As the multi-faceted veteran of pop, jazz-rock and classical crossover, Joe Jackson announces his upcoming “Hope and Fury” tour—kicking off Monday, May 11 at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie. Tickets go on sale to Bardavon members on November 12 and are open to the general public on November 14. For longtime fans and newcomers alike, it’s an invitation to revisit a career that always defied easy categorization.
Jackson’s origin story is as grounded as it is ambitious. Born August 11, 1954 in Burton-upon-Trent, England, raised in the naval-port city of Portsmouth, he performed his first paid gigs at 16 in pubs—even in front of glue-factory neighbors. After winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, Jackson rejected the staid path of a classical composer and instead embraced the scrappier world of rock-and-pop.
By 1979 his band, the Joe Jackson Band, released its debut Look Sharp!, driven by the wry single “Is She Really Going Out with Him?”—a wry, acerbic anthem with the subtle bite of New Wave. From there the musical odyssey widened: Night and Day (1982) married Latin-inflected rhythms, urbane piano pop, and city-night drama; tracks like “Steppin’ Out” anchored Jackson in the American mainstream even as he remained musically restless.
That restlessness became a hallmark. He pursued swing-era revival (Jumpin’ Jive), stripped-back live experiments (Big World), orchestral jazz-pop (The Duke) and even serious classical composition. His discography — over twenty studio albums — reflects an artist unwilling to sit still. His memoir A Cure for Gravity casts much of this in self-reflective relief.
What then to expect from the “Hope and Fury” tour? The announcement notes the forthcoming album Hope and Fury in April 2026, and promises an “extensive US and Europe full-band tour.” In other words: this is not a nostalgia-trip for the hits alone, but a living artist still committed to new work and band interplay. For the Bardavon date, that means the local Hudson Valley audience will hear both the familiar (and thrilling) and the fresh (and, for Jackson, inevitable).
For Chronogram readers: think of it this way—if you caught Jackson back in his early New Wave incarnation, or separately as the piano-jazz pop craftsman, this tour offers a chance to take stock of the arc. From sharp-edged pub-piano beginnings, through urbane city-night pop, through eclectic genre detours, Jackson has built a career on musical curiosity and tonal agility. The “Hope and Fury” moniker is apt: hope in the sense of ongoing creation, fury in the sense of the restless engine that drove him from Portsmouth pubs to global stages.
If you’re thinking of going: arrive early, let the band’s credentials set in, and expect more than the “Steppin’ Out” you may know. This will be a show for the curious listener, for the fan who appreciates sly lyric, deft musicianship and the kind of career that refuses to be boxed.
We met him at the Sparks show backstage in Brooklyn recently. He liked my shoes so I want to see him not just because of that. I actually like his songs.