No Jethro Tull on <em>Thick as a Brick</em> Tour?

Jethro Tull singer and flautist Ian Anderson is honoring the 40th anniversary of the album Thick as a Brick by playing the entire album live in concert. It’s the first time the progressive rock epic has been performed live in its entirety since 1972, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.

However, the tour is credited to Anderson as a solo artist and not Jethro Tull as a band. The frontman recently explained why he decided to present the Thick as a Brick tour this way.

“Back in 1972, when I tried to play Thick as a Brick live on stage in the USA, it turned into the tour from hell,” he said. “I decided never to do that again.”

According to Anderson, some members of the audience would “hoot and whistle” during the quieter moments. The experience disheartened the singer to the point that he didn’t even want to be in a rock band anymore, although he ended up soldiering on with Jethro Tull.

Now, he’ll play Thick solo because “the audiences that I attract as Ian Anderson have come to listen to the music and have the sensitivity to keep quiet at the appropriate moments.”

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Astrolung: Jethro Tull Song to be Performed in Space

One can imagine that there are many ways an astronaut might honor the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight. One can also imagine that few would have guessed it would have been with a Jethro Tull performance.

But that’s exactly what is set to happen today, April 12, when American astronaut Catherine Coleman will duet with Tull frontman Ian Anderson, according to The Guardian. Anderson will contribute his part from the ground while Coleman plays the flute way up there in the International Space Station. The pair will duet on the band’s 1969 instrumental “Bouree,” based on a Johann Sebastian Bach piece. The unlikely duo were paired by mutual friend, former radio DJ Dayna Steele.

“Kate thought it would be fun to do a duet in space and asked me if I knew how to get in touch with Ian since I’ve been part of that world,” Steele told AOL News. “So I tracked him down.”

Steele said she thinks the terrestrial/extraterrestrial duet could be tricky to pull off.

“I imagine playing music together might be tough,” she said. “There is usually a four-second delay when you’re talking to someone from the space station. It’s a challenge trying to talk with someone.”

On the positive side, it might be easier for Coleman to master Anderson’s famous one-legged pose in zero gravity.

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