I have two extra general admission tickets for July 8th at the PNC Bank Center in Holmdel, NJ. Total cost is $62.00. katephi@aol.com

How,in the world can Jackson,not be in the hall?It's hard to beleive.Anyway,if anyone,has tickets to Blossum,in Cleveland,I need 4.Four good ones.Please reply.How could Jackson Browne NOT be in The Hall of Fame?I really can'y beleive that.

Hey Russ,

I purchased one ticket to the Jackson show at Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA [July 5th] with the thought of driving up from Maryland to check out the show. Now, unfortunately, my schedule precludes me from making it. The ticket is in row H, Seat 21, section 103. The cost on the ticket reads $45.00. I will give it to any Jackson fan who uses it to see the show. You have to promise not to scalp it!

Thanks,

Hi! I am looking for a copy of the review in the Bangor Daily News for the Jackson Browne concert held at the Hutchins Concert Hall in Bangor held on May 6, 2002.

Thanks,

I have a good single ticket for Jackson Browne at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia, PA on July 1, 2003. The seat is located in Section: Orchestra Right, Row: P. I am withholding the seat number for privacy (but will, of course, be glad to divulge it to whoever wants the seat.) I can't use this ticket. I ordered it over the telephone and paid the regular price which was $57 ($49.50 + $7.50 service charge.) I'll eat the service charge, but I'd like to get face value for the ticket. If you are interested, please email me as soon as possible at: duffys@optonline.net.

Thanks very much. (And thank you Russ for all you do to make this a great page for Jackson fans!)

I AM NEW AT THIS AND I WANT TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO ALOT OF JACKSON FANS, SO THEY CAN E-MAIL ME BACK. I WANT TO KNOW HOW JACKSON'S UPCOMING SHOW'S ARE. I AM GOING ON 6/29, 7/01, 7/05. PLEASE TELL WHAT TO DO. I WANT BE ABLE TO TALK TO ALOT OF PEOPLE HERE. JACKSON HAS ALOT OF GREAT FANS. GET BACK TO ME, OK

Had a great time at the opener of the tour last night. It was very obvious that this setup will require a few nights to get the routine down. But the opening acoustic "mini-set" should not be missed. As always, the show start was very prompt. Jackson, Steve and Keb Mo began with each singing a choice acoustic tune of theirs. Jackson started things off with Cocaine. It has been a few years since I'd heard it (with the clean and sober verses), and it was certainly a pleasure. Steve and Keb did their songs and that led right into Steve Earle plugged in. I am a Steve Earle fan so for me it was great to hear. I'm not sure of most of the other Jackson fans, but they seemed to get into what he was saying. Steve and Jackson share many of the same viewpoints of our current government. Then an intermission after Steve did his signature "Copperhead Road". Keb Mo played his set which led right into Jackson without intermission. Many of the same songs as the winter Tom Petty tour. (I'm no good with set lists....) No Load Out/Stay or The Pretender. The show finished off with all three performers together on Take it Easy. The only thing I wanted was more Jackson.....On a positive note, if any of you are fans of the old Pacific Alliance shirts, the first album cover shirt and the Late for the Sky blue shirt, they are being sold again at the shows! I have been looking for one for years....

Driving home from last night's concert, I kept wondering how I would characterize this show for the Everypeople who are waiting for a report. I have to say that it was a good 3 1/2 hours of solid entertainment. And Guacamole really came through again with great seats--I was fourth row, dead center. Jackson looked rested, happy, and smiled a great deal throughout the show, which is always gratifying to see. And he was in particularly good voice, as were Steve and Keb. I think that's one advantage of catching the opening show of any tour--the artists aren't yet exhausted from the rigors of the road.

I have to say I was disappointed with the sound system, however. I've been to the Rosemont Theatre a few times before and have never experienced such muddy sound. First I thought it was because I was so close to the stage, but I talked with a few other list folks farther back during the intermission, and they said it wasn't all that clear back on the main floor either. I'm not sure what that's all about, because in such a small theatre, the acoustics should have been pristine. The music sounded pretty good, it was the between-song banter that could be difficult to make out.

I was surprised that the opening acoustic set only consisted of three songs. I would have loved to have heard them play together longer. I was even more surprised that Steve came out first; he has such a huge following in Chicago, that I figured Keb would go first. Anyway, Steve rocked, as always; he has such a stage presence. Afterward, there was a brief intermission--the ONLY intermission during the show.

