Mr. Jones has come to The Netherlands, and it was long due. De Boerderij in Zoetermeer was packed with HoJo-fans born in the fifties, sixties and seventies and their curious spouses, friends and children. It likely was not sold out, which provided enough standing, dancing and cheering space for everyone. The audience got a nice warming up treat: a dj played all kinds of hits from 80's new wave acts like Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Simple Minds, Propaganda, Blondie, A-Ha, Ultravox, Soft Cell, Kim Wilde, King, etc. It fitted perfectly. The start time of the actual concert was half past eight (20.30), but when the dj still played around ten before nine (20.50) people started chanting and cheering for Howard to finally come on stage. I feared some technical issue with the equipment of Howard was the cause of the delay and wondered if maybe the crew at De Boerderij should have taken a mic and say something about this. Just when I believed the DJ was actually becoming the headliner act, his gear was taken from the stage, causing a happy commotion amongst the crowd. He was finally about to come on stage! At nine o'clock (21.00) a snow white haired Howard Jones wearing an extraordinary taupe corduroy suit came on stage. He said he felt like starting the show solo on his piano. He played a beautiful version of his big hit from the eighties Hide and Seek. Then the rest of the four piece band - himself on vocals and various keyboards, a second keyboardist, a drummer-third keyboardist and a guitarist - came on stage for two songs from his newest album (Transform). It was quite an experience; the electronical sound was cranked up to maximum volume, but it was so beautifully mixed it never got distorted or overdriven. One could feel the bass passing through the body from head to toes. The rest of the evening was a mix of songs from the Human's Lib, Dream Into Action, One To One, Cross That Line, Engage and Transform albums. He switched between the full electronical keyboardsound with pounding beat and bass, and the more intimate piano and acoustic guitar arrangements. There were lots of cool videoprojections with both stunning visuals from his latest music videos and funny alludations to his early years. After about 85 minutes the guys went off stage, only to return a few minutes later playing a danceable, extended version of Things Can Only Get Better as a much anticipated encore. It was a joy and a sheer privilege to be able to see one of my musical heroes since I was a teenager - my first album, Dream Into Action, I got in 1994 - perform. It's widely known that throughout his career he was not the biggest star on continental Europe and The Netherlands in particular; he only had a few minor hits in the eighties, but it was a delight to see that I was by far not the only fan to come to his show. It was an amazing concert.
