He's a spindly sort, mostly bald and more than a tad eccentric. He prefers a quiet time tending to his fish farm but spends most of his time perched on one leg and twirling a flute like a madman.
Hardly a stereotypical image of a rock icon. But after 23-some-odd years, Ian Anderson is still packing them in. In this case, 10,000 or so aging rock fans packed the Delta Center Friday night to pay homage to the Pied Piper of rock 'n' roll one more time.
Anderson and fellow bandmates Martin Barre and David Pegg comprise the aging (but ageless) Jethro Tull, a somewhat folk-flavored hard-rock band that first pushed itself into the public consciousness in 1968 with tunes like "Teacher," "Aqualung" and "Locomotive Breath."
Some will argue that Tull's best days are in the past. But for Anderson & Co., the past is not meant to be lived in but merely a point of reference for something relevant today.
As in the new album "Catfish Rising," arguably Tull's best album since "Songs From the Wood" and the focal point of Friday's performance, a two-hour flute and electric guitar jam session that covered a little something from most periods of Tull's musical evolution.
Following the opening strains of "Minstrel in the Gallery," the band then put a new twist on the classic "Cross-Eyed Mary," followed by "Living in the Past," wherein Anderson again reaffirmed the flute as a premier rock 'n' roll instrument.
Lest the crowd think this was a golden oldies concert, much of the next hour was devoted to material from two of three albums released since Jethro Tull last rolled into Salt Lake City four years ago.
From the acoustic-flavored "Catfish Rising" came "Rocks on the Road," "Like a Tall Thin Girl," "Doctor to My Disease," "White Innocence" and "This Is Not Love," and from the woefully ignored "Crest of a Knave" came "Jump Start" and "Farm on the Freeway," a song about rural dispossession and one of the greatest Tull songs ever.
The crowd, most well into their 30s and 40s, was polite through it all, leaning back in their chairs in rock 'n' roll contentment but largely unfamiliar with the tunes.
It took sing-along favorites like "Thick As a Brick" and "It Was New Day Yesterday," and the time-worn "Aqualung" and "Locomotive Breath" to get the old codgers back out of their seats and dancing like good rock 'n' roll fans of yesteryear.
The show wasn't without its problems. Anderson's vocals, "possessed by bacterial demons," plagued the showman all night. And it didn't help that an overly loud sound system garbled much of what he had left beyond recognition.
Problems aside, it was great to hear Anderson's flute playing and see his distinctive stage style. And Martin Barre's guitar playing hasn't missed a lick in all these years.
And when the last note disappeared into the Delta Center rafters, it was nice to realize you never do get too old to rock 'n' roll.
Opening for Jethro Tull was Chrissy Steele, who cites as her musical influences Led Zeppelin and Bach. Actually, Steele is more of a Pat Benatar wannabe without the musical diversity.
Not that Steele wasn't immensely enjoyable, displaying a vocal prowess that makes her remarkable regardless of musical style. In the case of her hard-rockin' new album "Magnet to Steele," she takes a blues-rock approach that inevitably conjures up comparisons to Benatar.
Steele's set actually stepped up a notch when she toned down the harder rock, hair-waving theatrics. Power ballads like "All Shook Up" and "Love Don't Last Forever" were particular good, as was the blues-rock of the title track.
Given a little patience by her record company (Chrysalis), Steele certainly has the pipes to become a powerful vocal force in today's pop music scene.