Jethro Tull – Watching Us Watching Them (Magenta Marble Vinyl)

This live concert was recorded on Jethro Tull‘s The Broadsword and the Beast album tour for the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show on 30th April 1982 in Freiburg, Germany. The lineup at the point consisted of Ian Anderson (vocals, flute, guitar), Martin Barre (guitar, mandolin), Gerry Conway (drums), Dave Pegg (bass, mandolin, vocals) and Peter-John Vettese (keyboards, vocal). Anderson and company provide an even-paced evening that bridges their new material and the commercial breakthrough hits that made Jethro Tull one of the biggest bands of the 1970s. Things especially heat up when Pegg and Conway (both formally of Fairport Convention) launch into “The Swirling Pit,” a traditional Celtic drinking jig. The show ends with a powerhouse triple punch: “Aqualung,” “Minstrel in the Gallery,” and the crowd-pleaser “Locomotive Breath.”