THIS IS NOT RETRO SAYS…
Towards the end of the first set at the Bournemouth show – this one dedicated to the ‘Dream Into Action’ album – and before introducing the track ‘Life In One Day’, Howard shared a story about how concerned his record label were on first hearing the album that, prior to the addition of that song, it might be somewhat lacking in singles. To be honest they may have been right because the first half of this evening’s show takes a bit of time to get going. Partly that’s down to the album itself, ‘Dream Into Action’ – heavy on introspective, atmospheric material and rather light on crowd-pleasing pop hits – is a tricky album to present within the confines of this format, but the performance itself is oddly lacking in energy, with Howard and the two musicians who make up his band tending to remain static and hidden behind their respective consoles leaving most of the visual effects to a huge screen behind the stage that mostly played rather uninspiring screensaver-style animations.
A break between the two sets of almost forty minutes felt much too long at the time, but it did give the audience time to have a couple of drinks and loosen up for the second performance of the evening, dedicated to Jones’ debut album ‘Human’s Lib’.
The difference between the two sets was extraordinary with the band on fine form, and Jones in particular appearing much more relaxed and comfortable with the ‘Human’s Lib’ material. It’s not a long album, but for me this second half flew by. From the instrumental opener ‘China Dance’ my highlights included a poignant ‘Hide & Seek’, a monster reinterpretation of ‘What Is Love?’ – which pretty much justified the entire evening on its own – and a rousing version of ‘New Song’ to finish.

To steal a phrase from football this was a game of two halves. I’m just glad I stuck around for the second!

HOWARD JONES - Human's Lib / Dream Into Action Tour 2012

WE’LL GIVE IT…

TYPICAL SETLIST

BOURNEMOUTH O2 ACADEMY – 20/4/2012
SET 1
– Automaton / Why Look for the Key / Is There A Difference? / Assault & Battery / Look Mama / Elegy / Specialty / Dream Into Action / Hunger For The Flesh / No-One Is To Blame / Bounce Right Back / Life In One Day / Like To Get To Know You Well / Things Can Only Get Better SET 2 – China Dance / Conditioning / Pearl In The Shell / Natural / Hunt The Self / Don’t Always Look At The Rain / Equality / Hide & Seek / Human’s Lib / What Is Love? / New Song

TOUR DATES

APRIL
11 – O2 Academy Bristol / 12 – O2 Academy Sheffield / 13 – O2 Academy Liverpool / 14 – O2 Academy Birmingham / 17 – O2 Academy Newcastle / 18 – O2 ABC Glasgow / 20 – O2 Academy Bournemouth / 21 – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London
JUNE
23 – Mayo Performing Arts Center, Morristown, NJ / 28 – Moody Theater, Austin, Texas / 29 – House Of Blues, Dallas, Texas / 30 – House Of Blues, Houston, Texas
JULY
7 – Paramount Theater, NYC / 12 – Mezzanine, San Francisco / 13 – Canyon Theater, Agoura Hills / 14 – Sycuan Showcase Theatre, El Cajon / 15 – The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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[five-star-rating]