Howard Jones
109,458 Followers
• 1 Upcoming Shows
1 Upcoming Shows
Never miss another Howard Jones concert. Get alerts about tour announcements, concert tickets, and shows near you with a free Bandsintown account.
Follow
No upcoming shows in your city
Send a request to Howard Jones to play in your city
Request a Show
Concerts and tour dates
Upcoming
Past
All Concerts & Live Streams
Howard Jones merch
Dialogue
$25.46
Live At The NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan 1984
$20.07
Dream Into Action
$34.56
Human's Lib
$31.11
12 Album + 12Ers Vol 2
$25.17
At The BBC Clamshell Box)
$31.71
In The Running Ltd 140gm Translucent
$30.99
In The Running: Expanded Deluxe
$33.99
Cross That Line: Expanded Deluxe Set
$33.99
One To One
$33.99
One To One
$32.60
One To One: Expanded Edition
$21.78
Dream Into Action
$30.33
Human's Lib
$15.99
Dream Into Action
$17.09
Human's Lib
$28.53
Best: 1983-2017
$26.99
View All
Live Photos of Howard Jones
View All Photos
Fan Reviews
Jeff
August 20th 2023
Very pleasantly surprised at the Howard Jones performance at talking Stick resort amphitheater in Phoenix. Always enjoyed his music, but you're always a little bit wary of the performance. After 40 years. Howard brought it as well as the rest of the band. A great addition was Nick Beggs, formerly of Kajagoogoo on base.
Phoenix, AZ@Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
DAve
July 21st 2023
Culture Club / Howard Jones / BERLIN: 7/19/23 “It was a hot summer night in Charlotte and New Wave Was on the menu, the kind of weather that’d melt your 80’s vinyl and your cassette tapes as well for that matter. Aside from the Police and Cars by the time New Wave took over the airwaves I was still steeped deep in arena rock and roll. Although I missed a lot of the scene there was plenty of airplay and videos available to perk my interest leaving me slightly above novice status. The Letting It Go Show’ featuring Culture Club, Howard Jones, and BERLIN kicked off July 13 in West Palm Beach and is scheduled to wrap up on Aug 20 Concord CA. The North Carolina date (the fifth of the tour) was sandwiched in the middle of a 3 night in a row run (Atlanta/Charlotte/Nashville). Live Nation’s $25 ‘All In’ afforded me reserved seats in the rear between the covered portion pavilion and the lawn just behind the concourse. Culture Club still features the original three from the beginning in London 1981: Boy George, Roy Hay (guitar), and Mickey Craig (bass). Sitting in on drums was touring member Anne Evanson, after Jon Moss left in 2021 procuring a £1.75 million settlement with George and the band. The band comes into town with 6 studio albums yielding 50 million sales and 10 charted singles in the U.S., not to mention George’s solo releases. With a promise from the prompter ‘The prolific band will be performing all the hits’ the nearly all 80’s era crowd was ready to get it on, but first things first. At 7 p.m. 1978 formed L.A. new waver’s BERLIN took the stage for a 35 minute/ 7 song set beginning with ‘Masquerade’ a somewhat obscure single which cracked the top 100 in 1982. Skipping over their five albums from the 2000’s save one song they drew nearly all material from the 1980’s. Lead woman Terri Nunn 62 not just looks the part, she IS a rock star —never missing a beat. With an outgoing personality and strong vocals she won over the crowd quickly. The second song in their set was ’No More Words’ which made it’s way to #23 back in 1984. It’s original video clips were projected on the side screens. ‘Charlotte we are excited to be here and we’re especially excited because our guitar player is from Charlotte South Carolina, Mr. Carlton Boost.’ His family was present in the audience, ‘You must be very proud of your hometown boy!’ ‘Animal’ which was released in 2013 as a comeback hit but failed to chart was inserted mid-set and introduced accordingly: ’Some of you have known BERLIN since we were all in our twenties. We wrote a lot about dating in our twenties, this song is about what dating feels like to me know.’ After a powerful performance of the bands only #1 ‘Take My Breath Away’ from ’86’s ‘Top Gun’ were band intros. In addition to Carlton the hometown boy, there were John Crawford the founder of the band on bass since 1977, Dave Diamond on guitar since 1983, ‘and on drums since last Tuesday’ Ric Rocc. Terri disembarked from stage to sing a cover of The Cults ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ walking and working the crowd with ne’er a missing word. It turned out to be the crowd favorite. With one more song her time had run out and Terri exclaimed, ‘If someone dragged you here tonight and you have no idea who we are, thank you so much!’ Next in order was synth-pop wizard Howard Jones from Southhampton UK who surprisingly has the largest portfolio of music of the three artists: 15 studio albums with 12 charted singles in the U.S.. A brief turn time had the stage ready for him which featured no drum kit. Eight tall lights resembling florescent ceiling bulbs stood erect on the stage along with three keyboards and all was set. Both BERLIN and Jones performed a front a black curtain which stayed in place concealing Culture Clubs’s equipment until it was their time to go on. I took the intermission time to upgrade myself to a mid-spot under the pavilion which was fairly easy to do. The noticeably light attended mid week crowd had left the covered areas in the corners open as folk gathered towards the front and center. Taking my cue as security left a pavilion entrance open for a moment I made my move! At 7:54 p.m. John Howard Jones 68 took the stage for a 55 minute / 9 song set batting all of his major hits out of the field starting off with 1984’s ‘Like To Get To Know You Well’. ‘We are having such a great time, it’s not fair to have such a great time. Would you like to sing along to all my songs? (audience cheers) In that case we’d a like to get to know you well!’ Jones set was all 80’s, all hits, including ‘Everlasting Love’, ‘New Song’, ’No One Is To Blame’, and ‘What Is Love’, a song that climbed the closest to top for him peaking at #2 in the UK. Wearing a multicolored jacket with ‘HoJo’ written on the back, bright white pants with pink and orange sneakers, the in command conductor of a four person band put on (in my opinion) the strongest performance of the evening. A highlight of the evening was when Jones introduced his bass player Nick Beggs formerly of Kajagoogoo. Playing a 10 string custom modified Chapman Stick and wearing a sleeveless skirt style kilt all in black with long flowing blond hair it turns out he was the writer of the #1 ’Too Shy’ and we got to hear it performed LIVE. Jones informing us that the band ‘never actually made it to America to play that song live, and so this is a bit of a special moment to hear this song in the U.S.A.’! Nick killed it wowing the audience with a throbbing slap bass solo. The #5 ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ rounded out the set with the evening’s rendition ever increasing in volume and tempo until it turned into an all out dance remix. Picking up the florescent lights as props HoJo wielding them like light sabres. With a quick intro of the other three band members he walked off the stage, his set complete. 9:15 rolled around and it was time for the headliner to take the stage. The lights went down and the curtain fell as George Alan O'Dowd 62 stood a top an 8 stair riser separating the drum and percussion kits. Strutting downward step by step while the crew removed the curtain he opened with the new and unreleased ‘Next Thing Will Be Amazing’. It was the first of five new songs included, the majority of them positioned mid-set. Performing 15 songs Culture Club performed without a break (save a brief word to the crowd) for an hour and a half, the early and later portions of the set housed all the hits. The second and third songs in respectively were their #13 ‘It’s A Miracle’ and the #9 ‘I'll Tumble 4 Ya’. A reggae-fied cover of Bread’s ‘’Everything I Own’ followed which was actually recorded by the Club back in 2002 and briefly charted. George dressed all in long clothing with a black sport coat with large yellow dots and a large yellow bowler top hat had to be dying in the Southern heat. ‘Either it’s a little cooler here or I’ve just declimatized, you know because as you can see I’m very overdressed for this climate. Heat is the enemy of fashion and must be defied.’ Although the performance was great and George’s voice strong, the pitch seemed a step or two lower than the radio versions. The music also lacked the brilliancy I fondly remember with somewhat muffled bass and percussion taking the forefront. Standing out in the nine person band were the background vocalists. It’s no surprise as Culture Club has always been strong in that area even so far as hiring Clare Torry (of Floyd’s ‘Great Gig’) in the studio. Tonight featured ‘The Voice’ finalist Vangelis Polydorou and Roxy Yarnold who I can not overstate were both amazing. The theme of the tour was all about letting it go whatever the ‘it’ is as George stated ’as you get older and a bit smarter you realize “choose your battles”, let some things go, most things can be let go.’ George used the theme as a platform to share his new material and to not always live in the past (i.e. 80’s music). But alas, the hits were what we came to hear and they started to surface once again the later half of the performance with the #2 ‘Do You Really Want To Hurt Me’, #10 ‘Church Of The Poison Mind’ (performed in a medley with Wham’s ‘I’m Your Man’), #2 ‘Time’, and #5 ‘Miss Me Blind’! A three song encore rounded out the set with a duo of covers ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ and ‘Get It On (Bang A Gong)’ with the Clubs sole chart-topper the #1 ‘Karma Chameleon’ inserted between the two. Winding out the evening were full band intros. Bottom line when all was said and done, if you grew up in the eighties or loved the eighties you did not leave the amphitheater grounds disappointed!” Review and photo by DAve (Concerts #798-800)
Charlotte, NC@PNC Music Pavilion
Sergio
July 18th 2023
Howard Jones was part of the Letting it Go tour with Culture Club and Berlin. Great great great show! As the opining act, he brought the energy FOR SURE!!!
Honestly, I had no idea who Howard Jones was, until I heard him sing songs that were so familiar from the 80's, I just wasn't aware they were his... I am now much smarter! Howard Jones was worth the price of admission all by himself! Add Berlin on top of that, and then Culture Club... Boy, we really scored with this concert!
Jacksonville, FL@Daily's Place Amphitheater
View More Fan Reviews
Fans Also Follow
Depeche Mode
2M Followers
Follow
ABC
76K Followers
Follow
New Order
950K Followers
Follow
Level 42
80K Followers
Follow
Billy Idol
734K Followers
Follow
About Howard Jones
There are two persons with this name.
1. Howard Jones (born John Howard Jones on February 23, 1955) is an English singer and songwriter.
1. He is the eldest of three boys. His birthplace is Southampton, England, and he spent his early years in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and attended the Royal Grammar School. He now lives with his family in Maidenhead, England.
