Walking into the NIA tonight about 10 minutes before show time, it
strikes you just how big Joe Bonamassa has got in the past few years, still in
his mid-30s this is comfortably his biggest ever UK tour, an arena hopping
beast which is going all over Europe.
Some like to decry his achievements, – and it’s doubtful that his former
Black Country Communion partner Glen Hughes is in the crowd tonight given the
very public way that the two fell out over the ticket prices for BCC’s gig in
Wolverhampton last Christmas – put what you can never take away from him is a
series superb records and a reputation as a formidable live performer.
It is pricey here tonight, too – but it’s an arena show and you sort of
expect that such a thing comes at a premium these days, and the place is
packed, so it hasn’t put too many off.
The lights go down and Bonamassa strides out alone, in his usual suit
and shades to play a short acoustic set before the main evening starts. Even
this half hour unplugged section – which sees him joined at various points by
keyboard man Derek Sherinian and drummer Tal Bergman is majestic. His cover of “Seagull”
by Free is truly worth seeing alone, while the blues standard “Jelly Roll” is
tremendous fun.
After this, the band return complete with bass player Carmine Rojas – a long
time Bonamassa sidekick – for the electric part. Beginning with “Dust Bowl” the
next nearly two hours fly by as the
guitar playing is majestic and the song writing warm.
Roughly divided, in the same way that his albums are, into half covers
and half original songs, Bonamassa’s own “Story Of A Quarryman” sounds huge,
while the covers, which include Clapton and Gary Moore are loving interpretations.
The big surprise is the title track of his most recent “Driving Towards
Daylight” record, a quite superb song boasting a massive chorus. It proves
that, rather like Clapton although his roots and background are in the Blues,
Bonamassa has many more strings to his guitar than that.
He dips into BCC’s past – a band that he was in with Sherinian – for “Song
Of Yesterday,” brings out Bernie Marsden for a jam (the same as he did when
last in these parts) and plays a quite incredible version of “Mountain Time” to
end the set.
There is an encore of “Sloe Gin” – complete with a genuinely funny story
about why he “has” to play it – and “Ballad of John
Henrys” massive riff brings the curtain down, and you file out of the arena
knowing you have been in the presence of something special.
A genuine phenomenon of our age, Bonamassa had a tendency to perhaps
overplay before – when last RTM saw him, at Wolves Civic a few years ago, there
was a cast of thousands on stage. Now stripped down to the bare essentials, he
provides quite marvellous entertainment.
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