An
"At the gig" report by Todd Bishopp
 A
perfect autumn day was the setting for the ride from Portsmouth to Brighton.
Everyone on the bus was in good spirits as the stereo blasted away. Jokes
and stories freely flowed between band members and the crew. With a nod
and a wink, Gary, Dave, and Graham told me that the new album will be
called "Joe Jackson & The Masters of the Obvious Present....The
Magic of Lard." Thankfully they were only joking! We don't want to
get any nasty Internet rumors started.
At 8 PM the doors
of the Concorde 2 in Brighton opened. Within 20 minutes the place was
packed. The crowd milled about with their drinks in hand, checking out
the t-shirts and CDs at the merchandise table. A number of folks from
the Joe Jackson Discussion Groups on the Internet were in attendance.
They greeted each other warmly as many of them met face to face for the
first time.
At 9:30 PM, the Joe
Jackson Band took the stage and kicked off an energetic and tightly focused
show with a stirring version of "On Your Radio." This was followed
by the tour debut of a new song called "Still Alive." Another
new song "Take It Like A Man" followed. From there, Joe and
the band were off and running - tearing through "Look Sharp!,"
"Stranger Than You,"and
another new song, a ska tune called "Thugs 'R' Us."
"Is She Really
Going Out With Him?" was met with cheers from the crowd, who also
enthusiastically sang along. Dave Houghton's crashing drums highlighted
"One More Time." After "One More Time" Joe introduced
a beautiful new number called "Blue Flame" - which made its
first ever appearance on the tour last night. The band then took a short
break as Joe
performed a short solo set which included a passionate reading of "Hometown,"
a cover of Steely Dan's "Any Major Dude Will Tell You," and
"Be My Number Two."
The band then returned
for another new song "Fairy Dust" which had debuted two nights
before at the Bristol show. "Sunday Papers" followed, then two
more new songs - the glam rock anthem "Little Bit Stupid" and
"Bright Grey" - the latter making its tour debut. The set closed
with a blistering version of "I'm The Man."
The Brighton audience,
however, wasn't about to let the show end just yet. Their wild and enthusiastic
cheering brought Joe and the band back for an encore that included a wonderful
take of "Different for Girls" and a frenetic "Got The Time."
It was an amazing
night in Brighton. Nineteen songs total, with seven new songs (four of
which were tour debuts) and a Steely Dan cover! The show two nights ago
in Bristol was great but the show tonight in Brighton was even better.
After the show, the crowd was abuzz with chatter about how great the new
songs are and how tight the band was. Two shows down, five more shows
to go on the "Bloody Hell" tour. Next stop is Oxford. Stay tuned.....
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