When he was young, he used to give piano lessons. One of his clients was a girl named Jan Smith, who he later married. Whilst working with her, a vehicle crashed into their van, injuring Jan. She claimed compensation and used the money to buy Howard a synthesiser, Moog Prodigy. The shop delivered two by mistake, and Howard liked the combination of the two so much that he paid for the extra one.
He hit the charts in 1983 with a song called "New Song," which made it into the UK top ten. He subsequently had three more hits over the next twelve months and a UK Number 1 album, Human's Lib. He acquired a hardcore fanbase made up of both starstruck teenagers and more mature music lovers, who saw the musicianship which went into the electronic sounds of his songs. His mother ran his fan club. Jones was a close temporal and stylistic contemporary of Nik Kershaw, and the two musicians were often conflated in the affections of the contemporary pop audience.
Howard was known as a respectable face of pop, combining innovative synthesiser music with strong feelings on animal rights and life's excesses. In his early days, he performed with a mime artist called Jed Hoile, who used to do improvised choreography while doused in white paint as Howard played behind him.
In the summer of 1984, he released a single called "Like To Get To Know You Well", which he said was 'dedicated to the original spirit of the Olympic Games'. Although it wasn't an official Olympic anthem for the Games in Los Angeles that summer, it caught on and was a huge worldwide hit. The sleeve featured the song title in ten different languages; while Howard sang the title line in French and German on the extended version. The song appeared in the film Better Off Dead.
Howard's second album was a ground breaking 'remix' album. It contained six songs, all but one of which had been previously released, but which appeared in elongated formats, including the multi-lingual version of "Like To Get To Know You Well". The album was called The 12 Inch Album and the sleeve featured a miniature Howard standing next to a 12-inch ruler.
When he released his second studio album, Dream Into Action, in 1985, he introduced his own backing band, including future Soul II Soul singer Caron Wheeler as one third of female backing vocal trio Afrodiziak. Playing bass guitar, meanwhile, was Howard's own brother Martin, who had to have an extra string added to his instrument to play some of Howard's bass lines, which were originally played on a keyboard without regard for the range of a real bass guitar. One of the singles released from this album, "No One Is To Blame", was later re-recorded and featured Phil Collins as drummer and producer.
In July 1985, Howard performed at Wembley Stadium as part of the Live Aid concert, singing his 1984 hit "Hide And Seek" while playing a piano belonging to Freddie Mercury.
Howard had his last UK Top 40 hit in 1986 and thereafter concentrated on production, songwriting and running a successful vegetarian restaurant, though he had Billboard Top 10 success in the States in the 1990s. His eldest son, Osheen, was born in 1985 and is now an actor.
In 2005, he competed on the American TV show Hit Me Baby One More Time, losing to Irene Cara. Although he lost the in-studio vote to Cara, he won the online poll vote.
2. Jones resides in Connecticut. His first success was in Connecticut with the band Blood Has Been Shed. After the release of The Novella of Uriel, the band went on tour, but Jones was eventually approached for a bigger project. Howard Jones replaced the lead singer of Killswitch Engage, Jesse Leach, in July of 2002, shortly after the release of Alive or Just Breathing, Killswitch Engage's Roadrunner Records debut album.
Meanwhile, Blood Has Been Shed released their third album, Spirals in 2003. Critical reviews were mixed, with some saying the album was a bit stray from the music found on I Dwell and Novella, while fans found it to be the band's most sonically-challenging album yet.
The first time KSE fans heard Jones they were impressed by him. Later he would be heard on the song "When Darkness Falls", which was first released on the soundtrack for the movie Freddy vs. Jason. Finally, Killswitch Engage released their first album with Jones as the new singer, as well as Blood Has Been Shed drummer Justin Foley. The End of Heartache would spawn two successful singles, "Rose of Sharyn" and the Grammy-nominated title track, "The End of Heartache". There was a minor spot of controversy with some fans over the Grammy nomination, as the song that was picked was a remixed version that would eventually appear on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack. The differences between the original recording and the remixed version are the fact that the song is sung in a traditional singing style rather than using the original scream track that appears on the album, and several sections of the song have been shortened for a more commercially dynamic vision.
In November 2006, Killswitch Engage released their fourth album (and second with Howard Jones) entitled As Daylight Dies. The album has spawned the singles "My Curse" and "Arms of Sorrow", and it has been cited by the band through numerous interviews that the album recalls influences from bands in the NOLA music scene, as well as metal bands like Pantera and Machine Head.
Despite his front man role in Killswitch Engage, Jones is still the lead singer for Blood Has Been Shed.
Aside from singing, Jones has also taken on the role of a manager to new and upcoming artists. Currently, he manages two bands, Twelve Tribes, Mikoto, and also the producer Zeuss.
He is also known for his vocal styles, which include deep, booming roars, a higher, raspier scream, and operatic clean vocals. The clean style is absent from most of his work with Blood Has Been Shed, however, with Killswitch Engage, he usually makes use of all of his vocal styles in almost every song, particularly in As Daylight Dies and Holy Diver.
1. Howard Jones (born John Howard Jones on February 23, 1955) is an English singer and songwriter.
1. He is the eldest of three boys. His birthplace is Southampton, England, and he spent his early years in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and attended the Royal Grammar School. He now lives with his family in Maidenhead, England.
