There's plenty of life left in this reliable old piano man
Joe Jackson claimed in the Nineties that he had quit the music industry. But the crooner, pianist and hit-maker extraordinaire seems to have a rather loose grasp of the concept of retirement.
At his last Dublin concert, Jackson road-tested a selection of new tracks that became the bulk of the new 'Rain' album which was released at the end of January this year.
He announces, to the crowd's audible delight, that although he will play material from 'Rain', there'll be plenty of hits cherrypicked from his whopping back catalogue.
This policy is typical of Jackson, who has garnered a reputation for hiring the very best musicians, putting on almost immaculate shows and always upholding the ambition of delivering decent value for money.
True to his track record, the show sounds great.
No expense or effort is spared and his crew have shipped in an extra sound desk.
The curious thing is that it's still difficult to pin down the real Joe Jackson after all these years.
His smooth piano ballads can steer perilously close to the middle of the road.
But he displays such a high standard of musicianship that he often comes across as closer to a gifted composer rather than just another mere singer or song-and-dance man. Jackson can bash out the crowd-pleasers like 'Steppin' Out' with aplomb like the best cabaret singer in town.
But curiously, this is the very same artist that brought new wave to the US with Graham Parker and Elvis Costello in the Seventies.
And given how well he looks and how fresh and vital this performance is, this uncategorisable and unique artist should have plenty of life left in him yet.
- Eamon Sweeney
