By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
July 16, 2002
Jewel may have been nursing a broken collarbone and ribs, but there was nothing ailing her voice Sunday night at the Chicago Theatre. Backed by a five-piece band, the singer-songwriter captivated the sold-out crowd with a two-hour plus concert that showed off her flexible range. She sang all the expected hits from her three studio albums (excluding her Christmas CD, for obvious reasons).
But it wasn’t the charttoppers that were the most memorable selections of the evening. It was the songs from her latest album, “This Way,” that introduce a confident young woman who doesn’t need to rely on a little-girl persona to keep an audience engrossed. Jewel certainly hasn’t lost her sweet, girlish touch, as was apparent on a bell-like rendition of “Standing Still.” But listen to her growling take on “Jesus Loves You,” and you wonder why she didn’t rock out earlier in her career.
Jewel was just 20 in 1994 when she released her debut album, “Pieces of You.” Many of those songs were written while she was still a teenager who couldn’t even dream of the type of success and fame that was awaiting her. But you hear in them the promise of the songwriter she would become.
One minute she’ll be enticing a lover to “catch a cold with me.” The next, she’s paying a hushed, gorgeous homage to a friend who died of cancer. And as for the jazzy blues arrangements that found their way into the production, they were well done, though she went overboard on the extended, jazzed-up “Who Will Save Your Soul?” (which went on for at least two minutes too long). But that was forgiven by her first encore, when she performed a haunting version of “Foolish Games.”
Dressed in a bright white halter top and snug faded jeans, but without her guitar for most of the evening, Jewel at times looked like an endearing little kid who didn’t know what to do with her hands. Because she has another month to go before her injuries–suffered in April when was thrown from a horse at her boyfriend’s ranch–heal, she played her guitar sparingly.
Though she jokingly said, “As great a dancer as I am, you really won’t miss my guitar,” she was right. Though she seemed relieved to accompany herself with an acoustic guitar for such numbers as “You Were Meant for Me” and “Little Sister,” she rose to the challenge of playing the role of just the singer that night.
If there’s one thing all the years of touring have taught her is that when mishaps occur, just go with the flow. When the sound faded out during a couple of numbers, making her completely inaudible for half a minute, she didn’t stop the show and restart the number. She kept on singing until the sound engineers caught up.
The show must go on, and it did. Nothing perturbed her. Not the catcalls from the audience. Not the fans who sang along with her. And not even her broken bones.
On the Warhol-inspired backdrop that adorned the stage, one sign read, “Are you doing all you can?”
Jewel can safely answer, “Yes.”
