Ron Hollywood's 10 Scale Reviews, hosted by qreativ.com
7.5 out of 10

Reviewed April 11, 2008
Joe Jackson Rain Tour April 4th 2008
by Ron Hollywood

review by Francois Perron

April 4th 2005
Metropolis,Montreal, Qc

53 year old Joe Jackson was in Montreal to promote his great new cd Rain and we got to hear 6 songs out of 10 from it in this 105 min concert. The trio also featuring Graham Maby on bass and David Houghton on drums started the show with Joe’s biggest hit Steppin Out (which was #6 in the US and UK in 1982). Unfortunately, the vocals were a bit low for that one. Two new tracks from Rain followed including the Cd’s opener Invisible Man. We were only three songs in the set when Joe announced that they will play a song they haven’t play in a long time before doing Not Here, Not Now from Body & Soul. His voice cracked for a second and that happened also later on during Stranger Than Fiction (one of the two songs played from Laughter and Lust and curiously they have not played the biggest hit of the Cd Obvious song). Going Downtown was another good moment with a bit of a piano solo.

The majority of the concert went very well and one of the highlights was the new song Solo (So low). In this one, Joe was the only one on stage and the vocal performance was brilliant. Same thing with the last encore Slow Song.

Even if Jackson is reserved, shy, he made some funny comments about not taking requests and asking the crowd at one point if he should stop the song he started because a fan was shouting.

In his career, Jackson has always been diverse and that night was no exception as he played two very different types of covers. He introduced the first one as a “very uncool song” Abba’s Knowing Me, knowing You and he went from A(Abba) to Z (Zappa) with Frank Zappa’s, Dirty Love. He played a very different version of You Can’t Get What You Want with almost no piano and showcasing David Houghton on drums. A sober concert but great performance from a master of intelligent pop music.

Mutlu, two guys from Philadelphia with their acoustic guitars were opening. Their folk music got a polite reception from the crowd. Their upcoming Cd will be produced by T-Bone Walker and will feature a couple of special guests including Daryl Hall.

1)Steppin’ Out (Night + day 82)
2)Invisible Man (Rain 2008)
3)Too Tough (Rain 2008)
4)Not Here, Not Now (Body + soul 84)
5)Rush Across The Road (Rain 2008)
6)Goin’ Downtown (Laughter + lust 91)
7)Stranger Than Fiction (Laughter + lust 91)
8)On Your Radio (I’m the man 79)
9)Solo (so low) (Rain 2008)
10)The Uptown Train (Rain 2008)
11)Knowing Me, Knowing You (Abba cover)
12)It’s Different For Girls (I’m the man 79)
13)Take It Like A Man (Volume 4 2003)
14)You Can’t Get What U Want (Till U Know What U Want) (Body + soul 84)
15)One More Time (Look sharp 79)
16)A Place In The Rain (Rain 2008)

Encores :
17)Dirty Love (Frank Zappa cover)
18)Is She Really Going Out With Him ? (Look sharp 79)
19)A Slow Song (Night + day 82)

Other reviews

Your Comments

Textile Help