Keb's set was actually longer than Steve's. I didn't keep track of the time or the set list, but I'm pretty certain Keb was on longer. He played a nice mix of ballads, blues, and uptempo songs, and the highlight for me was Jackson joining him for Just Like You. Beautiful rendition. But as much as I enjoyed Keb's set (and I really did), I couldn't help but feel it was going on a bit long and cutting into Jackson's stage time.

When Jackson and the band ripped into Night Inside Me, I felt as though we were going to be in for a real treat with his set. And although it was a good set, it simply was too short. And it seemed too similar to his set lists from the Petty tour. I couldn't help but think it was a good thing I like the new album as much as I do, because he played so many songs from it, and folks coming to hear his older stuff must have been disappointed. And if he was going to focus on the new CD, I really wanted to hear Stunning Mystery Companion, but no such luck.

The crowd near me was amazingly sedate throughout the entire night. Granted, I was the first to complain bitterly about the drunk and rowdy Petty fans, but this was the opposite end of the spectrum. I have never seen an audience NOT get up and dance to Steve Earle live. But with the exception of one very funny guy who danced in the aisle during Copperhead Road, the crowd remained seated throughout Steve's set. Unreal. Same for Jackson. We've discussed the etiquette of sitting down and shutting up during Late for the Sky and such, but Doctor My Eyes? Come on! Not one person stood up for that. Finally, when he started into Running on Empty, a few of us jumped up and I thought, no way am I sitting back down, this is ridiculous! Finally, halfway through the song, people started dancing in the aisles, and you could see Jackson's face light up. Clearly he feeds off the audience's energy, and enjoys seeing the crowd get into it. But it wasn't until the encore with Keb and Steve that the audience was really on its feet the way I remember a Jackson concert to be.

Don't get me wrong--the audience was very appreciative, and he received several standing ovations throughout his set. One guy yelled out after These Days "The greatest singer-songwriter EVER!" ;-)But folks were just too darned sedate otherwise. No doubt the fact that you could only drink in the lobby area had a lot to do with it, but still, you don't have to be inebriated to show a little enthusiasm.

Okay, enough with that rant. Bottom line is that my guess is this show will evolve throughout the tour, and the flavor will change with the venue. I imagine this show in a daytime, outdoor setting is inevitably going to have a different vibe to it. And I'll look forward to hearing all about it in the weeks to come.

Thanks for sticking with me through this loooong post!

JB, Steve Earle and Keb Mo - Rosemont Theater, Rosemont IL - June 22, 2003

I'll always remember this night as "Jackson Browne gets funky."

OK, I just wrote that for effect. That was really true only on the masterfully reworked "Culver Moon."

More accurately, it's "Jackson gets soulful."

As on "The Naked Ride Home", JB continued to mine a relatively untapped area of his repertoire, with help from keyboardist Jeff Young, in the opening night of his 2003 U.S. Tour, and a cameo appearance from Keb Mo.

"About My Imagination" and "For Taking the Trouble" seem to represent both a refreshing shift in direction and an expansion of the tremendous scope of JB's music -- folk, reggae, blues, Latin music, rock and even occasional hints of jazz all have popped up at various times in his career. And all have been well-executed.

As I noticed on the solo acoustic tour, Jackson's voice has never sounded better and meshes well with Young's, as it used to with Doug Haywood's for so many years. Young has a tremendous voice and his increasing vocal contributions have helped usher in this change. Percussionist Katherine Russell, based on her brief solo during "Culver Moon", hopefully will become a larger presence as the tour continues. At this point, she doesn't provide much of a presence vocally.

But it's important to keep in mind that this was the opening night of a bold experiment to blend the three performers together, rather than having them perform as separate entities.

There were kinks that need to be worked out, such as the roadies scurrying about to get Keb Mo's guitars off the stage, which touched off loud feedback at the beginning of Jackson's set. It also would have been nice to see Steve Earle add his talents to "Your Bright Baby Blues" or possibly "Redneck Friend," which wasn't offered this night. Perhaps the amount of stage time devoted to each segment (each of the three artists performed one song in an acoustic set before the concert, then played with his own band) will be reconsidered.

