Rickie Lee Jones and Madeleine Peyroux at Ames Center, Burnsville MN (28 Mar 2017)

Madeleine Peyroux Setlist

Ricki Lee Jones Setlist

Tour Dates

The month of March usually means a true end to winter with warmer temperatures, extra sun during daylight savings time, trading your snow shovel for a rake… and if you were lucky in a few select cities, a chance to see Rickie Lee Jones and Madeleine Peyroux grace the same stage, on a brief co-headlining tour. 

Jones is enjoying a second renaissance to her long career, with 2015’s The Other Side of Desire being her most recent release, while the younger French-American Peyroux has built a loyal audience of her own, known for her classic jazz vocals and dexterity with cover songs as well as her own originals, with her most recent album being last year’s Secular Hymns (Verve Records). 

Both played seventy-minute sets, with Rickie Lee Jones and sidemen Cliff Hines on electric guitar and Mike Dillon on percussion taking the stage at the Ames Center in suburban Burnsville first, spread out among two large rugs on the floor and a grand piano behind them.  The appreciative crowd averaged older and was respectful to the music, (thankfully) shushing anyone that started up a conversation during a song.

The Jones trio started with songs from her self-titled 1979 debut, showcasing exceptional musicianship from the beginning and the song’s lyrics painting evocative pictures of distinctive people in sometimes unique situations.  Hines showed great dexterity on guitar, moving from standard jazz pop to a Jeff Beck-esque wah-wah solo on ‘Weasel and the White Boys Cool’ while percussionist Dillion seemed focused and deliberate in moving seamlessly from drums, to cymbals, tambourines, maracas, and the vibraphone. 

“I wrote this song for George Bush Jr….but I think it’s even more appropriate now”, Jones said introducing 2003’s ‘Ugly Man’, politics on the mind of both women performing this night, but held mostly in check, Jones mentioning how Peyroux has been yelled at on the tour for certain comments, but most know better than to challenge her, “I’ll kick their a$$!”. 

Before 1993’s ‘Tigers’, Jones mentioned briefly how her collaboration with Scottish band The Blue Nile came together for the song and following, she moved to the piano behind them for maybe her biggest hit, ‘Chuck E’s in Love’ which segued into Jones’ voice (still in fine form) soaring on ‘Pirates’.

Things became more loose with Jones on piano, joking at herself for having the soundman turn up the bongos, and feigning fright at the dry ice smoke and length of the piano “…it’s too long, there’s somebody in there” she said as the audience laughed along. Even the setlist became only a thumbnail for what was to be played with enough songs listed on it for a three-hour show. 

After a pause and heading back up front to her guitar while requesting lyrics for another song, she stopped, thought, and said “let’s just have fun” for her final song, instead going into a cover of Prince’s ‘Kiss’, taking her boots off and dancing like someone half her age on the carpet as the crowd clapped along.

After a short break, and the two carpets being whittled down to just one, jazz-pop singer songwriter Madeleine Peyroux entered with her own trio, accompanied by guitarist Jon Herington (who plays with Steely Dan) and standup bassist Barak Mori.  The usually shy Peyroux was frisky and full of quips, starting with the first number, “we’re going to get some fun out of life with this first song… might go downhill after that”.

The Billie Holiday cover to open her set was appropriate, as numerous comparisons have been made between their voices and her cover choices on this night were all appropriate and well chosen.  She praised the crowd for being tough (on account of the weather) and playfully changed 1941’s ‘Hello Babe’ into ‘Hello Donald’ after also mentioning the women’s march on Washington. 

“I like to do three kinds of songs- love songs, blues songs, and drinking songs—this song is all three” Peyroux said intro-ing Randy Newman’s ‘Guilty’, while ‘If the Sea of Whiskey’ was for her dad, who jokingly left them when “he saw a sign that said ‘Drink Canada Dry’.” “I’ll try and play a little guitar for you now” she joked, reaching for her ukulele for ‘Our Lady of Pigalle’. 

“I’ll try to cheer you up now—this song is for the Democratic National Party” she said, playing the classic ‘I Ain’t Got Nobody’ and mentioning her Beatles cover of ‘Getting Better’ was probably her most cheerful song of the evening, before dialing it way back for her version of 1854’s ‘Hard Times’.  

Acknowledging Chuck Berry’s recent passing, she honored him with a version of his ‘You Can’t Catch Me’ then had a brief solo section, playing a few blues covers.  The band re-emerged for “a couple of love songs” which would close the set, beginning with Jobim’s ‘Água de beber’ sung in perfect Portuguese and her bouncier version of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’, which she recorded in 2009.  

A somewhat impromptu encore of Peyroux’s own ‘Don’t Wait Too Long’ with a sharp Herington guitar solo and appropriate cover of Billie Holiday’s ‘This is Heaven to Me’ would end the evening, the song a perfect bookend to the Holiday cover that began her set. 

Like a fleeting comet streaking the sky, the chance to see both Rickie Lee Jones and Madeleine Peyroux on the same stage was a rare and wondrous delight (the only downside was not seeing them perform together) and one that might not come around again anytime soon, as each have gone back to their solo dates, but this served as a good reminder that the cold and gray is ending, and sunnier temps are ahead.