Friday, March 7, 1997

Jewel sparkles in front of packed house

 To say a performance was tight is a great compliment to a musician. It's an indication of a slick, professional show.
 
 Here's a different kind of compliment.
 
 Folk singer Jewel came to Toronto Thursday night and entertained a sold out house at the Music Hall on Danforth Ave. in Toronto with a show that was full of spontaneity, good humor, beautiful vocals and some excellent folk songs. Yet, it was anything but tight. And in that lay the concert's greatest charm.
 
 From the opening chords of "Near You Always" to the encore where the 22-year-old yodelled through Neil Young's "Love Is A Rose," one never lost the sense that this show was being made up as we went along.
 
 Jewel did nothing to dispel such feelings when, part way through, she openly debated for several minutes with guitarist Steve Poltz and cellist John Hagen whether they should join her in playing "Adrian," a song off the folk singer's debut album Pieces Of You. (For the record, the pair did come on stage and played a quite remarkable version, having apparently little practice before hand.)
 
 But unprofessional as it all may have been, the audience was eating it up.
 
 "Will you just travel with me and teach the audiences in the U.S. how to act," the singer cooed early on, telling the audience of a fan in New York last week who yelled "Take off your clothes," after one of her numbers.
 
 Though Jewel's guitar playing was lumbering at times, it couldn't detract from her strong suit: A powerful and lovely voice that wove through the octaves with remarkable grace. This despite a cold that she'd been fighting for several weeks. She only missed the mark on a few occasions, vocal chords tiring near the end of the set.
 
 She even had a little fun with it, singing a song called "Do You Want To Catch A Cold With Me" and telling the audience, "I wrote this on my way to Toronto (several years ago). I had a cold then too. Because it's cold here, guys."
 
 Aside from playing most of the night solo, Jewel was joined midway through the set by backup/opening band The Rugburns for several songs including "You Were Meant For Me" and later, in the encore, "Who Will Save Your Soul." Hagen's smooth accompanying cello also punctuated several good numbers throughout the night.
 
 Jewel seemed most excited, though, when she got to bring out Poltz - who she met years ago while working in a coffee shop in San Diego - to accompany her on guitar or to sing a duet. Despite the acoustic instruments, there was definetly something electric happening there.
 
 But the evening's highlight was again one of those moments you could never plan. Having forgotten the words to "Painters" and ready to give the song up, Jewel turned to audience members sitting three rows back and asked one who'd been calling the words out to come up and join her.
 
 The young lad stood up and produced a bouquet of flowers which he carried to the stage. Behind him came six friends, each carrying their own bunch of flowers to the singer's shock and obvious pleasure. All seven got to join Jewel on stage, the first one holding up piece of paper with the words to the song, indicating the lines for Jewel as she took another run at "Painters."
 
 Try getting that at one of those slick, tight concerts the so-called professionals put on.

Set List		Concert rating