When he was young, he used to give piano lessons. One of his clients was a girl named Jan Smith, who he later married. Whilst working with her, a vehicle crashed into their van, injuring Jan. She claimed compensation and used the money to buy Howard a synthesiser, Moog Prodigy. The shop delivered two by mistake, and Howard liked the combination of the two so much that he paid for the extra one.
He hit the charts in 1983 with a song called "New Song," which made it into the UK top ten. He subsequently had three more hits over the next twelve months and a UK Number 1 album, Human's Lib. He acquired a hardcore fanbase made up of both starstruck teenagers and more mature music lovers, who saw the musicianship which went into the electronic sounds of his songs. His mother ran his fan club. Jones was a close temporal and stylistic contemporary of Nik Kershaw, and the two musicians were often conflated in the affections of the contemporary pop audience.
Howard was known as a respectable face of pop, combining innovative synthesiser music with strong feelings on animal rights and life's excesses. In his early days, he performed with a mime artist called Jed Hoile, who used to do improvised choreography while doused in white paint as Howard played behind him.
In the summer of 1984, he released a single called "Like To Get To Know You Well", which he said was 'dedicated to the original spirit of the Olympic Games'. Although it wasn't an official Olympic anthem for the Games in Los Angeles that summer, it caught on and was a huge worldwide hit. The sleeve featured the song title in ten different languages; while Howard sang the title line in French and German on the extended version. The song appeared in the film Better Off Dead.
Howard's second album was a ground breaking 'remix' album. It contained six songs, all but one of which had been previously released, but which appeared in elongated formats, including the multi-lingual version of "Like To Get To Know You Well". The album was called The 12 Inch Album and the sleeve featured a miniature Howard standing next to a 12-inch ruler.
When he released his second studio album, Dream Into Action, in 1985, he introduced his own backing band, including future Soul II Soul singer Caron Wheeler as one third of female backing vocal trio Afrodiziak. Playing bass guitar, meanwhile, was Howard's own brother Martin, who had to have an extra string added to his instrument to play some of Howard's bass lines, which were originally played on a keyboard without regard for the range of a real bass guitar. One of the singles released from this album, "No One Is To Blame", was later re-recorded and featured Phil Collins as drummer and producer.
In July 1985, Howard performed at Wembley Stadium as part of the Live Aid concert, singing his 1984 hit "Hide And Seek" while playing a piano belonging to Freddie Mercury.
Howard had his last UK Top 40 hit in 1986 and thereafter concentrated on production, songwriting and running a successful vegetarian restaurant, though he had Billboard Top 10 success in the States in the 1990s. His eldest son, Osheen, was born in 1985 and is now an actor.
In 2005, he competed on the American TV show Hit Me Baby One More Time, losing to Irene Cara. Although he lost the in-studio vote to Cara, he won the online poll vote.
2. Jones resides in Connecticut. His first success was in Connecticut with the band Blood Has Been Shed. After the release of The Novella of Uriel, the band went on tour, but Jones was eventually approached for a bigger project. Howard Jones replaced the lead singer of Killswitch Engage, Jesse Leach, in July of 2002, shortly after the release of Alive or Just Breathing, Killswitch Engage's Roadrunner Records debut album.
Meanwhile, Blood Has Been Shed released their third album, Spirals in 2003. Critical reviews were mixed, with some saying the album was a bit stray from the music found on I Dwell and Novella, while fans found it to be the band's most sonically-challenging album yet.
The first time KSE fans heard Jones they were impressed by him. Later he would be heard on the song "When Darkness Falls", which was first released on the soundtrack for the movie Freddy vs. Jason. Finally, Killswitch Engage released their first album with Jones as the new singer, as well as Blood Has Been Shed drummer Justin Foley. The End of Heartache would spawn two successful singles, "Rose of Sharyn" and the Grammy-nominated title track, "The End of Heartache". There was a minor spot of controversy with some fans over the Grammy nomination, as the song that was picked was a remixed version that would eventually appear on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack. The differences between the original recording and the remixed version are the fact that the song is sung in a traditional singing style rather than using the original scream track that appears on the album, and several sections of the song have been shortened for a more commercially dynamic vision.
In November 2006, Killswitch Engage released their fourth album (and second with Howard Jones) entitled As Daylight Dies. The album has spawned the singles "My Curse" and "Arms of Sorrow", and it has been cited by the band through numerous interviews that the album recalls influences from bands in the NOLA music scene, as well as metal bands like Pantera and Machine Head.
Despite his front man role in Killswitch Engage, Jones is still the lead singer for Blood Has Been Shed.
Aside from singing, Jones has also taken on the role of a manager to new and upcoming artists. Currently, he manages two bands, Twelve Tribes, Mikoto, and also the producer Zeuss.
He is also known for his vocal styles, which include deep, booming roars, a higher, raspier scream, and operatic clean vocals. The clean style is absent from most of his work with Blood Has Been Shed, however, with Killswitch Engage, he usually makes use of all of his vocal styles in almost every song, particularly in As Daylight Dies and Holy Diver.
