SOLD OUT!
$20 advanced, $25 at the door
General Admission (Seated) - doors open at 7PM
“I really -would- mind, if you sat this one out.”
Massachusetts musician and multi-instrumentalist Chris Devine and his band of merry men bring a tribute to the classic music of British rock giants Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull, “Minstrels In The Gallery”, to The Drake on January 24th.
Performing on flute, acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, violin, alto sax and vocals, in character and in costume, Devine and his band will present a concert featuring songs from what Devine calls “the real glory days of the band, 1969-1977, when Tull packed arenas around the world with their inimitable mix of progressive rock and British folk flavored with classical influences and a bit of American blues…with a brilliant and iconic frontman in Ian Anderson, whose often grandiose presentation was always flavored with self-deprecating humor.”
Devine is no stranger to British rock royalty of the 1970’s. from 2000 to 2002 he was a featured soloist in Blackmore’s Night, starring guitar icon Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, touring Europe and Russia multiple times and appearing on two of their CDs. Blackmore and Anderson have been friends since their heydays and Anderson recorded a guest solo on one of their songs.
Chris Devine is best known to Northeast audiences through his long tenure as ‘Dr. Divine’ in the comedy rock act The Bobby Darling Show, and through his guest appearances with notable recording artists from around the country in many genres including world music, straight-ahead jazz, folk and ethnic styles.
An actor as well, he has appeared in numerous professional productions in featured and lead roles of Shakespeare and contemporary dramas, musicals, and comedies.
Though accomplished as a rock guitarist in his teens, Devine became enamored of the violin through the music of French jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and focused on classical violin studies in his early 20’s.
The flute, too, took a role in his late teens when he bought one on a whim during a visit to a music shop. “I was a fairly accomplished trumpet player as a kid, and played the recorder well, and so I knew how to breathe properly, form an embouchure, and practice efficiently. I was already a Tull nut by then, and in fairly short time I could cover most of Ian’s recorded parts and progressed to playing Bach flute sonatas within a couple of years.”
Of Ian Anderson, Devine says “There’s no artist in the entire rock genre who truly owns an instrument as he does. You simply cannot incorporate a flute in a rock context and not invite the immediate comparison. I can’t think of any other instrumentalist living or dead that could be said about.”
Devine performed a tribute set to Tull regularly in the mid 1980’s and so Friday’s concert is a revival of sorts. “There’s a number of people who know me only as a Bach soloist - I play all of his repertoire for violin and cello from memory - or a guest artist, a musical clown, or as an actor, and have no idea I’m a rocker to the core. I’m looking forward to sharing my joy in this youthful inspiration that was a big part of my formative years as a musician. The band is super-skilled, tight, and we’re ready to play a first-rate show in the best room in town.” The group has consistently sold out every room they’ve appeared in.
Minstrels In The Gallery includes well-known Valley drummer Joe “Jopey” Fitzpatrick, guitarist Joe Boyle, jazz and classical pianist Ken Forfia and bassist Bill Noland, “my old compadre from our spandex-and-leather days in the 80’s,” says Devine.