Dynamic Howard Jones acoustic set thrills the Apex audience

Howard Jones Acoustic Trio, Apex, Sunday, October 16

There’s something really different yet so appealing about musicians performing acoustic sets.

You sometimes get the impression that it’s not going to be up there with the buzz and beat of a group or a band on stage.

But that was not the case last night when Howard Jones came to town.

The Apex was nearly full to capacity as he performed a 90-minute set which displayed his undoubted talent and was intermingled with an array of hit songs along with some memorable and anecdotal tales about his musical journey.

Hailed by many as an electronic music pioneer he told of collaborating with Phil Collins for one of his songs and also how he rehearsed just moments before going on stage in front of no less that Peter Townshend and David Bowie.

He took to the stage with guitarist Robin Boult and bass player Nick Beggs, both seriously accomplished musicians with a raft of experience behind them.

Nick is a former member of Kajagoogoo and has performed with Belinda Carlisle and John Paul Jones and included in the set was his band’s 1983 number one hit “Too Shy” which has the iconic bass rift throughout the song.

Robin, meanwhile, has played with Roger Daltrey, Dave Stewart and Fish, and displayed his genius talent linking up with Howard with a series of Latin-orientated and funky riffs and solos.

The whole evening was dotted with a series of wonderful tunes and magical keyboards by the star of the show who featured some of his best known songs from his lengthy musical catalogue.

They included “Specialty”, “Don’t Always Look At The Rain”, “No One Is To Blame”, “Tomorrow Is Now”, “Life In One Day”, “Like To Get To Know You Well”, “Things Can Only Get Better”, “New Song”, “Everlasting Love”, “Hide And Seek” and his smash hit “What Is Love”.

Howard first burst upon the contemporary music scene in 1983, with his very English song-writing and pioneering synthesizers. 

His first two albums “Human’s Lib” and “Dream into Action” were worldwide hits. “Human’s Lib” was Number 1 in 1984 in the UK and featured the hits “New Song” and “What Is Love?”.

In 1985, he released the follow-up, “Dream into Action”, which quickly became a Top Ten Platinum album in North America. It featured the smash hit singles “Things Can Only Get Better”, “Life In One Day”, “No One Is To Blame” and “Like To Get To Know You Well”.

Howard has sold over eight million albums worldwide and continues to make new music and tour the world. His most recent album, the Top 40 album “Transform”, is his first new studio album in nearly a decade and he is currently on a UK and European tour which culminates next month in Bremen, Germany.

Special guest on last night’s show was singer-songwriter Roxanne de Bastion who got the evening off in grand style before Howard and his two pals took to the stage.