Show More
Genres:
80s, Alternative, Pop Keyboards Synth Edm, Decades, New Wave Alternative
No upcoming shows in your city
Send a request to Howard Jones to play in your city
Request a Show
Concerts and tour dates
Upcoming
Past
All Concerts & Live Streams
Live Photos of Howard Jones
View All Photos
Howard Jones merch
Dialogue
$25.46
Live At The NHK Hall, Tokyo, Japan 1984
$20.07
Dream Into Action
$34.56
Human's Lib
$31.11
12 Album + 12Ers Vol 2
$25.17
At The BBC Clamshell Box)
$31.71
In The Running Ltd 140gm Translucent
$30.99
In The Running: Expanded Deluxe
$33.99
Cross That Line: Expanded Deluxe Set
$33.99
One To One
$33.99
One To One
$32.60
One To One: Expanded Edition
$21.78
Dream Into Action
$30.33
Human's Lib
$15.99
Dream Into Action
$17.09
Human's Lib
$28.53
Best: 1983-2017
$26.99
View All
Fan Reviews
Jeff
August 20th 2023
Very pleasantly surprised at the Howard Jones performance at talking Stick resort amphitheater in Phoenix. Always enjoyed his music, but you're always a little bit wary of the performance. After 40 years. Howard brought it as well as the rest of the band. A great addition was Nick Beggs, formerly of Kajagoogoo on base.
Phoenix, AZ@Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
DAve
July 21st 2023
Culture Club / Howard Jones / BERLIN: 7/19/23 “It was a hot summer night in Charlotte and New Wave Was on the menu, the kind of weather that’d melt your 80’s vinyl and your cassette tapes as well for that matter. Aside from the Police and Cars by the time New Wave took over the airwaves I was still steeped deep in arena rock and roll. Although I missed a lot of the scene there was plenty of airplay and videos available to perk my interest leaving me slightly above novice status. The Letting It Go Show’ featuring Culture Club, Howard Jones, and BERLIN kicked off July 13 in West Palm Beach and is scheduled to wrap up on Aug 20 Concord CA. The North Carolina date (the fifth of the tour) was sandwiched in the middle of a 3 night in a row run (Atlanta/Charlotte/Nashville). Live Nation’s $25 ‘All In’ afforded me reserved seats in the rear between the covered portion pavilion and the lawn just behind the concourse. Culture Club still features the original three from the beginning in London 1981: Boy George, Roy Hay (guitar), and Mickey Craig (bass). Sitting in on drums was touring member Anne Evanson, after Jon Moss left in 2021 procuring a £1.75 million settlement with George and the band. The band comes into town with 6 studio albums yielding 50 million sales and 10 charted singles in the U.S., not to mention George’s solo releases. With a promise from the prompter ‘The prolific band will be performing all the hits’ the nearly all 80’s era crowd was ready to get it on, but first things first. At 7 p.m. 1978 formed L.A. new waver’s BERLIN took the stage for a 35 minute/ 7 song set beginning with ‘Masquerade’ a somewhat obscure single which cracked the top 100 in 1982. Skipping over their five albums from the 2000’s save one song they drew nearly all material from the 1980’s. Lead woman Terri Nunn 62 not just looks the part, she IS a rock star —never missing a beat. With an outgoing personality and strong vocals she won over the crowd quickly. The second song in their set was ’No More Words’ which made it’s way to #23 back in 1984. It’s original video clips were projected on the side screens. ‘Charlotte we are excited to be here and we’re especially excited because our guitar player is from Charlotte South Carolina, Mr. Carlton Boost.’ His family was present in the audience, ‘You must be very proud of your hometown boy!’ ‘Animal’ which was released in 2013 as a comeback hit but failed to chart was inserted mid-set and introduced accordingly: ’Some of you have known BERLIN since we were all in our twenties. We wrote a lot about dating in our twenties, this song is about what dating feels like to me know.’ After a powerful performance of the bands only #1 ‘Take My Breath Away’ from ’86’s ‘Top Gun’ were band intros. In addition to Carlton the hometown boy, there were John Crawford the founder of the band on bass since 1977, Dave Diamond on guitar since 1983, ‘and on drums since last Tuesday’ Ric Rocc. Terri disembarked from stage to sing a cover of The Cults ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ walking and working the crowd with ne’er a missing word. It turned out to be the crowd favorite. With one more song her time had run out and Terri exclaimed, ‘If someone dragged you here tonight and you have no idea who we are, thank you so much!’ Next in order was synth-pop wizard Howard Jones from Southhampton UK who surprisingly has the largest portfolio of music of the three artists: 15 studio albums with 12 charted singles in the U.S.. A brief turn time had the stage ready for him which featured no drum kit. Eight tall lights resembling florescent ceiling bulbs stood erect on the stage along with three keyboards and all was set. Both BERLIN and Jones performed a front a black curtain which stayed in place concealing Culture Clubs’s equipment until it was their time to go on. I took the intermission time to upgrade myself to a mid-spot under the pavilion which was fairly easy to do. The noticeably light attended mid week crowd had left the covered areas in the corners open as folk gathered towards the front and center. Taking my cue as security left a pavilion entrance open for a moment I made my move! At 7:54 p.m. John Howard Jones 68 took the stage for a 55 minute / 9 song set batting all of his major hits out of the field starting off with 1984’s ‘Like To Get To Know You Well’. ‘We are having such a great time, it’s not fair to have such a great time. Would you like to sing along to all my songs? (audience cheers) In that case we’d a like to get to know you well!’ Jones set was all 80’s, all hits, including ‘Everlasting Love’, ‘New Song’, ’No One Is To Blame’, and ‘What Is Love’, a song that climbed the closest to top for him peaking at #2 in the UK. Wearing a multicolored jacket with ‘HoJo’ written on the back, bright white pants with pink and orange sneakers, the in command conductor of a four person band put on (in my opinion) the strongest performance of the evening. A highlight of the evening was when Jones introduced his bass player Nick Beggs formerly of Kajagoogoo. Playing a 10 string custom modified Chapman Stick and wearing a sleeveless skirt style kilt all in black with long flowing blond hair it turns out he was the writer of the #1 ’Too Shy’ and we got to hear it performed LIVE. Jones informing us that the band ‘never actually made it to America to play that song live, and so this is a bit of a special moment to hear this song in the U.S.A.’! Nick killed it wowing the audience with a throbbing slap bass solo. The #5 ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ rounded out the set with the evening’s rendition ever increasing in volume and tempo until it turned into an all out dance remix. Picking up the florescent lights as props HoJo wielding them like light sabres. With a quick intro of the other three band members he walked off the stage, his set complete. 9:15 rolled around and it was time for the headliner to take the stage. The lights went down and the curtain fell as George Alan O'Dowd 62 stood a top an 8 stair riser separating the drum and percussion kits. Strutting downward step by step while the crew removed the curtain he opened with the new and unreleased ‘Next Thing Will Be Amazing’. It was the first of five new songs included, the majority of them positioned mid-set. Performing 15 songs Culture Club performed without a break (save a brief word to the crowd) for an hour and a half, the early and later portions of the set housed all the hits. The second and third songs in respectively were their #13 ‘It’s A Miracle’ and the #9 ‘I'll Tumble 4 Ya’. A reggae-fied cover of Bread’s ‘’Everything I Own’ followed which was actually recorded by the Club back in 2002 and briefly charted. George dressed all in long clothing with a black sport coat with large yellow dots and a large yellow bowler top hat had to be dying in the Southern heat. ‘Either it’s a little cooler here or I’ve just declimatized, you know because as you can see I’m very overdressed for this climate. Heat is the enemy of fashion and must be defied.’ Although the performance was great and George’s voice strong, the pitch seemed a step or two lower than the radio versions. The music also lacked the brilliancy I fondly remember with somewhat muffled bass and percussion taking the forefront. Standing out in the nine person band were the background vocalists. It’s no surprise as Culture Club has always been strong in that area even so far as hiring Clare Torry (of Floyd’s ‘Great Gig’) in the studio. Tonight featured ‘The Voice’ finalist Vangelis Polydorou and Roxy Yarnold who I can not overstate were both amazing. The theme of the tour was all about letting it go whatever the ‘it’ is as George stated ’as you get older and a bit smarter you realize “choose your battles”, let some things go, most things can be let go.’ George used the theme as a platform to share his new material and to not always live in the past (i.e. 80’s music). But alas, the hits were what we came to hear and they started to surface once again the later half of the performance with the #2 ‘Do You Really Want To Hurt Me’, #10 ‘Church Of The Poison Mind’ (performed in a medley with Wham’s ‘I’m Your Man’), #2 ‘Time’, and #5 ‘Miss Me Blind’! A three song encore rounded out the set with a duo of covers ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ and ‘Get It On (Bang A Gong)’ with the Clubs sole chart-topper the #1 ‘Karma Chameleon’ inserted between the two. Winding out the evening were full band intros. Bottom line when all was said and done, if you grew up in the eighties or loved the eighties you did not leave the amphitheater grounds disappointed!” Review and photo by DAve (Concerts #798-800)
Charlotte, NC@PNC Music Pavilion
Sergio
July 18th 2023
Howard Jones was part of the Letting it Go tour with Culture Club and Berlin. Great great great show! As the opining act, he brought the energy FOR SURE!!!
Honestly, I had no idea who Howard Jones was, until I heard him sing songs that were so familiar from the 80's, I just wasn't aware they were his... I am now much smarter! Howard Jones was worth the price of admission all by himself! Add Berlin on top of that, and then Culture Club... Boy, we really scored with this concert!
Jacksonville, FL@Daily's Place Amphitheater
View More Fan Reviews
About Howard Jones
There are two persons with this name.
1. Howard Jones (born John Howard Jones on February 23, 1955) is an English singer and songwriter.
1. He is the eldest of three boys. His birthplace is Southampton, England, and he spent his early years in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and attended the Royal Grammar School. He now lives with his family in Maidenhead, England.
When he was young, he used to give piano lessons. One of his clients was a girl named Jan Smith, who he later married. Whilst working with her, a vehicle crashed into their van, injuring Jan. She claimed compensation and used the money to buy Howard a synthesiser, Moog Prodigy. The shop delivered two by mistake, and Howard liked the combination of the two so much that he paid for the extra one.
