Howard Jones

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.

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)

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!

Howard Jones has been playing the piano for 60 years, making hits for a few decades, touring the world for a long time and still his energy, enthusiasm and entertainment capacity is amazing, even with a relatively small crowd. His band is amazing and the support act, Thorsten Quaeschning of Tangerine Dream was a pleasant surprise.

One the best concerts I've been to. What a performance, show and party. I was singing along with 300 people. It was magic.

From the moment he took the stage the audience was engaged, clapping and singing along to our favorite hits. Howard still has the stage presence and the vocals to put on a hell of a show . This took me back to the best days of my life. By far, this was the best concert I've seen since the 80s!!!

Poor Howard. Suffering in the Amplified Live patio heat was not the best way to end a long tour. His vocals struggled and the mic quit working in the middle of The One to Love You. The audience did its best to cheer him on, but an outdoor show at the end of July took it out of everybody. Meanwhile, the moshpit for death metal band LeftToDie enjoyed the nice airconditioned indoor venue. Their sound interrupted Ho-Jo's show every time someone opened the door.

Simply amazing. Small venue added to that personal and memorable touch. Sound and lighting was top notch quality w/ professionalism at its peak. It’s a rarity to see a top notch performer and his accompanying band play in AP.... great job..!!!

Ho Jo was great. Didn’t really like the winery. Saw him again at the Buckhead Theater and he was fantastic. Much better show. Please come again as you have a hard core following in Atlanta. Thanks for the awesome show.

Howard is an amazing musician, whose voice hasn’t lost anything over the years. Whoever was at the mixing board could have turned down the bass, which overwhelmed at times.

Excellent show as always. I had never been to this venue before. Howard has great stage presence and plays to the crowd. Men Without Hats was entertainment, I have followed their music for years but never had the opportunity to see them before. Very entertaining, full of energy. Opening act All Hail the Silence were better than expected.

Howard continues to be one of the most famous underrated figures of the 80s. He didn’t stop though, and continues to make the amazing music he always has. He proved this yesterday afternoon, and introduced casual casino goers to his legacy. Great show again, Howard!

Howard Jones was in form however the sound wasn’t very clear when he was singing with the face mic but when playing on piano acoustically the normal mic was great but on the whole A great performance

Howard is fantastic! At this venue, do not pay for balcony seats. The sound is much better on the floor level.

Fantastic gig - Howard Jones is talented and charming - like being invited into his living room whilst he sings and talks to us.Great night

The show was brilliant and only slightly spoiled by the noisy pissed up 50 somethings stood in the right hand aisle.Notices were posted all over the venue asking people to remain quiet during the performance but these arseholes had got tanked up before. Guy in the "pajama" top, grey hair and glasses was out of order, as was his slurring wife.Shame as the gig was excellent.

Gentle night of 80's icon music. Howard Jones, a piano, a sackful of hits and some stories. Howard's voice is as good and memorable as 1985 and the "unplugged" versions of classic hits and new tunes made for a wonderful evening spoilt only by drunken 45/50 year old women that annoyed everyone. Shame the stewards didn't step in. But Howard was brilliant.

Howard put on a great show, there was humour, amusing and interesting stories about his career and great music. He may have a few more grey hairs than he used to but haven't we all! Howard's voice and energy remain the same as in 1984. He was on stage for two hours during which we heard many of his hits and other songs spanning his career. A great night out, thank you Mr Jones!

A man, a mic and a piano is a true gift to any fan. Howard did not disappoint. With a Behind the Music feel at a deeper level, not only did we hear the hots but also deep tracks and songs that are close to his heart. A rare look inside any musician and with one that is a brilliant lyricist, there's no way anyone left our show not smiling.

Superb entertainer, interacted with audience. Played the usual classics and a few off of his new album Engage which is truly excellent.