HOWARD JONES LIVE AT THE QUEEN’S HALL, EDINBURGH

Between 1983 and 1986 Howard Jones had ten top 40 UK hits. John Scott goes to the Queen’s HAll in Edinburgh to check out what he’s up to these days.

It’s probably not unreasonable to suggest that Howard Jones has had a fairly low profile of late.  Many people will know him for a couple of Eighties hits but when I told people that I was going to his show, the response was invariably along the lines of: “Is he still going?”.  Thankfully, Jones has a solid fanbase so selling tickets for tonight’s gig, the last of the UK tour, hasn’t proved to be too much of a problem.

Jones is accompanied tonight by Nick Beggs, former Kagajoojoo bass player but these days much in demand as a session player, and guitarist Robin Boult, a long-term Howard Jones sideman amongst many other accomplishments.  Billed as the Howard Jones Acoustic Trio, despite Beggs playing a variety of electric bass instruments and Jones’s keyboard being of the plugged-in variety, we’re settled in for an evening of stripped-back hits and deeper cuts from the Howard Jones archive.

The band open with Assault And Battery, one of several tracks played tonight from Jones’ 1985 Album Dream Into Action.  Nick Beggs underscores Robin Boult’s acoustic guitar and Jones’ piano with a dazzling display on Chapman stick, a multi-stringed instrument that can be tapped, stroked, strummed, and slapped to provide a variety of sounds and textures.

Between songs, Howard Jones’ anecdotes reveal him to be engaging, charming and self-deprecatingly witty (that Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill is the last song played over the PA before the band takes to the stage speaks volumes).  Throughout the show, Jones expresses a faith in the fundamental decency of humanity and an optimism that, to quote a song title, Things Can Only Get Better, despite admitting to a sense of despair at the current state of UK politics.

Jones is also fond of a bit of name-dropping although rather than bragging about Miles Davis complementing his songwriting, jamming with Stevie Wonder or having David Bowie eavesdrop on an impromptu a cappella  Live Aid rehearsal, he seems genuinely humble when he does so.

While not particularly familiar with the Howard Jones songbook, it’s striking how many of Howard’s songs, like No One Is To Blame and Life In One Day had seeped their way into my brain over the years.  Kagajoojoo’s Too Shy makes a surprise appearance and it’s great to see Nick Beggs deliver that distinctive baseline in person.

While the fans are, of course, word-perfect with all the songs, it’s that handful of hits that we have all come to hear: Like To Get To Know You Well, New Song and What Is Love?  Hide And Seek, another song you didn’t know you knew but you do, brings the evening to a celebratory finish.

Howard Jones may no longer be the big star he was in the Eighties, and I doubt very much that he wants to be, but he is still making people happy night after night and if things really can only get better, they can’t get much better than that.

Setlist 

Assault and Battery

Specialty

Formed By The Stars

Someone You Need

Don’t Always Look At The Rain

Too Shy

No One Is To Blame

Tomorrow Is Now

Everlasting Love

You Know I Love You, Don’t You?

Transform

Life In One Day

Like To Get To Know You Well

Things Can Only Get Better

What Is Love?

New Song

Hide and Seek

John Scott