POP MUSIC REVIEW : Jethro Tull: Not Enough Classics

Just when it was getting so you could almost admit to liking Jethro Tull without having to turn in your Cool Club card, the veteran British progressive rock band had to go and win the inappropriate heavy-metal/hard-rock Grammy this year and become the target for a whole new generation’s derision.

Well, that wasn’t Tull’s fault--leader Ian Anderson even joked about it Tuesday during the first of the band’s two nights at the Universal Amphitheatre.

But what was the band’s fault was a set that focused on recent material at the expense of the classics that most members of the largely 30-and-over crowd were certainly there to hear. Sure, it’s admirable--in the wake of classics-heavy tours by the Who, the Stones and Paul McCartney--for a band to emphasize current material. (Tull itself did a history-laden 20th anniversary tour last year.) But c’mon guys, you must know that the new songs would benefit from the company of more old faves.

As it was, the limited choice of oldies was curious: No “Bungle in the Jungle.” No “Living in the Past.” Just three songs from 1971’s “Aqualung,” the first few minutes of the 1972 “Thick as a Brick” opus, the jazzed-up Bach “Bourree” and a brief medley of genteel acoustic folkish numbers. The last, along with a set of Celtic folk instrumentals spotlighting Dave Pegg and Martin Allcock, served to remind that much of Tull’s best has always been the folkier stuff and definitely not the ponderous songs that inhabit the new “Rock Island” album.

That said, Anderson remains a fine entertainer, performing with exaggerated, bawdy flair as if declaiming to the groundlings at the Globe. Along those lines, this show used some amusing little sight gags to keep it going. But amusing little sight gags don’t bring a 30-and-over crowd to its feet, and Tuesday the seat cushions at the Universal got a good workout. Tull will also be at the San Diego Sports Arena on Friday.