Viewed as a work-in-progress, though, this concert was an overwhelming success.

The fact that all three artists performed together in the three-song acoustic set and came on for cameos later (although Earle played with JB only on the encore "Take it Easy"), made it a rare, memorable concert.

In addition to adding instrumentation and backup vocals, Keb Mo and Steve Earle each sang verses of the bluesy take on JB's "Cocaine (rehab version)". Keb Mo brought out JB's band, minus new guitarist Val McCullum (who shone on "Culver Moon", "Your Bright Baby Blues" and with Lindley-like lap steel on "Running on Empty"), for the second half of his set. Then he summoned JB for a duet on "Just Like You."

Jackson reciprocated by bringing out Keb Mo to reprise his slide guitar part on "For Taking the Trouble," explaining that Keb Mo had redirected Jackson when he insisted on seeing it as a rock song. Keb Mo also added his soulful vocals to a strong rendition of "World in Motion."

For ballads, JB rejuvenated "In the Shape of a Heart" and played the "Nico version" of "These Days". He also threw the crowd a curve with the next-to-last song, calling an audible to honor a request for "Late for the Sky" and presumably dropping "The Pretender" to accommodate it. It was a slower rendition of "Late for the Sky", which drew extra attention to the poignant lyrics and was especially moving.

The set was well-paced set from the new openers "The Night Inside Me" and "About My Imagination" to standards "Doctor My Eyes" and "Running on Empty" which energized a surprisingly reticent crowd at the end. It was impressive as a reflection of JB's eclecticism.

Given the 1-hour, 20-minute time frame, JB relied quite heavily on his new CD. Four of the first six songs and five in all were from "The Naked Ride Home." Still, all were polished from the European and Asian legs of the tour and fit well with the setlist.

"Casino Nation" fit well as a companion piece to "Culver Moon". Each was a showcase for brilliant guitar work from Mark Goldenberg. Bassist Kevin McCormick and drummer Mauricio Lewak also helped transform the latter.

It was somewhat of a surprise, and a disappointment, that Jackson made no reference to the war in Iraq, neither before "Casino Nation" nor at any point during the show. Songs like "Till I Go Down" and "Lives in the Balance" also were absent from the first two legs of the tour (replaced by "World in Motion"?). JB issued no political statements of any kind, except within the verses of his songs.

Steve Earle, Keb Mo and Earle's guitarist Eric Ambel returned to the stage for a sloppy, but spirited "Take it Easy" before the Rosemont Theater staff chased everyone out.

The performance, undoubtedly, will improve as the tour progresses and the new additions master the lyrics. The same is true of "Cocaine" and of the 3 1/2 hour extravaganza -- and that's exciting because it's starting on a high plane.

The setlist:

I'm in complete agreement with the other comments about the 6-22 Chicago show. While the music sounded great, we couldn't make out alot of the dialogue, either. I also was astonished by the geriatric state of the crowd, and couldn't believe that people weren't up more. Also, while Jackson was smiling and seemed happy, I thought he seemed much more enthusiastic and "alive" at the Dec. 11th concert with Petty. Did anyone else out there who attended both concerts get that sense? Probably months on the road in Australia, Europe and Japan has taken it's toll; a month off is nothing after such a schedule.

I also wanted to voice my disappointment in such a short play set this tour. As I'm sure many who visit this website regularly do, I eagerly read every fan's concert review each month. After months of rave reviews and play lists of 21, 22, even 25 songs by Jackson in the Europe and Japan concerts, I thought we'd be in for a real treat back here, especially since Jackson had done only a small play set for the fall Petty tour. I couldn't believe he was winding things up after only 13 songs, and only did one encore, despite it being so huge and with everyone on stage. Yes, he did the mini set with Steve and Keb at the beginning, and did a beautiful song with Keb, but it's not the same as the Jackson Browne song set fans look forward to in a concert. And most of the songs he did play were the same as last time, which, despite being wonderful to hear over and over again, there's so many others you never get to hear him play (unless you are financially able to follow him around the country/world). I guess my age is starting to show, and I'm looking at things in terms of how much longer he's willing to be out there on the road for us all, singing his heart out. Every concert I'm able to attend is precious and heartfelt, and I was just hoping he'd do a few more of those special songs I read so much about on the Japan & Europe tours. I'm grateful for every moment Jackson has shared of his life and his thoughts with us, and hope and pray that he will want to continue to do so until he's, well, 80 years old! (and I bet he'd still sound wonderful)

Let me start out by clarifying for people what I think has not been clear in the promotion of this concert - Is it three headline acts, three acts performing together, or Jackson Browne with two opening acts? It's mostly the latter, but not entirely. Anyone who chooses to arrive late to miss the opening acts will also miss Jackson's first number.

