This was the fourth time I've seen Joe Bonamassa in concert and the fourth time I've left the concert wondering, "Why isn't this guy way more famous?" His guitar playing is in a class by itself, and his voice just keeps getting better and better.
This was my first concert at the Moore Theater in Seattle. We had seats in the center toward the back, under the balcony. The Moore theater is really run down. The crowd was pretty rough looking compared to the crowd at Jazz Alley where we saw Joe last time. (By rough looking I mean lots of bikers with shaved heads and lots of tattoos and body piercings. Everybody seemed friendly enough.) The crowed was also older than expected. Median age was probably 50-55. The Moore theater serves hard alcohol, which contributed to the rough feel.
The opening act was Crosby Loggins (eldest son of Kenny Loggins), who's got a new album coming out, the first one on Joe's new record label. He played guitar, and Paul Cartwright played violin, and that was it. I've heard guitar/violin combinations in blue grass music, wasn't expecting it at a blues concert, and it worked great. Crosby's voice sounds a lot like his dad's. None of their songs really knocked my socks off and I kept thinking that these guys had much better playing and singing skills than the songs they played showed. Nonetheless, several songs had passages that were great. Notably, Paul Cartwright's violin solos and the guitar/violin duets when Paul came to the front of the stage. The only thing that was a little disconcerting was that Paul moves his bow so fast and swings his body around so much that I kept thinking if he wasn't careful he was going to cut his head off! I suppose it isn't really possible to cut your head off with a violin bow, but if it was ever going to happen, it would happen to somebody playing like Paul.
Joe took the stage with authority and played 2 or 3 songs before he said a word to the audience. He didn't talk much overall. His main comment was that he was supposed to appear at the Moore theater in 2002 with Peter Frampton, but Frampton got sick and so the concert got cancelled. That was kind of an interesting comment because I remember Kasey Kasem telling a story in the 1970s about Peter Framptom falling off stage at a concert, breaking a rib, and continuing the concert anyway. Sad to say, age affects us all.
Here are my favorites from this concert:
-
Walk in my Shadows - great, as always
-
Woke up Dreaming - also great, as always. This song really shows off how fast the guy can play, and I swear he's gotten faster on this song each time I've seen him.
-
High Water Everywhere - In the middle of the song Joe did a long segment where he'd do a riff for a few seconds, and then the drums and bass would put a punctuation mark on the end of the riff, and then he'd riff again. This went on for 10-15 riffs. On the one hand, it seemed like it went on for a long time, but he mixed up the riffs enough that I thought it was a great add to the song.
-
Sloe Gin - title track off his new album, I like the concert performance much better than the version on the album
-
Asking Around for You - Joe and the band performed an especially sensitive and moving rendition of this. I liked the way he brought back Paul Carpenter, who played an amazing violin solo, and Crosby Loggins, who added some nice vocals.
Joe's voice gets better on every album, and to me he's sounding increasingly like Paul Rogers, which isn't a bad thing.
A couple of minor nits:
-
When Joe started the sound mixing seemed a little off on the first three songs, and I could barely hear Joe's voice. Mainly it seemed like the bass was mixed in too heavily. But Joe's guitar on Walk in My Shadows came through loud and clear, and it would have been a great concert even if they hadn't fixed the sound mixing.
-
Even after they got the mixing fixed, his voice kept going from barely audible to loud and distorted based on how close he was to the microphone, and that was a little distracting. Sure, I'm there mostly to hear him play the guitar, but I'd like to hear the words, too.
The band
Joe's playing with Bogie Bowles on drums, who basically finished the main set with an extended drum solo, another high point of the concert. Rick Melick played keyboards. He played a "solo" early in the concert, which was hard to hear because of the bad mixing with the other instruments. He played solo again on Asking Around for You during the encore, and that time his playing came through beautifully. Carmine Rojas played bass. I was surprised that he didn't get a solo; I would have liked to hear that.
Requests for Joe
He mixed in a riff from "Do you Feel Like We Do," which seemed appropriate considering his comment about being scheduled to play this venue earlier with Peter Frampton. But all he did was play the riff and then move on to his regular stuff.
That made me think that a really great album would be Joe doing his interpretations of famous guitar riffs. For example I'd like to hear what he could do with Eruption from Van Halen I. He could first repeat the riff ala Eddie Van Halen, and then did his variation on it, and then just totally took off and played with it to show what the Joe Bonamassa version would sound like. Jimmy Page's riff in the middle of Heartbreaker would be another one I'd like to hear Joe's take on. He could also do variations on Do You Feel Like We Do, While My Guitar Gently Weeps. I'd love to hear what he could do with Ain't Superstitious, the Jeff Beck/Rod Stewart number. People Get Ready would also be great. The Album could be half rock, half blues (Side A & Side B), mostly covers, with one original composition by Joe on each side. Are you listening Joe?
Joe's an amazing talent. I've read some criticisms of his current Sloe Gin album that say it's too unfocused. I like the fact that he blends blues and rock and moves back and forth across the genres. Overall, the guy's at the top of his game and just keeps getting better. Seeing this concert was like seeing another chapter in an undiscovered legend.