If Bruce Springsteen had a twin sister it would be Melissa Etheridge and Jewel would be their angelic alter ego. Monday night’s show offered the perfect yin and yang of smoky passion and sweet soul. Their co-headlined, sold-out show thrilled the Salt Lake City audience with two masterful performances.
Fans hoping to take a trip down memory lane weren’t disappointed. Jewel opened her 14-song set with two of her Top 10 hits, “Standing Still” and “Hands.” She also satisfied those wanting to hear something fresh and new with her upbeat “Long Way ‘Round,” from her latest album. Jewel borrowed Melissa Etheridge’s band for the first four songs and then, as she put it, called an “audible” (a football term for a last minute change to the next play) and gave them a break for the solo portion of her set. She then scored a touchdown with “No More Tears.”
Jewel seemed at home in our lovely garden and continuously engaged the energized audience. She even solicited requests. A fan suggested “Somewhere Over The Rainbow ” and she knocked out a fabulous acapella version, her rich vocals filling the mountain air. She turned her mega-hit “You Were Meant For Me,” into a singalong with the Red Butte Garden Choir (us). Some songs endure for generations!
The boys in the band returned and played “Foolish Games.” Jewel admitted she was trying to emulate Leonard Cohen when she wrote that tune. She then added an unexpected cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love,” starting it off with a ‘90s yacht rock slow-burn before igniting it into a full on rock jam. She ended her captivating set playing the first song she ever wrote, at age 18, “Who Will Save Your Soul.” The song’s 167 words changed her life. She then invited us on an extended, jazzed up journey of playful scat singing; a joyful call and response with the lead guitarist.
Like Jewel, Melissa Etheridge and her hard-working band played well-loved hits and introduced new music to the crowd. They launched into “If I Wanted To” followed by “Angels Would Fall.” Then, she played “An Unexpected Rain,” a deep track from 2006 that she included on a new live album I’m Not Broken (Live From Topeka Correctional Facility,) a concert filmed as a two-part docuseries now streaming on Paramount +. She also played an amazing, new power ballad, “A Burning Woman,” from that project. After a quick tutorial, all the women in the audience were alight, singing along.
To the crowd’s delight, the stage crew rolled out her piano and she banged out “Nowhere To Go,” her epic 1995 heartland rock ballad. She switched to her slide guitar for the deep cut rocker “Monster” then she grabbed her sparkly black 12-string guitar and began her rafter-shaking final run with “Come To My Window.”
The crowd continued to sing along with “Bring Me Some Water,” and she reached fever pitch with “I’m The Only One.” She put an exclamation point on her 11-song set with “Like The Way I Do.”
Jewel and Etheridge delighted a garden full of adoring fans with some great new music and played the older hits with a fiery passion. Alas, I had hoped that Jewel would join Etheridge on stage for a duet of “You Can Sleep While I Drive.” Now that would have been an epic finale. As always, kudos to the sound crew.
Who: Melissa Etheridge and Jewel
What: Co-headlining show
Where: Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre
When: 7/29/2024
Info: https://redbuttegarden.org/concerts/
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