Reading 3-23 (Page 6 of 8)

Ok, here's my writeup. Sorry so long...

My Bona-Baptism, Reading PA, 2011/03/23

Where do I start? I've been collecting Joe's music and videos for about a year now, but this was my first live concert. To say that I was blown away by the entire experience would be an understatement! But I’ll begin at the beginning…
First, thanks to Manoj, I scored two tickets 7th row center. Excellent! The tickets were sort of a late Christmas and early birthday present to my wife (b-day 3/21), who is also a big fan of Joe’s. I got her a necklace made of Joe’s guitar strings for Valentine’s day.

And then, thanks to Alexis and in no small part to Jane, I got into the meet and greet! (Actually according to Jane, I was already on the list after sending a few e-mails to Alexis – but Alexis never answered any of those e-mails so I didn’t even know until Jane talked to him!) I was so excited, I barely got any work done the two days before the show.

Took the day off, arranged babysitters, and managed to leave home around 1:30 to make sure I got to the venue by 4:30… I pulled into the parking garage at 3:15. What can I say, I’m type A to a large degree, I’m always early! Met Manoj in the garage right across from me, and John and his SO Kim (I hope I’m remembering all the names right, please forgive me if I get any wrong), and we wandered around Reading a little bit to get a snack and drinks before the M&G.

Headed up to the venue in time to be there for the M&G which started promptly at 4:30. Not a huge crowd, maybe 30 people or so. We milled about looking at the merch table and chatting, until Joe came out after ~10 minutes. He strolled in casually, said “Hi Guys!” and immediately started shaking hands. We were all standing nervously around in circle. He started things off by asking if anyone had guitars to sign, which several folks did.

When it was her turn, my wife introduced herself, showed Joe the necklace – he was complimentary – and then proceeded to ask Joe to sign, of all things, her knitting bag! I about died. But Joe was totally cool about it, and I’m pretty sure that’s the only Bonamassa knitting bag in the world today! Of course my wife was thrilled.

Manoj gave him a nice bottle of wine and asked him to sign a print he had made.
Then it was my turn. I had a whole little speech prepared, and I sorta managed to get it out I think, I have little recollection of what I actually blurted out because I was so nervous! Anyway, the gist of my chat with Joe was about a classical piano CD I gave him. (You can see the pics of this in my gallery.) It’s music of Franz Liszt, played by Arcadi Volodos. Liszt was THE rock star of his day (mid-late 1800s), his music is big and flashy and virtuosic, and very difficult to play. (I know this, I’m a classical pianist myself.) And because of the flash, I think people even to this day tend to overlook the subtlety and musicality of much of Liszt’s work. He has a way of stringing these very long, pensive musical lines, with great flow and dynamics. This particular recording I feel really brings out that part of it. Anyway, when I hear Joe’s guitar work – especially for example his solo in Mountain Time from Live in Nowhere in Particular – I get some of the same sense of musical sensitivity and dynamics as when I listen to this Liszt album. Joe’s technically amazing, but more than that, he’s a true musician, of the like the blues and particularly the rock scene rarely ever sees.

I wanted mainly to give something back to Joe, and since I was raised on classical music and is what I know best, this is the best thing I could come up with. He listened patiently and attentively to my poor attempt to explain all of this in 60 seconds…  He shook my hand (believe me, I was gentle with that hand!) and posed for a pic which I will treasure. I told him I hope he has a quiet moment someday (ha! with his tour schedule?!) to listen to this. I can only hope he enjoys it and gets a little something out of it perhaps. I’ll look for a Liszt cover on his next album. (One can dream, right?)
Joe hung around for maybe a half an hour talking to various folks – some of whom he knew well, like Cathy and Jane and others who have been following him for much longer than me. It’s cool to see how he actually remembers his fans, as other stories I’ve heard/read have confirmed. I told Joe he’s got awesome fans, and I meant it!

After the M&G, we all gathered at a restaurant a few blocks away – not long blocks, but longer than it would’ve been without the lightning and hail! Wow. We made reservations for 15 but about 20 showed up; the hostess was in a near panic, but we got it all sorted out and had a nice dinner and conversations. Got to meet Angela (sitting next to my wife), and I’m ashamed to admit I forget the names of the couple sitting next to me at the end of the table… sorry! Vikki was kind enough to give us a ride back to the venue after dinner – thanks Vik!

Then on to the show!

I got there early enough to wander around the hall a bit, snapping pictures of various gear and such. I’ve done a little live sound work myself, so I enjoyed getting a little peek at the sound board in the back of the hall.

Thanks again to fellow forum and JBXP folks, I got a camera pass and learned that I would be able to be right up at the stage for the first three songs, provided I kept low and didn’t block people’s view . I’d been frantically preparing to take pictures, trying to learn how to use my camera (Nikon D70s) to the best of its abilities, to take advantage of this opportunity.

Yeah, I admit, I barely heard any of the music for this opening medley! Aside from the subwoofers thumping me at close range (good thing I had earplugs). But man, it was so worth it, just for the experience of being up at the stage more or less by myself – I think there were two or three other photographers but they didn’t move around as much as I did. I was just a couple feet away from Joe and Carmine! Little further from Rick and Tal, but man that was awesome to be up that close without fighting a crowd. And I probably snapped 300 photos in that first ten minutes.

First and most obvious thing to me was how different Joe is onstage. At the M&G was a casual everyday guy, totally at ease. He’s clearly comfortable on the stage as well, but what a transformation! Got the shades on, a suit, and the performer persona, and he totally takes control of the room. And he played a little guitar, too.

My seat was good so I was able to get more pics even after sitting back down. Despite taking another 600 pictures, I was really trying to focus on the music. I was mostly successful… I have all the albums and videos, and had seen clips of previous shows on this tour. So I had some notion of what to expect. But WOW! When you’re there live, there’s a connection with Joe – and Rick, Carmine, and Tal too for sure – that of course you can’t get from a recording. To me, going to a concert is not so much about hearing all the fine details of the music, but rather about feeling Joe’s energy, and soaking up what he has to offer up at a live performance. He’s so much fun to watch!

And of course, the music was amazing. Another great thing about the live show is how he can play around with the songs and make them different from the studio versions. Dust Bowl and Slow Train were pretty much like hearing brand new songs to me.

Mountain Time has been my favorite song from the beginning, and Joe did not disappoint when playing this live! Granted I missed the India intro, but Django was cool. His solo was goose-bump material! Both my wife and I felt that.

Great Flood was the other big highlight for me, the emotion he put into it was tremendous.

The faster, more energetic songs were great, too. And I love it when Joe plays around with the theramin, that’s so much fun to watch. Rick was grooving, Carmine was thundering out his massive – and more importantly, musically interesting! – bass lines. And Tal – well, you all know how much he puts into it. He’s a beast! Someone once told me I look like the muppets’ “Animal” when I play drums on Guitar Hero, but Tal is the real deal there!

The crowd was enthusiastic, and I was lucky that those around me were polite – meaning nobody screaming or talking through the whole thing. Joe went really quiet a few times during the show, and people were pretty respectful in those parts, I thought.

The show went on for 2+ hours, without a stop, and everybody in the band was in great form. I thought it was a terrific show – not that I have much to compare it with, this being the third – yes third – rock concert I’ve ever been to. It will be an experience that will stay with me for years to come.

Now, when do I get to see him perform live again?