Jackson Browne, Steve Earle and Keb' Mo' took the stage together at exactly 7:30. They played three songs together, each singing one of their songs, with the other two backing the singer on acoustic guitar and banjo. Jackson's number in this set was "Cocaine".

The rest of the evening went like this:

7:30 Jackson Browne, Steve Earle, Keb' Mo' performing together
7:45 - 8:35 Steve Earle on stage
8:35 Intermission
8:55 - 9:40 Keb' Mo' on stage
9:40 - 11:10 Jackson Browne on stage

Since this was the first night of this tour, they may still be adjusting this timing as the tour goes on.

Steve Earle's set was overamplified to the point where his lyrics were garbled and incomprehensible (this was not a problem with the other performers in the evening, so it had to be the way his sound was mixed). However, in fairness, I should point out that some of the crowd seemed to like his set; I presume these to be people who already knew the songs.

I was not familiar with Keb' Mo' before this concert, but I loved his set. His music is folksy, earthy and bluesy. He started out playing only on acoustic guitar. He was joined on his third or fourth number by a banjo player, and later in his set, he was backed by Jackson's band. Jackson sang with Keb' Mo' on the emotionally stirring song Just Like You.

Jackson opened his set with The Night Inside Me and went on to play 14 songs, including 5 from The Naked Ride Home and an assortment of older material. The play list was as follows:

The Night Inside Me
About My Imagination
Shape of a Heart
These Days
Casino Nation
For Taking the Trouble (accompanied by Keb' Mo')
World in Motion (accompanied by Keb' Mo')
Culver Moon
The Naked Ride Home
Your Bright Baby Blues
Doctor My Eyes
Late for the Sky (a spontaneous substitution for The Pretender)
Running on Empty
Take It Easy (the sole encore number)

This was my 35th Jackson Browne concert, and my third this year, as I was fortunate to be able to travel to Australia for his two concerts in Sydney in February. Sitting in the front row for Jackson's performance in the Sydney Opera House was the greatest thrill of a lifetime of concertgoing.

I have never been to a Jackson Browne concert where I have not been uplifted, exhilarated and inspired by the music. Tonight was no exception. Jackson sounds fabulous, even when singing songs he first recorded over 30 years ago. The play list included three of my favorite Jackson Browne concert songs - Late for the Sky, Shape of a Heart, and Running on Empty. Hearing these songs always makes my heart race, and Running on Empty is such great rock and roll that I can't resist the urge to get up and dance (and I was joined in this by many others). These Days seems to have become Jackson's favorite concert song in recent years, and the song has a beautiful simplicity that I always find stirring. Culver Moon is a song that I didn't particularly care for in its original recording, but sounds better in performance. When I saw Jackson in Sydney earlier this year, I thought Catherine Russell's vocal solo at the end of Culver Moon absolutely electrified the song for me, so when I saw her on stage tonight, I was actually looking forward to this song, and she did not disappoint. This is a highlight of the show. Of course, Doctor My Eyes is always a crowd pleaser, and Take It Easy is a great up-on-your feet crowd-pleasing encore number.

Of the newer songs that Jackson played, The Night Inside Me and The Naked Ride Home make the best concert songs. Casino Nation is a little too dark and brooding for my taste. I have been fascinated each time I have seen Jackson and the band perform this year by the instrument that Mauricio Lewak plays in For Taking the Trouble - it looks like a block of wood that he sits on and plays with a stick, producing a very brittle, percussive sound. According to the album liner notes, it is called a cajon. I had never seen one before, and it's fascinating to watch and listen to.

Jackson's band included Mark Goldenberg (guitar), Jeff Young (keyboards), Mauricio Lewak (drums), Kevin McCormick (bass), Val McCallum (guitar), and Catherine Russell (vocals and percussion).

