Sheffield City Hall "A Ray of Light on A Filthy Night"

The April showers showered like showers in April as we made our way from the car park to the City Hall in Sheffield for the evening’s frivolities. All three of us had seen Joe at least once before so our expectations were very high. I was particularly looking forward to it having missed the gig at The Sage the week previous.

Ben Montague opened competently with a few engaging songs and I could imagine that when he is backed by his full band, rather than slapping them out on his acoustic, he would offer good value.

The hall rapidly filled as the road crew did their jobs with the ever present rolls of gaffer tape and very soon Rick (resplendent in a bowler hat of a style worn Alex and his Droogs in “A Clockwork Orange”) wandered on stage and started playing the backing to “Django”. I guess this piece is named after Django Reinhardt as opposed to the hero in many late 60’s Spaghetti Westerns!! Joe appeared from the rear of the stage playing the opener and I was somewhat distracted by the PA (only a few feet from my left ear as we sat to the left of the stage 4 rows back) hissing like an asthmatic adder. A member of the crew walked past heard the errant noise and dashed off the mixing desk to twiddle his knobs and damp down the background noise. From then on the sound was immaculate and I am assured much better than the Gateshead gig. He then launched into “John Henry”, this slide driven rocker replacing the staccato “Bridge To Better Days” as the opener, complete with a little session at The Theremin. Without introduction he blistered his way through the opening numbers including “Last Kiss” and truly glorious “So Many Roads”

I will not go through the whole set but as far as highlights go I would point to “Sloe Gin” and “Just Got Paid”, the latter of which was performed on a stunning looking Flying V (does Joe want to join The Scorpions?)  Both were spell binding as was the Spanish sounding acoustic solo, which would not have been out of place on one of the aforementioned Spaghetti Westerns.  The solo which brings “Mountain Time” to a close is one of Joe’s finest and live is the musical equivalent of having all your dreams come true. It is inspiring.

I am not a guitar player and do not really bother about the technicalities involved, (a “tube screamer” sounds like a type of firework to me and “wah wah” is the noise made by an ailing child) so what I love about Joe is the way he makes brilliance accessible. His song writing and acknowledgements to his influences within his writing are admirable and clever, but he never employs his mastery as a tool to just show off but makes his songs, above all else, enjoyable to listen to.

I cannot do the gig justice without mentioning his singing and his band. His singing has improved considerably since I saw him last year and the other 3 band members all support and underpin his playing to make it a very tight unit. Boogie’s drumming however seems to have reached new levels and the makeover given to “High water...” give him the chance to show his power and prowess.

Much has been said about standing or sitting and something is lost at an all seater gig. However the fact that you can leave you seat visit the amenities and get back to your mates without missing three songs and getting covered in warm beer is a definite advantage!

So as the last echoes of a standing ovation reverberated through our ears we left the stylish, acoustically blessed venue and got absolutely soaked aimlessly meandering the streets of Sheffield looking for a car park which had apparently moved during the 3 hours we were away from it. We did find it eventually and made our way home happy in the fact we can say in years to come “yes we did see him live and the legend is true”

Thanks to the band and to John and Steve for their company and good sense of direction.

Rockinhorse (aka Steve)

p.s. I checked several times and now can officially announce that Joe Bonamassa has eight fingers on each hand.

p.p.s I can now say I have seen an Aussie in a bowler hat playing a tombourine.