On Sunday 6/4/06, I made my way on down to one of the best places to see a show in New England, the Mohegan Sun Arena. This time around I was slated to check out two performers who I never thought I'd see live: Rob Thomas and Jewel. Along with them, they brought Toby Lightman to kick off each night of the tour. All the cards were there to have an exciting and moving show.
At 6:55pm the house lights went down and Toby Lightman took the stage with an acoustic guitar strapped to her and a piano player by her side. She dove right into her unique blend of acoustic, piano backed music, proving she could hold her own supporting two sensational singers with her soothing vocals. Toby is touring in support of her forthcoming sophomore album, Bird on a Wire. Her twenty minute set consisted of a handful of tracks from that album as well as a track or two off of her debut album, Little Things. The audience was in full attention and Toby received an enthusiastic response and a great deal of applause. Although her set was short, she made her mark and you can be sure that she'll have a crowd then next time she rolls through CT.
After a speedy twenty minute set change, the lights went down once again and the crowd screamed as if they had been waiting to see Jewel all their life. The famous piano chord from "Foolish Games" was played as a light shined on the piano player. Then the angel-like vocals of Jewel began and a light shone upon her as if from the heavens and the fans' screams became more deafening. Mid-song, her band, comprised of a few guitarists at times, a bassist, a drummer, and some back-up singers, joined in giving the song full life. Wasting no time, Jewel dove into three tracks from her new album Goodbye Alice In Wonderland, all of which were extremely well received. She then brought it back to the classic radio hit "Hands" with nearly every person in the venue singing along. Jewel's set lasted about one hour and ten minutes and included tracks from all of her albums and even the simply beautiful rarity, "Chime Bells." Much of the tracks had new life to them and were not direct representations of the album versions, which is a true sign of artist creativity. One of the most notable performances of the evening was a solo acoustic rendition of "You Were Meant For Me." Even her "poppy" single "Intuition" went over well with the fans, as it sounded much rawer with real music being played rather than electronics.
Aside from performing all of the tracks live amazingly, Jewel also took time to tell intimate stories about certain songs like "Good Day," "Love Me Just Leave Me Alone," and the moving life story of how she hitchhiked to Mexico when she was only 16 for spring break about the people she encountered along the way "Who Will Save Your Soul." She even spoke of how she cried the first time she heard her song on the radio. "It wasn't because I was happy," Jewel stated oddly, "but because I realized that I sounded like Kermit the Frog." With that being said, Jewel and her band went into the colossal show closer "Who Will Save Your Soul." Another point worth mentioning was the beautiful backdrop that hung behind the stage. It was a combination of artwork related to her new album, featuring trees, animals, plants and a beautiful sky. Throughout the show the various lighting effects that shined upon the stage breathed life into the background adding to the already stellar show. Jewel's full setlist was as follows:
After a riveting performance by Jewel, the crowd was more than ready for Rob Thomas. After half an hour, the lights went down for the third and final time of the night and the band took the stage, with Rob Thomas himself being the last. Starting the night off with a bang, they broke into Rob's first hit single from his solo album Something To Be, "This Is How A Heart Breaks." The fans danced in the isles and sang along happily as the band moved around the stage with full on energy, wearing nothing but smiles from the massive positive reaction. Rob took mention of the fans enthusiasm early on by stating "You guys are a Sunday night crowd, but you act like a Saturday night crowd." With a big smile, he continued "And you're better than a Friday night crowd!"
For nearly two hours they performed multiple tracks off of Something To Be, as well as digging into the Matchbox Twenty catalogue and some unlikely surprises such as a great cover of David Bowie's "Let's Dance" and a truly moving version of Van Morrison's "Into The Mystic" mixed into "3 AM." Other highlights of the set were the performance of the melancholy "You Won't Be Mine" with Rob on piano and a jaw-dropping acoustic version of "Bent" that surpassed the original by far. Much like Jewel did, Rob also took time to share intimate stories about his life and music. Before he performed "3 AM" he told the story how it was the first song he wrote. "I wrote this song to get laid," Rob said with a huge grin on his face. He continued humorously, "When you live in the South and you don't know anything about cars or sports, you don't have any other options." At one point he saw his dog, Tyler, on the side of the stage and called her over to him and gave it a kiss, making everyone in the house go "Awwww," in which Rob continued to talk about how much he loved his pup.
After a great set full of entertaining lights, solid music, interesting stories, and enough memories to live on for quite some time, Rob and his band closed the evening with "I Am An Illusion," ending on a strong note. Rob's set included (not in order) the following tunes:
Overall it was an outstanding show and I was pleasantly surprised. I went to see Jewel, but left being a fan of both Toby Lightman and Rob Thomas as well. All three artists put on superb shows and there was not a dull moment throughout.
For more information on Rob Thomas check out www.robthomasmusic.com. For more information on Jewel check out www.jeweljk.com. For more information on Toby Lightman check out www.tobylightman.net.
A big thanks to Joe at Mohegan Sun for hooking us up for the show. You can check out all that Mohegan Sun has to offer at www.mohegansun.com.