“Keep on dreaming till I get it right…even if I never get it right,” Joe Jackson sang on Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd at Clearwater’s Capitol Theater while delivering one of the standout tracks from his last superb studio album, 2015’s Fast Forward.

But, boy, did he ever get it right.

The distinguished and eclectic singer and songwriter got it more than right for the nearly two-hour banquet of musical brilliance he served up for the rapt crowd as he more than proved his stature as one of the most intriguing artists of our time.

Playlist: Listen to every song Joe Jackson played at Clearwater's Capitol Theatre on June 3

Taking his seated place on the darkened stage, a glow of purple lights beamed to find Jackson in front of his keyboard and electric piano set up to a round of thunderous applause. Dapperly dressed in black jacket and white dress shirt, the silver-haired, lanky figure wasted no time in making his Clearwater, Florida debut a jaw-dropper by immediately launching into a pristine piano-only version of his 1979 single, “It’s Different For Girls”.

Lumped in as a new wave artist based on his look and the climate of the business at the time his career began, Jackson benefitted from the exposure he gained from music press at the time, but he never really fit any corporate mold as fractured tales of romantic roles like this one proved. Still in fine vocal form and still an exquisite, emotive pianist, the opening number set the stage for the truly magnificent night of music to follow.

“Good evening…I’m the opening act,” Jackson joked as he took the opportunity to treat the audience to some solo numbers before his outstanding three piece band (including longtime bassist Graham Maby) would take their places on stage, one at a time, mid-song.

The intimate performance benefitted from Jackson’s smart and witty spoken interjections before and after songs. While it’s often common for audience members to lose interest during songs they may be unfamiliar with, Jackson made it nearly impossible to do so. Offering anecdotes, formal introductions to songs and referencing the albums from which the specific songs hail, he made the concert feel more like a guided tour through his long and storied career and his penchant for juggling genres and styles than an ordinary concert.

Joe Jackson plays Capitol Theatre in Clearwater, Florida on June 3, 2017. Credit: Caesar Carbajal

“Old songs, new songs and some covers….it’s nice when you don’t know what to expect,” Jackson chided when describing what the crowd might expect for the evening. And, with that, he delivered a breathtaking, solemn version of the Beatles nugget, “Girl” (which he introduced as a John Lennon song).

And a truly delightful mix of those elements, as he rightfully described, is exactly what we got for the duration of the night. What started as a sparse version of one of his most recognizable hits, “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” turned into a spirited audience sing-along whose hearty response seemed to surprise Jackson a bit.

Jumping around in unchronological order through his catalog, Jackson painted a lush and colorful landscape for the duration of the night. Giving insight into his last album and the different locations in which it was recorded, Jackson made this more than just an ordinary performance thanks to his personal touches.

“This one goes back to…oh my god…1982,” he laughed before delivering a rich, percussion-heavy version of “Another World,” the brilliant Latin music inspired opening cut from his best-selling album, Night and Day. Drummer Doug Yowell’s powerful playing truly shone throughout the night but not as much as on this one. Playing his small kit that included timbale drums added another layer of depth to the song which resulted in clearly one of the evening’s many highlights.

Taking a moment to acknowledge the passing of a musician that “deeply affected” him, Jackson and band jumped into a high energy reading of David Bowie’s “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)” that again wowed a crowd whose level of enthusiasm and applause seemed to escalate as the night progressed.

Jackson made light of some technical problems the band was experiencing, including a failed attempt to play the melodica (a small harmonica-like organ), and rolled right along. “People come from thousands of miles to hear me play the melodica,” he laughed.

The main set ended with a dramatic, ballad-like version of his major MTV-era hit “Steppin’ Out”. The normally bouncy, uplifting tune took on a whole nother face in this slower, sparser take but still sounded rich and bold. A truly impossible feat to pull off, to transform what is probably the artist’s best known song and deliver it in a different method, but, again, the maestro pulled it off. Dazzlingly.

An encore that featured an awesome cover of pioneering downtown New York City band Television’s “See No Evil” also featured one of Jackson’s earliest songs. “One More Time,” the first cut from his 1979 debut album Look Sharp!, which sounded as fresh and inspired as ever. And then, just as the performance began, slowly, one at a time, each band member slowly left the stage until only Jackson was left during the gut-wrenching, gorgeous performance of his somber ballad, “A Slow Song”. First Yowell, then guitarist Teddy Kumpel and finally Maby all made an exit one at a time at varying parts of the song each to rousing, well-deserved ovations to leave Joe Jackson on the stage alone.

And, as he began the night, the artist had the stage to himself and wrapped up the simply brilliant performance the way he’d begun it in grand fashion — all alone.

I can tell you with great certainty that there aren’t many musical artists around who take the stylistic leaps and bounds like Joe Jackson has throughout his nearly forty year career as a recording artist. And, similarly, I can say that this performance is one of the very best to ever grace a local stage and truly show off the musical depth and virtuosity that this amazing artist still exudes.

Listen to songs from the setlist here.

Setlist

It’s Different For Girls

Home Town

Be My Number Two

Girl (The Beatles)

Fast Forward

Is She Really Going Out With Him?

Real Men

You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)

A Little Smile

King of the City