“No way a nostalgic act”- that would be the words to coin the irrepressible Joe Jackson, a man who is performing on the heels of his 40th-anniversary tour. Jackson made his way to Phoenix’s classic Orpheum Theater on March 9th, the last U.S. stop of the first leg of his recent Four-Decade Tour. Touring in support of his recent 20th album Fool, Jackson’s songs off Fool, stood up in terms of quality and accessibility to his classic songs – further establishing Jackson still as a vital composer/songwriter. Fool contains all the immediate compositional impact, piano sheen and good ol’ JJ snarl that we’ve come to know for 40 years.
Never a pop star by any means, and like Steely Dan and Sparks, Joe Jackson has always put artistic integrity in front of quick hits and front page gimmicks. Anybody as influenced by The Clash and The Damned as much as Duke and Beethoven certainly defines eclectic. With pop songs that edge between frustration, edginess, and pop, Jackson has always maintained avoidance of the cliche and most certainly could have become a pop star if he fell into those traps. Midway through the Phoenix show, he expressed peoples’ desire for him to tour solo and “clean up.” Not one to rake in all the touring proceeds on the merit only of money, Jackson cracked to the theater -“I could, but that would just be boring – I have too much fun playing with a band.”
Opening with the crawling final track on Fool “Apathy”, Jackson came out followed by longtime bassist Graham Maby, guitarist Teddy Kumpel and drummer Doug Yowell. Tall, impeccably dressed, pale and with white gleaming fitting hair and pale, Jackson still offers an aura of that of a classical composer from ages past. However, upon first vocal and piano notes, Jackson made waves with his unique and familiar sound. “I feel as if 40 years is an excuse to have a party… or a tour,” said a deadpan Jackson to the packed Orpheum following the opener.
What followed was a career retrospective that mixed the familiar with the foreign, the new with the old and the wry, self-effacing humor with the melodic. Working his Roland AD-800 stage piano through the course of its potential, Jackson and the band burst into “One More Time” that felt as vital as it did when the Joe Jackson Band played it as the opening number on 1979’s Look Sharp!
While familiar tracks like “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” was played to appease the masses, the next segment drilled the new and the old. Night and Day’s “Another World” featured the stellar band nailing its syncopated beats while the big boisterous “Big Black Cloud” off Fool might just be Jackson’s best new original live cut since one of many from 2003’s Vol 4. Another stellar new track “Fabulously Absolute” provided some whirlish dervish musicianship as did the Latin-flavored “Cancer.” Jackson went on to mention he was turned on by the early 80’s NYC Latin scene when “most people were listening to The Talking Heads and Ramones.”
Drummer Yowell held the beats together splendidly with fills and patterns that went above and beyond the songs themselves. Kumpel added the perfect colorful guitar leads and textures, particularly on the older scratchy punkish material, while Maby let his bass dictate the foundation of the song, making for a pounding yet sophisticated foundation. Jackson still sings with a frenzied scowl and a creative mindset that gives a Joe Jackson performance a hip jazz club meets punk room feel from the cover of Steely Dan’s early under the radar classic “King of the World” to the uptempo “I’m The Man.”
For the encore, Jackson brought out the KORG KR 55 rhythm machine that he recorded his NIght and Day classic “Steppin’ Out” with. As the night’s highlight, Jackson recreated a time and place in the early 80s’ where his cosmo sheen met the MTV era and evoked a poignant nostalgia for all the middle-agers in attendance. Joe Jackson continues to thrive four decades in, as we most certainly look forward to the Five Decade Tour down the road.
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IT’S ALL THE SAME!!!!!!!!!