September 27 - Northampton

An "At the gig" report by Todd Bishopp

It was a dreary day in London as we piled into the bus for the drive to Northampton. Both the band and crew seemed tired from the previous night’s show at the Marquee. The La’s self-titled debut from 1990 provided the soundtrack for our journey.

For the final show of the warm-up tour, Dave wore his hair in a three foot high afro that rivaled Shaft’s. Highlights from soundcheck included Graham singing the Beatles’ “In My Life,” an instrumental take on the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction,” Gary leading a great version of Bob Marley’s “Easy Skanking,” and both Dave and Joe taking separate turns on the Carpenters’ “Close To You.”

At 7:30 PM, the doors of the Soundhaus opened and the tiny club was quickly filled to its capacity. At 9:20 PM the lights went down and the Joe Jackson Band hit the stage for their final warm-up gig. The show kicked off with “One More Time.” The Beatlesque new song “Still Alive” was next. A rocking “Take It Like A Man” was followed by “Look Sharp!” which had the crowd dancing.

Two more new songs - a driving “Bright Grey” and a funky “Dirty Martini” preceded the crowd favorites “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” and “On Your Radio.” A gorgeous version of the new ballad “Blue Flame” closed the opening set and led into Joe’s solo set. The solo set opened with a touching “Home Town.” Joe then surprised everyone by covering Duke Ellington’s “Satin Doll” which got the crowd jiving and clapping along. “Be My Number Two” brought the solo set to a close.

The band then returned to the stage and kicked into “Stranger Than Fiction.” The new songs “Fairy Dust” and “Little Bit Stupid” rocked the walls of the Soundhaus while “Sunday Papers” and “Got The Time” literally brought the house down and closed the set. Joe and the band returned for an encore which consisted of a passionate “Different For Girls” and a really intense rendition of “I’m The Man.”

With this report the “Bloody Hell” tour comes to a close. Seven shows in eleven nights. Eleven new songs debuted on the tour. Excellent covers of Graham Parker, David Bowie, The Beatles, Steely Dan, and Duke Ellington. The band now heads into the recording studio to record a new album. This tour showed that this band is ready and the new material is definitely strong. Here’s to successful recording sessions, a great new album, and hopefully a world tour in 2003!

Cheers…….

 

Click on an image for a closer view

Set List:
New songs are annotated with "*", Joe solo songs are annotated with "#"

One More Time
Still Alive *
Take It Like A Man *
Look Sharp!
Bright Grey *
Dirty Martini *
Is She Really Going Out With Him?
On Your Radio
Blue Flame *
Home Town #
Satin Doll # (Duke Ellington cover)
Be My Number Two #
Stranger Than Fiction
Fairy Dust *
Little Bit Stupid *
Sunday Papers
Got The Time

Encores

Different For Girls
I’m The Man