Jewel: The MBTA's Spoonful of Medicine?

In case you're passing through South Station Friday afternoon or evening and you wonder what's with all the people and probable increased police presence, it's just the MBTA trying to bribe you with a free Jewel concert.

OK, we're kidding. But Jewel will be playing for free tonight at South Station at 7:00 pm. And it's Verizon Yellow Pages trying to bribe you, not the MBTA.

Beforehand, she'll ride the Green Line, which will be renamed the Yellow Line for the Yellow Pages, which sure does mean a lot to all those people who get their phone numbers online. The Globe had a big piece about how hot phone books are these days, but the piece itself consisted of interviews with VPs, analysts, and execs instead of those of us who only use the Yellow Pages as a doorstop. Seriously - is Bostonist being cranky, or are more people using the Yellow Pages than we realize?

As for Jewel, is it just us, or is Jewel everywhere these days? American Idol, Nashville Star, Bud ads, South Station. She's hawking Verizon Yellow Pages and a greatest-hits CD with this particular promotion, and the MBTA is along for the ride, so everyone wins - except maybe anyone trying to get through the station around that time.

Posters of Jewel looking wistfully into the distance are in several strategic locations in South Station. Right in the middle, the poster is wedged between two commuter rail and MBTA announcements, as if to sweeten the dull information.

Image of Jewel's album Goodbye Alice in Wonderland from allmusic.com.