Howard Jones

Scoring big in the '80s with such new-wave hits as "No One Is to Blame," Howard Jones brings to mind a one-man band exploding with wild blond hair and surrounded by towering keyboard racks. In fact, the very thought of the Brit performing acoustic leads to the question: Did the club forget to pay its power bill? Or perhaps Jones' synths were held up at customs for further questioning.

In reality, Jones eventually realized that less is indeed more. A passionate, stripped-down performance of his hits will always trump a bank of drum machines and synthesizers. Since then, Jones has continued to perform acoustic dates across the States on a semi-regular basis. But he continues to record as well, releasing 2005's Revolution of the Heart, his seventh studio album.

After a pair of shows at the Empire and the Odeon, Jones finally returns to Cleveland accompanied by guitarist Robin Boult, for his first local performance in more than 10 years. He will treat the audience to popular favorites as well new material from a forthcoming album to be released later this year.