He hit the charts in 1983 with a song called "New Song," which made it into the UK top ten. He subsequently had three more hits over the next twelve months and a UK Number 1 album, Human's Lib. He acquired a hardcore fanbase made up of both starstruck teenagers and more mature music lovers, who saw the musicianship which went into the electronic sounds of his songs. His mother ran his fan club. Jones was a close temporal and stylistic contemporary of Nik Kershaw, and the two musicians were often conflated in the affections of the contemporary pop audience.
Howard was known as a respectable face of pop, combining innovative synthesiser music with strong feelings on animal rights and life's excesses. In his early days, he performed with a mime artist called Jed Hoile, who used to do improvised choreography while doused in white paint as Howard played behind him.
In the summer of 1984, he released a single called "Like To Get To Know You Well", which he said was 'dedicated to the original spirit of the Olympic Games'. Although it wasn't an official Olympic anthem for the Games in Los Angeles that summer, it caught on and was a huge worldwide hit. The sleeve featured the song title in ten different languages; while Howard sang the title line in French and German on the extended version. The song appeared in the film Better Off Dead.
Howard's second album was a ground breaking 'remix' album. It contained six songs, all but one of which had been previously released, but which appeared in elongated formats, including the multi-lingual version of "Like To Get To Know You Well". The album was called The 12 Inch Album and the sleeve featured a miniature Howard standing next to a 12-inch ruler.
When he released his second studio album, Dream Into Action, in 1985, he introduced his own backing band, including future Soul II Soul singer Caron Wheeler as one third of female backing vocal trio Afrodiziak. Playing bass guitar, meanwhile, was Howard's own brother Martin, who had to have an extra string added to his instrument to play some of Howard's bass lines, which were originally played on a keyboard without regard for the range of a real bass guitar. One of the singles released from this album, "No One Is To Blame", was later re-recorded and featured Phil Collins as drummer and producer.
In July 1985, Howard performed at Wembley Stadium as part of the Live Aid concert, singing his 1984 hit "Hide And Seek" while playing a piano belonging to Freddie Mercury.
Howard had his last UK Top 40 hit in 1986 and thereafter concentrated on production, songwriting and running a successful vegetarian restaurant, though he had Billboard Top 10 success in the States in the 1990s. His eldest son, Osheen, was born in 1985 and is now an actor.
In 2005, he competed on the American TV show Hit Me Baby One More Time, losing to Irene Cara. Although he lost the in-studio vote to Cara, he won the online poll vote.
2. Jones resides in Connecticut. His first success was in Connecticut with the band Blood Has Been Shed. After the release of The Novella of Uriel, the band went on tour, but Jones was eventually approached for a bigger project. Howard Jones replaced the lead singer of Killswitch Engage, Jesse Leach, in July of 2002, shortly after the release of Alive or Just Breathing, Killswitch Engage's Roadrunner Records debut album.
Meanwhile, Blood Has Been Shed released their third album, Spirals in 2003. Critical reviews were mixed, with some saying the album was a bit stray from the music found on I Dwell and Novella, while fans found it to be the band's most sonically-challenging album yet.
The first time KSE fans heard Jones they were impressed by him. Later he would be heard on the song "When Darkness Falls", which was first released on the soundtrack for the movie Freddy vs. Jason. Finally, Killswitch Engage released their first album with Jones as the new singer, as well as Blood Has Been Shed drummer Justin Foley. The End of Heartache would spawn two successful singles, "Rose of Sharyn" and the Grammy-nominated title track, "The End of Heartache". There was a minor spot of controversy with some fans over the Grammy nomination, as the song that was picked was a remixed version that would eventually appear on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack. The differences between the original recording and the remixed version are the fact that the song is sung in a traditional singing style rather than using the original scream track that appears on the album, and several sections of the song have been shortened for a more commercially dynamic vision.
In November 2006, Killswitch Engage released their fourth album (and second with Howard Jones) entitled As Daylight Dies. The album has spawned the singles "My Curse" and "Arms of Sorrow", and it has been cited by the band through numerous interviews that the album recalls influences from bands in the NOLA music scene, as well as metal bands like Pantera and Machine Head.
Despite his front man role in Killswitch Engage, Jones is still the lead singer for Blood Has Been Shed.
Aside from singing, Jones has also taken on the role of a manager to new and upcoming artists. Currently, he manages two bands, Twelve Tribes, Mikoto, and also the producer Zeuss.
He is also known for his vocal styles, which include deep, booming roars, a higher, raspier scream, and operatic clean vocals. The clean style is absent from most of his work with Blood Has Been Shed, however, with Killswitch Engage, he usually makes use of all of his vocal styles in almost every song, particularly in As Daylight Dies and Holy Diver.
1. Howard Jones (born John Howard Jones on February 23, 1955) is an English singer and songwriter.
1. He is the eldest of three boys. His birthplace is Southampton, England, and he spent his early years in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and attended the Royal Grammar School. He now lives with his family in Maidenhead, England.
When he was young, he used to give piano lessons. One of his clients was a girl named Jan Smith, who he later married. Whilst working with her, a vehicle crashed into their van, injuring Jan. She claimed compensation and used the money to buy Howard a synthesiser, Moog Prodigy. The shop delivered two by mistake, and Howard liked the combination of the two so much that he paid for the extra one.
