Proof. The excellent stage execution was spoiled by the bad weather: a heavy downpour and howling wind carried the sound away past the audience and had people grumbling. The guitar attacks and harmonies in thirds showed their full power in tracks like Warrior and the closing Jail Bait, pulling us into the mysterious world of Wishbone Ash magic. The band proved to be a well-oiled live machine, and it’s a real shame that Martin Turner (or rather both Turner brothers) doesn’t join forces with his former colleague Powell again – the Wishbone Ash experience would then be even more authentic and intense!
SLADE
Slade! The chance to catch one of the leading lights of seventies English classic rock, who, with their clowning stage antics and distinctive style, helped define glam rock alongside David Bowie, T. Rex and Sweet, is incredibly rare these days. But a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since Slade’s golden days. The drop in popularity in the eighties and the departure of the band’s figureheads, Noddy Holder and Jim Lea, in the early nineties put an end to the popular rockers’ success story. For the last twenty years, the two remaining original members, guitarist Dave Hill and drummer Don Powell, have toured under the same name, reviving memories of the golden era and nostalgically singing along with the crowd about the story of one of the biggest rock bands of the seventies. The lineup is today rounded out by vocalist/guitarist Mal McNulty and bassist John Berry.
The stroll through the treasure chest of eternal Slade hits kicked off right on the announced time with We’ll Bring the House Down. Drummer Powell appeared first, before Berry, McNulty and finally Hill lined up on stage from left to right. Even though McNulty is now standing in Holder’s incredibly uncomfortable boots, the “new” frontman did well. The guy, who looks a bit like Ozzy Osbourne, built his performance on his own ideas and generally steered clear of straight-up imitating Holder’s antics. Vocally, too, he gave the songs his own spin, and thanks to a unique mix of charisma and likability he not only didn’t get burned playing with fire, he handled his duties with confidence and total credibility. The central figure of the stage clowning was the short guitarist Dave Hill. Dressed in a yellow vest and wearing a hat, he looked like a circus clown, deftly worked the stage and spiced up the set with funny bits as if it were nothing.
Thanks to their many hits, Slade really have no trouble filling an 80-minute program. The evergreen classics came one after another, and early in the show Slade served up Lock Up Your Daughters, Far Far Away and Everyday, where John Berry surprisingly took over lead vocals. Next came Coz I Luv You with its distinctly Beatles-like sound, where Berry’s violin filled out the sonic picture. Gudbuy T’Jane and Mama Weer All Crazee Now wrapped up the regular set before the good-humored quartet came back on stage once more. What followed was a romantic detour with the power ballad My Oh My and a perfect finish with the hit Cum on Feel the Noize. A show of simple musical content but exceptional impact. Even with their credibility badly worn down, Slade (II) put their best foot forward, entertained the crowd in their own style and satisfied my personal appetites too.
JETHRO TULL
Headlining the day and the whole festival were the legendary prog folk rock troubadours Jethro Tull, one of the most unique rock bands ever to roam planet Earth. I can thank only their tireless will to keep touring for the fact that I’ve gotten to see them for the second time in the last three years. Lady Luck first smiled on me in July 2009 in Udine (Italy), where the legendary Brits marked the fortieth anniversary of the release by enriching their repertoire with songs from the album “Stand Up”. This time the program was set up differently – but for the same reason. With such a big anniversary, those of us in attendance could look forward to a show graced with “Aqualung”.
The set started with a partly pre-recorded intro to Living In The Past, which found its way back onto the setlist, this time right at the very start, before the musicians took their places on stage wrapped in mystical fog. Despite an unpleasantly cold gust of wind, the summer-clad Jethro Tull made it clear from the first moment that they weren’t here to mess around tonight! After the opener came the performance of the legendary epic Thick as a Brick, understandably in a shortened version, though still a marathon one. After a few minutes the techs managed to get the balance in the sound sorted out, which during the first song was frankly nothing to be proud of. For the first time this evening, the performance of Thick as a Brick was spiced up by an abnormal batch of Anderson’s improvised flute licks, which he kept stringing together one after another over the next hour and a half. The constant dancing in his trademark one-legged pose was further proof of the great mood not just of Ian Anderson, but of the rest of the Jethro Tull crew too. Yeah, playing in front of a crowd of almost ten thousand is no small thing!
Up To Me followed, kicking off the poking around in the “Aqualung” album, which was represented far less than advertised and expected. The nicest morsels of the night were the more rarely played Cheap Day Return and Hymn 43, wedged in between the evergreens Farm on the Freeway, Heavy Horses and Mother Goose. Between songs, the man with the scarf on his head pulled jokes out of his sleeve as usual, with that typical taste of the English countryside, adding to the relaxed vibe among the crowd. Jethro Tull are old concert cats, and it’s a real little miracle how well they manage to hide the everyday routine – what’s more, the playfulness in the improvisations across the whole range of their instruments sometimes seems to have no end. Who would have thought that the guys on stage have been at it for more than forty years!
The show flew by at express speed through the instrumental Bourée, where mostly Anderson’s vocal cords got a rest, then Mother Goose, My God, Budapest and of course the obligatory finish with Aqualung. After coming back on stage, when the “troubadours” had taken a fairly hefty chunk of time to catch their breath, Jethro Tull bid the German crowd farewell after a long intro on John O’Hare’s keyboards with Locomotive Breath. It exposed Anderson’s worn-out voice, but that didn’t dent the strongly positive feelings that filled the crowd after the show.
After the late arrival and the heavy downpour during Wishbone Ash, from the moment my ears caught Martin Turner and company onward, things went in the right direction. A great evening of live music from masters we’ll be hiccuping over for years to come.. which is why we need to make the most of as many such opportunities as the Rock of Ages festival offers, because tomorrow might already be too late!
author: Urban Bolta
photos: Martin Prezelj
17:00 – 17:45 CHINA
17:55 — 18:45 THE POODLES
19:00 — 20:00 MARTIN TURNER’S WISHBONE ASH
20:15 — 21:30 SLADE
22:00 — 24:00 JETHRO TULL
MARTIN TURNER’S WISHBONE ASH setlist:
1. The King Will Come
2. Ballad Of The Beacon
3. Rock N’ Roll Widow
4. Warrior
5. Throw Down The Sword
6. Blowin’ Free
7. Living Proof
8. Jail Bait
SLADE setlist:
1. We’ll Bring the House Down
2. Take Me Back ‘ome
3. Lock Up Your Daughters
4. Far Far Away
5. Everyday
6. Coz I Luv You
7. Run Runaway
8. Lemme Love into Ya
9. Gudbuy T’Jane
10. Mama Weer All Crazee Now
11. My Oh My
12. Cum on Feel the Noize
JETHRO TULL setlist:
1. Living In The Past
2. Thick as a Brick
3. Up To Me
4. In the Grip of Stronger Stuff
5. Farm on the Freeway
6. Cheap Day Return
7. Heavy Horses
8. Hymn 43
9. Bouree
10. Mother Goose
11. My God
12. Budapest
13. Aqualung
14. Locomotive Breath