This big disappointment in this concert is that in a 3 hour, 40 minute show, Jackson plays for only an hour and a half, and only plays one encore number. For the true diehard fans who want to hear three decades of music, this just isn't enough. I would like to believe that as this tour goes on Jackson will squeeze in more songs, but with two other performers on the bill, the distribution of stage time probably won't change much. But an hour and half of Jackson's music is still an hour and a half of passion, excitement and elation that I would not have otherwise had.

Hi Russ-

I love this web site! Thanks for providing it for all the Jackson fans. I have 2 tickets that I won't be using for the Chronicle Pavilion in Concord, Ca. on July 25. They are great seats - section 3 (pit) row DD seats 10 & 11. Check them out at www.chroniclepavilion.com/seating.asp. I wish I could afford to give them away, but I really can't. I paid $129.90 at ticketmaster. If anyone is interested, they can email me at kanerd04@adelphia.net. I hope everyone has a great time at all the JB concerts this summer! Peace.

I saw the first show of his summer tour on June 22 in Chicago. The Rosemont Theatre is a great venue, not a bad seat in the house. I was in the 7th row. I am a huge JB fan. I have seen him many times in the last 20 years. I thought he sounded great!! But I was disappointed that he didn't play longer. He was the headliner and should have played longer. I like his new stuff a lot...off The Naked Ride Home which he played a lot of. The old stuff he did I really enjoyed. But I can't believe he didn't do The Load Out/Stay. I have never seen him when he didn't end with that. The audience was a little too subdued for my taste. Sort of a more laid back crowd. I enjoyed the other acts he played with but I definitely wanted more Jackson. I agree with others who posted about the sound system..I could hardly understand anything Steve Earl sang. They seemed to get it fixed by the time JB played. I was glad he decided to play Late for the Sky but sorry it was at the expense of The Pretender. My favorite JB song is You Love the Thunder from Running on Empty, I would have loved to have heard that. Nothing from the Hold Out which is my favorite JB Album. I will continue to watch this site for reviews of other shows and see if anything changes. I'm glad I went, my husband was disappointed he didn't play more of his classic stuff. I found the show totally enjoyable. I think he is an extraordinary talent and one of the greatest singer/songwriters ever. I personally was glad that he left his political views out of this concert. I don't pay to hear artists views of whatever administration is in office. I pay to hear them play music. I was once at a concert of his where he really went rambling on and on about a political topic at the time. After about 8 minutes the crowd began to boo him. I felt bad for him, he lost the momentum that he had with the audience and it took a toll on the rest of the show.

I look forward to the next time he comes through Chicago.

Here's a review from the Dayton Daily News:

www.daytondailynews.com/life/content/life/daily/0626fraze.html

Went to Pittsburgh for the latest JB show (my 20 something) last night. After reading the reviews and set list I went with a disappointed feeling. Oh how wrong I was. They opened with The Pretender and it was plain to see it was going to be a great night. Jackson was antimated and a little more chatty than usual. The crowd was very responsive and he fed on them all night. Also strayed from opening night with Barricades of Heaven and a stunning Lives in the Balance. Never saw Steve Earle or Keb Mo, but they were very good, also. The show starts promptly with the 3 of them playing a mini acoustic set. It's off to Cleveland for Saturday's show with 4th row benefit seats. Can't wait!

Hello Russ,

Long time listener, first time caller. My wife & I are able to go to the first 5 shows of this tour. We have been to Chicago, Dayton and Pittsburgh. The show is awesome. Most of the show seems to follow a set with a few requests granted. However, each show has a different set. We had an opportunity to talk with Jackson before the Pit show last evening. He came over to the side of the stage after jamming with Steve Earle and Keb' Mo' prior to the concert. Jackson is so down to earth, friendly and gracious to his fans. Thank you for Looking East Jackson! In regards to the disappointed fans that Jackson isn't playing long enough. The tour has 3 groups with about 15 musicians. The solo acoustic tour last year was all Jackson. May I suggest that if you want to see more Jackson on this tour that you travel to several venues.

My sister and I made the 2 hour drive from Akron, Oh to Pittsburgh, PA. to see the concert. I will see him again here on Saturday, but she will be out of town. We had read the reviews from the IL show, and were expecting the same. I was pleasantly surprised by the set list we had.

