It seems to have been a musical time for me recently.  The other week I saw Thomas Dolby do a short performance which was great (although if you read the blog post you will have noted my disappointment at the session afterwards – all of which was my fault).  This time it was another throwback to my youth.

Howard Jones has recently reworked his first two albums and was undertaking a mini-tour to promote them.  He came to Chicago and performed at the Bottom Lounge so we went along to see him.  The show was in two halves with one album for each half.  First things first.  It was excellent.  You often wonder how a performer will be after a few years (quite a few) out of the spotlight.

He really did a great job for us.  The venue was a nice size to feel involved and he certainly got the crowd involved with it all.  Being someone who based his music on synths, getting a big stage effect is not going to happen.  However, he did still make a good job of it – even if I did chuckle a little at his two support musicians.  His drummer was too cool for school and the guy running the sequencer amongst other things at the back looked like he was more comfortable in a studio than on stage.

Still, a crowd that was predisposed to be welcoming certainly got what they wanted and I have to say we were very pleased to go.  (I suspect a few members of the audience had been brought by their friends but why they couldn’t head to the back of the room if they want to ignore the stage and talk is a mystery to me.  Rudeness is alive and well in the US!)

Thanks, Howard, for making an old git feel a bit younger for a while!