Unquestionably a double treat for rock fans during the summertime festival (lots of great Italian food and wine!) in the small town of Avasinis: Don Airey and Martin Barre both on the same stage!
Airey has had throughout the years some mighty
big shoes to fill as he’s been playing on keyboards for the late, great Jon
Lord of Deep Purple fame. Lord had left
the group that he co-founded many years ago to work on his own orchestral
material, and so Airey was called in to fill a rather important position within
the famous band that is still going strong today (unfortunately, just some
weeks ago Lord passed away due to a lengthy illness). As I got there I saw Airey and I asked him,
“How the HELL did you end up here”? He
looked at me, laughed and said, “I don’t know”!
Sixty-six year-old guitarist Barre instead
joined a fellow by the name of Ian Anderson and his band way back in 1969. Anderson’s band is perhaps better known to
people out there as Jethro Tull. And
yes, both Airey and Barre played hits from their own bands, such as “Lazy”,
“Smoke On The Water” and the 1971 hit “Aqualung”, everyone’s favorite Jethro
Tull song (with also an Anderson substitute on flute).
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