Written by Samuel Barker
Jul 20, 2002 at 08:00 PM
ImageWhen Jewel took a fall from her horse earlier this year, tour plans came to a grinding halt and no one was sure when Jewel would make it on the road to support her new album, This Way.

Finally mending a bit, Jewel decided to give it the old college try and bring her show across the states and test her new material on her audience, which is growing increasingly younger.

Perhaps in an attempt to find a positive female role model who is not just a mouth piece for overweight balding men who write songs about loving young boys, young girls are finding a glimmer of hope in the songwriting, guitar wielding Jewel.

To add some humor to the set, Jewel recounted her incident with her equestrian folly that left her with a broken collar bone and a few broken ribs. You could feel the awkwardness in her voice as she told of her boyfriend’s reassurance that the horse “will not buck you off.”

Due to her injuries, Jewel could not play guitar as much as she usually does live. This bit of freedom was not lost as Jewel took the opportunity to dance around the stage and play to the audience. She did, however, have an awkwardness that one could not help but notice as she favored her right side, which was still battered from the fall..

Surprisingly enough, Jewel’s younger fans seemed more educated in her music as they sang along to most of the songs and even knew all the words to the first single from This Way, Standing Still.

It took nine songs for it to happen, but Jewel finally pulled on her guitar, as the rest of the band took a breather, and played The Morning Song. The audience was delighted to see Jewel play her trademark folky solo guitar.

To add to the event, Jewel added a cheesy sentimental vibe through the venue as she brought her dad, who did a few songs by himself. His best moment was an updated version of the song he did for Jewel on her 16th birthday, Sweet Sixteen Lullaby.

The yodeling and cheeseball vibe of the abbreviated set broke down the momentum, but it was quickly saved as Jewel went into her past hit, You Were Meant For Me.

Winding down her set with Who Will Save Your Soul, which featured a ridiculously long and tedious bass solo to open, the audience was patient and sang along. This led to them being rewarded with an encore opener of Foolish Games.

Closing with a cover of The Other Woman, Jewel displayed her vocal range and talent, but added another dimension of awkwardness to the set. The vintage soul feel did not site well with the folksy, rock sound of her personal songs. Talent was displayed, but momentum was broke. To Jewel’s credit, she did wait to the conclusion to break it down.