Concert: Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae in Los Angeles

Specifically, on this night at least, Jones found the perfect covers to enhance the break-up theme and country-tinged lilt of "The Fall." On the Young tune she sings of loss in a way that parallels the sentiment of "The Fall" -- "It's so hard for me now/But I'll make it somehow/Though I know I'll never be the same." Jones, who wrote "The Fall" after her breakup with longtime partner, bassist Lee Alexander, and Young are in agreement -- there's no way to change a lover's behavior. The use of covers was a mood enhancer.

Much of the first two-thirds of the show found Jones, looking mighty perky in a short, orange-red flouncy dress, playing electric guitar and electric keyboard, peppering the melodies that her crack five-piece band executed. She has yet to fully embrace the role of being a front-and-center focal point, even after a couple of tours in which she has made the guitar her No.1 instrument. Her smiles appear to either be forced or an attempt to stifle laughter, and the shyness that was part of her appeal in the heyday of "Come Away With Me" now produces conflict -- she has yet to fully figure out how to deliver a 90-minute show of relatively medium-paced songs away from the comfort of a piano. Guitarist Smokey Hormel, a veteran of the bands of Beck, Neil Diamond and Tom Waits, is the musical show-stopper here.

But back to that mood killer idea. Part of the issue for Jones is big-picture: What does a performer need to do to send home her fans feeling like they got a consistently delivered, 360-degree view of the artist? The final six songs of the night demonstrated she does not have a handle on that issue -- she does not know how to close. The last six songs were too slow, delivered without conviction and whatever joy filled the first hour had dissipated. Even alone at the piano for the trite "Man of the Hour," her moment of triumphant self-realization on "The Fall," Jones seemed to be mailing it in.

Her encores of "Sunrise and "Creepin' In," delivered old-school country style with the all-acoustic band gathered around a single microphone, restored some of the spark of the earlier portion of the show. It might be an interesting element for her to consider placing in the body of the concert. Otherwise, it feels like Jones runs out of gas.

Corinne Bailey Rae, who dealt with the death of a former lover on her most recent album "The Sea," mixes early '70s soul styles with folky conviviality. It's a bit of Roberta Flack one moment, some Cindy Birdsong the next. She had two clever covers in her 50-minute set -- a dub version of "I Only Have Eyes for You," and "Que Sera Sera" turned into a soulful plea that worked as well as her pumped-up original "Paper Dolls."