Sunday papers

July 5, 2009 - 8:15 PM by Jessica

joe-jackson Given my recent homeboundedness (not surprising with nearly nine-month-old twins), my happiness knew no bounds when my husband urged me to buy tickets for the Joe Jackson concert last Thursday night in Tel Aviv. A concert! With old fave Joe Jackson! In Tel Aviv! At Hangar 11 in the Namal!

The concert was fun — what’s not fun about a night off in Tel Aviv with two friends and no babies — but low-key. Joe, it must be said, was in great form, played a good amount of his newer music from more recent albums, but allowed for a solid number of older numbers, including ‘Sunday Papers,’ ‘Steppin’ Out,’ ‘Fools in Love’ and ‘Is She Really Going Out With Him,’ my own personal favorite and his very last encore of the night.

At 53, the tall, thin Jackson, in his dark suit — no tie — and slicked back hair — hard to tell if it’s gray or still blonde — sat at his piano and sipped at a thermal mug throughout, sometimes chatting with the audience. It was his second time in Israel, having been here last summer, and he was clearly pleased to be back. But while he’s got fans here, he couldn’t sell enough tickets for two nights of performances, and they ended up combining the two shows into one. Even then, the port’s spacious and starkly black Hangar 11 wasn’t filled, which made for lots of space and extra chairs for putting up one’s feet. This was not a dancing crowd, and if you wanted to get up and boogie, you were told by the ushers to do so in the wide side aisles.

And as to be expected at the performance of a former angry New Wave musician who came of artistic age in the late 1970s, the crowd was mostly older, 30s, 40s and 50s, with some teenagers brought along by their parents.

So it was a sedate crowd, one which was content to sit in the comfortable black chairs, sipping their beers and drinks, laughing when Jackson good-naturedly told some audience members: “Shut up, I don’t take requests!”

I can imagine that it’s boring to constantly be asked to play one’s older numbers, particularly when you’ve been doing this for the last 25 years, as Jackson has. And what’s interesting about his newer albums, which I’m not as familiar with, is that their sound and words bear the unmistakable stamp of Joe Jackson, and are therefore easy listening, although not to be mistaken for Muzak-like ‘easy listening.’ As always, the never-married Jackson sings about love and unrequited love, lonely nights and how to survive the solitude.

Fools in love they think they’re heroes
’cause they get to feel no pain
I say fools in love are zeros
I should know, I should know
Because this fool’s in love again

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