Joe Jackson in Seattle

Excellent performance from Joe Jackson and his band last night at the Moore Theatre. Joe is touring with his same band from the previous two tours -- guitarist Teddy Kumpel, drummer Doug Yowell and bassist Graham Maby.

If you've followed his blog at all, you're probably aware that J.J. has felt quite stifled during the CoVid lockdown. This has been a common concern among musicians, of course ... but Joe apparently hasn't found inspiration, during that downtime, to channel his creativity into new music. Apparently he gains energy and inspiration from live performance. (He started recording his latest album, Fool, the day after he and his band finished their last tour.) So this time out, he's touring without a new album to promote, just for the sake of getting out and performing.

Anyway, the show was great. As the setlist attests, he covered a wide range of material, including a couple of choice covers. The crowd looked mostly old enough to have been fans back in the '80s, but the cheers were pretty solid for just about everything the band played. His band was supremely tight, yet flexible enough to play around with a lot of his older material, doing "Is She Really" as an a capella number with his band and slowing down "Steppin' Out" to more of a "romantic ballad" arrangement.

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One More Time
Big Black Cloud
Sunday Papers
Dave
Look Sharp!
Fabulously Absolute
Solo (So Low)*
Real Men*
The Mayor of Simpleton [XTC cover]*
A Place in the Rain*
The Blue Time
Nineteen Forever
Blaze of Glory
Fool
Sing, You Sinners [Duke Ellington/Tony Bennett cover]
Is She Really Going Out with Him?
It's Different for Girls
I'm the Man

ENCORE:
You Can't Get What You Want
Steppin' Out

*Joe solo at piano

Would love to hear what the XTC cover sounded like. I am not a huge Joe Jackson fan but I have friends who have seen him every concert, every tour, for decades on end. I should see him someday.

Zwirn, joe's tour is just beginning. Check the website linked above for tour dates, if you haven't already.

He already stopped here in DC. His version of Mayor is out there on YouTube. For the cover, he's been switching it up each night. We didn't get XTC; we got Joni Mitchell (Big Yellow Taxi). I liked the acapella version of "Is She Really Going Out With Him?". I have to confess, I prefer the 'cheesy' (his word) 80s version of "Steppin' Out" to the romantic one. On the Fool tour, he played the 80s version of "Steppin' Out" and the crowd went wild. It was the third stop on the tour and he was still working out the kinks and he was so used to playing the slow version that he stumbled on the lyrics because it was faster.

He played "Steppin' Out" in its original arrangement on his 2012 tour as well, to similar enthusiastic response.

When I saw Joe on the 2004 tour, though, he began the show sitting at the piano, alone onstage, playing a flowing melodic intro. Eventually it resolved into the familiar two-note motif that opens "It's Different for Girls." The crowd got excited, ready to hear that classic song, and probably ready to sing along, when J.J. opened his mouth and sang, "Nowww ... the mist across the window hides the liiines ..." It fit like a glove, and got a big rousing cheer.

You can count me as someone who loves "Steppin' Out," cheesy arrangement and all ... but for my money, that rendition was choice.