One of Catherine's roommates had an extra ticket to the Jewel/Rob Thomas show last night, so I went. Unfortunately, even though I think much more highly of Jewel, she played first. We were late, so we only saw the last half-hour of her set (she played for about an hour and a half, apparently).
The last time I saw Jewel, the fourth time, she disappointed me because she had no heart in her performance. She got on, did her thing, and got off. That was a disappointment because the other times I saw her, she told stories, improvised a lot, yodeled of course, and generally worked the crowd. She has a lot of good songs, but she's one of the artists that is really meant to be seen live.
The good news is that she seems to be back into that mode. For all the crap people give her about the different kinds of music she tries, she's a solid performer still, and she makes it look easy. I wish we could've seen her entire set.
I don't hate Rob Thomas, and I admit I like some of the Matchbox 20 songs, but overall he just strikes me as a pop artist who writes kind of average music. But clearly, there were more people there to see him than Jewel, which seemed unfortunate to me. Even the pierced and tattooed chick behind me was there to see him. Totally doesn't fit her image. He's not a bad performer, but the performance was so polished that it lacked the feeling of live music. I do give him props for a really great arrangement of "3 a.m." that was much better than the original.
Cath made the point after the show that Jewel is a phenomenal performer and a singer the likes of which you don't frequently see. She doesn't even have to try. She's been singing most of her life, and it's her opinion that in terms of sheer musical talent, Jewel just buries Rob Thomas. I totally agree, but crowds don't always follow the best. If she tours on her own, I'd really like to see her again. She seems back in form. I just hope it's a smaller venue.
On a side note, Blossom Music Center, while not even remotely full of people last night, looks a lot better than it had previously. They've cleaned up the place, added new signage, new restrooms, and generally it just looks more like a modern venue, despite being decades old. Really great night for a show there.
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