A special treat awaited us as we arrived at the venue about 4:30 pm. We could hear the sound check so we walked down to see what was going on. There was Jackson at the key board. We heard The Pretender as we approached, then Fountain of Sorrow, and some parts of a few others. We stood there at least 20 minutes. It was really cool. Jackson looked over and waved as were were only 40 yards away. That could never happen at Blossom.

The venue sounded pretty good considering it is just a large asphalt parking lot with folding chairs. The only other comment, which Jackson also made, we the amount of train activity at the station. I think I am spoiled by our Blossom Music Center which is an awesome outdoor ampitheater with great acoustics in a beautiful setting.

All in all, I thought the concert was great. Jackson came on promptly at 7:30 and played for 15 minutes with Steve Earle and the Dukes and Keb Mo. Steve Earle then played for 45 minutes. I had not heard him before and he was OK.

There was an intermission from 8:30- 8:50. Keb Mo played a great set that I really enjoyed. At about 9:20 jackson came out, played a song with Keb Mo then at 9:30 opened with The Pretender, which was a great surprise. He played until 11:00 non stop. He did a second encore which was another surprise but disappointing in that it was not a a song I had ever heard before and Steve Earle was on guitar and vocals.

I cannot wait for Sat 6/28 when I will see him again at Blossom.

Set List- June 25 Pittsbugh Chevrolet Ampitheater at Station Square

Cocaine- Jackson, Steve Earle and Keb Mo Just Like You- Jackson and Keb Mo

Jackson and his band
The Pretender
About My Imagination
The Barricades of Heaven
These Days
Naked Ride Home
Lives In the Balance
For Taking the Trouble (with Keb Mo)
World In Motion (with Keb Mo)
Culver Moon
Late For the Sky
Doctor My Eyes
Running on Empty
Encore#1- Take it Easy
Encore #2- another song with Steve Earle on Guitar and vocals, and jackson on keyboard. not a song I knew. It maybe called I ain't ever satisfied

Here's a review from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

www.post-gazette.com/ae/20030626jacksonp4.asp

Hi Russ - The tickets that I posted here a couple days ago for the Chronicle Pavilion in Concord have been spoken for. Thanks for helping me connect with other fans! I have one more great pair of tickets that I, again, cannot afford to give away, but I would like to find fans that want them. These are for July 21 at the Clark County Amphitheater in Ridgefield, WA. (www.clarkcountyamp.com/seating/seating.asp) Section 102, Row G. I paid ticketmaster $115.75. Anyone who is interested can email me at: kanerd04@adelphia.net. Thanks to everyone sending concert reviews to this site. It helps get the rest of us psyched for the shows we will be seeing!

I have two extra tickets to the Jackson Browne concert on July 6, 2003 at 7:30 pm at the FleetBoston Pavilion. The seats are located at Section1, Row CC, Seats26-27. I purchased two sets of tickets but only need one, and am willing to sell this set at face value, $45.00 per ticket, plus shipping. These are excellent seats! If you are interested, please contact me at AttyCMSullivan@aol.com

Still filled with warm thoughts of last night's show as I write this Saturday morning. This is a wonderful tour of three very committed musicians. Yes, Jackson's set was "short" by comparison to his tours where he is the only one on the bill but this show is special because he is playing with two pals and clearly enjoying every minute of it.

I got to the Amphitheatre in plenty of time and those of you going to shows over the next few weeks should be apprised--GET THERE ON TIME!!! With only a few hundred people around for the 7 pm start, it made it seem like the three song acoustic set was being played in my living room (of course the tickets I got through the Guacamole Fund (4th row) helped). Steve and Jackson's teamed up for "Cocaine" (Jackson, in his words, sang the "rehab" version while Steve provided the original "unrepentent" lyrics). Steve did his anti-death penalty song (and congratulated Michigan for not being a death penalty state)and Keb Mo' did a song on banjo ("Yes, I know how to play the banjo and no one is going to stop me" elicited a good laugh from Jackson).

Steve Earle and the Dukes followed with a series of hard-rocking numbers, some of them very political. Though there wasn't much dialogue of a political nature, all three of these guys said a lot through their music--Jackson's "Casino Nation" was superb.