He hit the charts in 1983 with a song called "New Song," which made it into the UK top ten. He subsequently had three more hits over the next twelve months and a UK Number 1 album, Human's Lib. He acquired a hardcore fanbase made up of both starstruck teenagers and more mature music lovers, who saw the musicianship which went into the electronic sounds of his songs. His mother ran his fan club. Jones was a close temporal and stylistic contemporary of Nik Kershaw, and the two musicians were often conflated in the affections of the contemporary pop audience.
Howard was known as a respectable face of pop, combining innovative synthesiser music with strong feelings on animal rights and life's excesses. In his early days, he performed with a mime artist called Jed Hoile, who used to do improvised choreography while doused in white paint as Howard played behind him.
In the summer of 1984, he released a single called "Like To Get To Know You Well", which he said was 'dedicated to the original spirit of the Olympic Games'. Although it wasn't an official Olympic anthem for the Games in Los Angeles that summer, it caught on and was a huge worldwide hit. The sleeve featured the song title in ten different languages; while Howard sang the title line in French and German on the extended version. The song appeared in the film Better Off Dead.
Howard's second album was a ground breaking 'remix' album. It contained six songs, all but one of which had been previously released, but which appeared in elongated formats, including the multi-lingual version of "Like To Get To Know You Well". The album was called The 12 Inch Album and the sleeve featured a miniature Howard standing next to a 12-inch ruler.
When he released his second studio album, Dream Into Action, in 1985, he introduced his own backing band, including future Soul II Soul singer Caron Wheeler as one third of female backing vocal trio Afrodiziak. Playing bass guitar, meanwhile, was Howard's own brother Martin, who had to have an extra string added to his instrument to play some of Howard's bass lines, which were originally played on a keyboard without regard for the range of a real bass guitar. One of the singles released from this album, "No One Is To Blame", was later re-recorded and featured Phil Collins as drummer and producer.
In July 1985, Howard performed at Wembley Stadium as part of the Live Aid concert, singing his 1984 hit "Hide And Seek" while playing a piano belonging to Freddie Mercury.
Howard had his last UK Top 40 hit in 1986 and thereafter concentrated on production, songwriting and running a successful vegetarian restaurant, though he had Billboard Top 10 success in the States in the 1990s. His eldest son, Osheen, was born in 1985 and is now an actor.
In 2005, he competed on the American TV show Hit Me Baby One More Time, losing to Irene Cara. Although he lost the in-studio vote to Cara, he won the online poll vote.
2. Jones resides in Connecticut. His first success was in Connecticut with the band Blood Has Been Shed. After the release of The Novella of Uriel, the band went on tour, but Jones was eventually approached for a bigger project. Howard Jones replaced the lead singer of Killswitch Engage, Jesse Leach, in July of 2002, shortly after the release of Alive or Just Breathing, Killswitch Engage's Roadrunner Records debut album.
Meanwhile, Blood Has Been Shed released their third album, Spirals in 2003. Critical reviews were mixed, with some saying the album was a bit stray from the music found on I Dwell and Novella, while fans found it to be the band's most sonically-challenging album yet.
The first time KSE fans heard Jones they were impressed by him. Later he would be heard on the song "When Darkness Falls", which was first released on the soundtrack for the movie Freddy vs. Jason. Finally, Killswitch Engage released their first album with Jones as the new singer, as well as Blood Has Been Shed drummer Justin Foley. The End of Heartache would spawn two successful singles, "Rose of Sharyn" and the Grammy-nominated title track, "The End of Heartache". There was a minor spot of controversy with some fans over the Grammy nomination, as the song that was picked was a remixed version that would eventually appear on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack. The differences between the original recording and the remixed version are the fact that the song is sung in a traditional singing style rather than using the original scream track that appears on the album, and several sections of the song have been shortened for a more commercially dynamic vision.
In November 2006, Killswitch Engage released their fourth album (and second with Howard Jones) entitled As Daylight Dies. The album has spawned the singles "My Curse" and "Arms of Sorrow", and it has been cited by the band through numerous interviews that the album recalls influences from bands in the NOLA music scene, as well as metal bands like Pantera and Machine Head.
Despite his front man role in Killswitch Engage, Jones is still the lead singer for Blood Has Been Shed.
Aside from singing, Jones has also taken on the role of a manager to new and upcoming artists. Currently, he manages two bands, Twelve Tribes, Mikoto, and also the producer Zeuss.
He is also known for his vocal styles, which include deep, booming roars, a higher, raspier scream, and operatic clean vocals. The clean style is absent from most of his work with Blood Has Been Shed, however, with Killswitch Engage, he usually makes use of all of his vocal styles in almost every song, particularly in As Daylight Dies and Holy Diver.
Show More
Genres:
80s, Alternative, Pop Keyboards Synth Edm, Decades, New Wave Alternative
Fans Also Follow
Depeche Mode
2M Followers
Follow
ABC
76K Followers
Follow
New Order
950K Followers
Follow
Level 42
80K Followers
Follow
Billy Idol
734K Followers
Follow
Get the full experience with the Bandsintown app.
