May 15, 2022

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It's been a six years since Joe Jackson has played in the Cleveland Area.  He more than made up for lost time by playing an outstanding show at  MGM's Center Stage on Saturday night.

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Jackson just recently started his Sing, You Sinners! Tour and the MGM was just the third stop on the tour.  However, audience members would have never known that because the band was tight and Joe's playing and singing were spot on.  It seemed like they've been on the road for months.

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Opening the show with "One More Time" from his 1978 debut album Look Sharp!, Jackson and his band were off and running.  The group then went on to play six songs from his first two albums with one song segueing into the next.  "Sunday Papers," "Dave," "Look Sharp!" and "Fools" were all played in succession without a break.

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The band left the stage and Jackson was left alone at his keyboards when he finally spoke to the audience.  He said he was going to play the next few songs solo and chatted and told of the origins of each song.  "Solo (So Low)," "Real Men" and "A Place In The Rain" sounded fantastic.  One could really hear the lyrics and understand the meaning behind them with Jackson's expressive vocals.

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Jackson said that he gets to play one cover song from a band or artist that influenced him.  He said that the next song just came to him earlier in the day, so he decided to play Steely Dan's "Any Major Dude Will Tell You" and it was outstanding.

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The band returned to finish the set which included "Down To London," "Blaze Of Glory" and "It's Different For Girls."

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In the middle of the set he played his first hit song, "Is She Really Going Out With Him?"  However, they did it acapella with just a baseline.  It was a nice version but I believe the fans wanted to hear the way the song was originally recorded and sing along.

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Joe ended the set with a ripping version of "I'm The Man."

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The encore consisted of "You Can't Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)" and a slowed down version of his biggest hit, "Steppin' Out."

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Instead of leaving fans with an upbeat song that would have put smiles on their faces, Jackson decided to rearrange his two biggest hits, leaving fans a bit disappointed.

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Don't get me wrong, the show overall was excellent.  Jackson and his band sounded great.  Since it has been six years since Jackson has played in Cleveland, I'm sure for many fans, like myself, it was the first time seeing Joe Jackson perform live.  We just wanted to hear those songs performed as they were originally arranged.

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Photos and review by Greg Drugan

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