The big surprise for me was Keb Mo's set. I had never seen him perform live and was pleased with what he had to offer. A rather tall man topped by a funky hat (similar to a bowler), he has some serious stage presence. The singing and musicianship were superb. A great set backed up by Jackson's band with bass man Kevin McCormick clearly in a groove with Keb.

A quick transition to Jackson as he opened with "The Pretender" and then went into material from "Naked Ride Home" interspersed with crowd pleasers such as "In the Shape of a Heart." He is changing the set list nightly and though I did not keep a list of all songs played, I would say about 25% of the music varies from night to night. A highlight for me was one I'd never heard live in thirty years of seeing Jackson--"I am a Child." Another fave for the evening was "For Taking the Trouble." Keb Mo' came out to play and sing on a couple of tunes and all three played in the encore "Take it Easy."

A highlight for me was Jackson's remark about the venue. Set in the woods, it was once called "Pine Knob Music Theatre" now is labeled with a corporate name which I won't dignify by naming, Jackson remarked that he had been coming to this ampitheatre since he had first fronted for "America" in 1972. I was at that show and became enthralled by Jackson even though the rest of the crowd was hardly paying attention. It's a beautiful place to listen to music and Detroit always seems to respond enthusiastically to Jackson's big heart and magnificent soul.

This tour has a special spirit to it because of Jackson's tour-mates. Lots of good music with the right mix of social commentary. See this show because it has a very good feel to it and is rather unique from Jackson's recent band tours.

Saw JB last night for the fifteenth, maybe sixteenth time. Opened with The Pretender, and threw in some great classics: I Am a Child, Late for the Sky, These Days. I was thinking this was going to be a great show. He really got the crowd into it with Doctor My Eyes, followed by Running on Empty, to end the show. Came out for an encore with Keb Mo and Steve Earle and sang Take It Easy...and that was it. JB played for one hour and fifteen minutes. Many people were complaining on the way out about how he could end the show so abruptly, and while everyone was so into it. DTE Energy Center has a rule that all shows must end by 11:00PM, however, this was 10:15. I never heard complaints about his shows in the past. One lady said she would never go see him again. I would not go that far, however, I was disappointed with the length of the show. He interacted very little with the crowd, and when he did, he talked about the weather !!! My wife suggested maybe he wasn't feeling good, and that is a possibility I guess. If anyone was there last night, I'd be curious what your thoughts are.

jackson sounded great at Blossom...what a great venue.

I saw the Pittsburgh show and that was great, but Blossom is designed for music. It is the home of our orchestra, and he sounded great. Same program, but did mix it up a bit on the set list;

Is was truly wonderful

Hi Russ:

First, I think this is a great site and I really enjoy reading the concert reviews. I'm a relatively new Jackson fan since my husband turned me on to his music a few years ago. Now I just can't get enough of his music! Most of his songs have wonderful lyrics and he has an amazing voice. Thanks to this site I became familiar with Late For The Sky, and introduced this album to my husband and it is probably one of our favourites. The concert in Pittsburgh was our first and we really enjoyed it! Thanks to your site I knew to get there early so we didn't miss the acoustic set. Jackson's voice was superb and he seemed to be really enjoying himself as well. The songs he choose to play that evening were quite varied, though I had expected to hear more from the new album. I do enjoy the new album. We enjoyed the evening and I definitely want to see him play again. I'm really envious of those fans that write in saying that they are going to multiple concerts. The only negative thing had to be this type of venue with people constantly coming and going and having little respect for the performers. This is very distracting. By the end of the concert most people were on their feet and Jackson was leaving us all wanting more!

Oh and by the way, we're from Canada (near Niagara Falls) and we're really glad we made the trip! Jackson does have some Canadian fans too!

All I can say after attending the show in Cleveland (Blossom Music Center) last night is WOW !! I have to confess, the actual reason I went to the show was to see one of my favorites, Keb Mo. That said, I was completely in awe of the talent that possessed the stage the entire night! I was happy to see that "the good ole boys" still have a leg up on some of these new rock n rollers (no offense). Needless, to say, due to my enthusiasm, I have stumbled onto this site in my urge to soak in as much information about the talent as I can. To all of the JB fans, I'm sure this will be an "I can't believe she's asking this" kind of question, but WHO is the lead guitar player.. older gentleman, espanic looking ? Jeeze..o..Friday ! Can he PLAY !! I am proud to say, I am now a true JB Fan for life !!