Review: Two music icons take the same stage with vastly different results

Melissa Etheridge was at the top of her game in concert, while Jewel admitted she lacked a game plan for her set at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga.

Melissa Etheridge and Jewel came across as nearly polar opposites during their co-headlining show on Sunday (July 21) at the lovely Mountain Winery in Saratoga.

And, no, that has nothing to do with Jewel being from Alaska.

Etheridge was focused, on point and utterly professional during her crowd-pleasing set. Jewel, on the other hand, was scattered, defiantly unorganized and acting like it was her first time ever onstage during her crowd-perplexing set.

It was weird. Jewel’s set bordered on being aggressively un-fan friendly, something that the singer seemed to realize as she (somewhat) joked about how the reviews of the show might read.

“I can’t wait to see the newspapers — ‘Jewel mercilessly heckles her own audience,’” she predicted.

The heckling — even though it did consist of a double middle-finger salute to one person who yelled out a request for “Free Bird” — actually wasn’t so merciless. What was far worse was the fact that this show could’ve — and should’ve — been so much better.

Jewel has got the songs and, wow, does she ever have the voice. Yet, she continually sabotaged the show as she spent what felt like more than half of her time amusing herself, and pretty much nobody else, with stage banter and discussion on her apparent favorite topic: Jewel

Following an opening segment where Jewel performed with a four-piece backing band, the folk-pop star grabbed her trusty acoustic and opened up the floor for requests. The problem was she didn’t know most of the songs that were being yelled out — even though (“Free Bird” aside) they do indeed hail from her own catalog.

“I have thousands of songs,” Jewel confessed. “And I know like 12 of them.”

Admitting that she didn’t really have a plan for her set, and joking (again) that she was possibly accomplishing the unlikely feat of disappointing every single person in the crowd, Jewel proved that she at least knows the words and chords to the fan favorites “Near You Always” and “You Were Meant for Me.”

Yet, it was a case too little, too late, as those well-sung signature tunes from the1995 blockbuster debut “Pieces of You” only seemed to drive home how good this show could’ve been. Yes, she complained that she was battling a bit of laryngitis, which she linked to a pre-tour bout with COVID, but her voice wasn’t what failed her on this night. The culprit was she didn’t have a game plan — at all — and that led to a show that felt mismanaged pretty much from start to finish.

Thankfully, Etheridge would follow follow Jewel with a top-notch set that would salvage the evening for fans.

The crowd — which Jewel had chastised toward the end of her set for its lackluster response — would immediately change its tune as Etheridge entered the stage and kicked off her set in powerful fashion with “Must Be Crazy for Me” from 1992’s “Never Enough.”

“We are going to play all the songs tonight,” the Grammy-winning Kansas native said. “Take you down Memory Lane.”

Backed by a three-piece band, Etheridge sounded great — both on the microphone and on guitar — as she worked through the poignant “I Want to Come Over” (from 1995’s “Your Little Secret”), before taking the time to point out that her daughter was in the audience.

“I want to tell her congratulations — because she is engaged,” she said. “I wanted to play her a love song. But then I realized that I don’t have any.”

Making due with what she’s got, however, Etheridge would dedicate an endearing version of  “You Can Sleep While I Drive” — a track from 1989’s “Brave and Crazy” that was latter covered successfully by country star Trisha Yearwood — to her daughter.

The singer also showcased her latest live album, “I’m Not Broken (Live From Topeka Correctional Facility),” performing a really moving rendition of “A Burning Woman.” The project, which Etheridge explained was inspired by Johnny Cash’s work performing for prisoners in her hometown of Leavenworth, also includes a docuseries — “Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken” — currently airing on Paramount+.

The star closed up her main set in utterly fan-friendly fashion, delivering three of her biggest tunes — “Come to My Window,” “Bring Me Some Water” and “I’m The Only One” — leaving the crowd wanting more and illustrating the good that can come from having a carefully executed game plan.