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Soft stabs By Ben Shalev Tags: music, Tel Aviv, Joe Jackson Who was that wandering around two nights ago near the Zappa Club with a silly but happy smile on his face? Is it possible it was me? I don't remember when I was last so excited before a concert, and how great it is to report that I also don't remember the last time I was so excited during and after one. So my comments here come from someone a little bit in love. To clarify that I still have a tiny bit of objectivity, I must immediately say that the beginning of the show was poor. Not the opening number, "Home Town," but the two songs that followed from the album "Night and Day." "Stepping Out" should come at the peak of the performance, not in its early gropings, and in any case it's not a song suitable to play alone on the piano. If it is played alone, it should be with movement: Jackson should have celebrated with the song's wonderful bass part. In the middle of the song, he was joined by the drummer Dave Houghton and bassist Graham Maby, but the song just continued to lose momentum. The next number, "Another World," also lagged. A feeling of disappointment was in the air. But then the three musicians went over to two songs from Jackson's wonderful new album "Rain" and the evening took off in seconds. Advertisement Contrary to the songs from "Night and Day," which were very distant from the original versions, the offerings from the new album were simple, focused and compelling. Jackson and his partners were drenched in enthusiasm when they played them. When an artist whose heyday was 25 years ago comes to perform in Israel, it's generally enough to hear three or four of his latest songs. Jackson played six of the 10 numbers from his new album, and that was not enough. (My heart also yearned for "Wasted Time" and especially for "A Place in the Rain.") It's possible that Jackson played them in his second appearance in Israel yesterday. Houghton and Maby played together with Jackson in his first album almost 30 years ago. Maby stayed on with him but Houghton left and later returned. They play excellently on the new album and it was not surprising that on stage too they sound like a tightly knit commando unit that achieves maximum effect with a minimum of notes. In addition to Jackson's heart-rending singing, one thing was surprising - the effort they put into it. Houghton didn't have to give his all to achieve metronomic drumming. But he did nevertheless. Jackson's face has a special kind of elasticity, and the movement of his face muscles when he sang was a symphony in itself. His voice was not always exact, he did not always hit the target, but the tiny vocal slips merely strengthened his humanity. The repertoire was superb, especially for fans of the new album and "Night and Day" - five songs from the latter and some of the wonderful hits that stab so softly from the start of Jackson's career. The link between the songs was very successful (the furious "King Pleasure" flowed into the raging "On Your Radio." After a cover of the Beatles' "Girl," it was the turn of "Solo," which at times very much resembles "Happiness is a Warm Gun." Jackson wove small but enjoyable surprises into many of the songs: here an unexpected piano solo, there a quote from Gershwin or Ellington. The most enjoyable surprise came in "You Can't Get What You Want," which he performed without a piano. Your ear as well as your body may have cried out to hear the harmony with that song, but it was impossible not to respect Jackson for choosing this of all possible ways of performing it. There was another surprise: He did not smoke on stage. Another surprise was that he did an encore, even though he has the reputation of shunning them. He opened with a song by Frank Zappa as a gesture to the concert's venue, and went over to perfect pop with "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" He ended on a melancholy note with a thrilling performance of "A Slow Song." When the last notes on the piano had died down, someone in the audience shouted out: "Thank you!" and it seemed as if he was speaking for the entire audience. Thanks to a superb artist for a marvelous and moving performance. Joe Jackson, Zappa Club in Tel Aviv, March 25 Related articles: After 30 years, musician Joe Jackson realizes dream of playing in Israel Bookmark to del.icio.us   WHO knows? The WHO says Israel lets Gazans die in 'avoidable tragedies'. Friendly faces Google, Facebook and Yahoo heads will attend a J'lem technology summit.   1.   Joe Jackson 23:47  |  danite 28/03/08   2.   Joe Jackson in Israel 10:34  |  Rena 31/03/08

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