LONDON (Page 1 of 3)

PICTURE THIS

OUTSIDE : Shepherd's Bush Empire , London , Thursday 29th march 2007 at 5pm ..... ..... Standing under the venue canopy like Radio City music hall , NYC , Canopy had a white fronted notice board with with the huge letters : JOE BONAMASSA MARCH 29th : I peered out into the Very busy one way street , rain splashing onto the pavement , People rushing home with umbrellas , cars beeping their horns stuck in traffic ,  red buses going past full with people steamed up windows and the rain was coming down , I was smiling thinking The Blues had come to London.
An hour later a queue had begin to form , i stepped down from the entrance steps to see what it was like , it had snaked around the corner in the rain out of site , people with friends & loved ones , chatting , smiling , queuing , talking blues , and the car tail lights crept past continuesly in the blurring rain

INSIDE : 7PM ... Doors opened rushed to the front , got primo position just left of centre , It was like an old music hall , 3 sided wrap around balconies 3 tier high , but quite large standing only floor area , Venue filled up very quickly .... A brief about support bands , Scott Mckeon was very promising great old bluesy srv feel , but the vocals did not come out.. shame , but you could see his skills ( a cross between srv/jonny lang)
Stone sole river were solid and they have tightened & they really enjoyed themselves and the adrenilin was high

9 15 .........The House Lights Dimmed , The Audience Went Loud , A shadowy figure climbed onto the drum stool and the the bass drum kicked in SO LOUD 'N CLEAR Whooooooooaaaaa  , Shook through your body ..... and the set list Reads

TAKIN' THE HIT ...... clear and fast , Joe's voice was in top form , and the break and ending solo pushed you back it was that fierce .. Phew !
WALK IN MY SHADOWS .......... oh yeah joe was marching , i marched and stomped too , Audience screamed Whooaa hoooaah , crowd went wild
BLUES DELUXE...... Crept out off the stage and overwhemled the Audience , then Exploded into some of the Finest live soloing ever witnessed here in london
SO MANY ROADS........ Nearly set the place alight with this ,,,,,,,, could've sworn that the les paul was smokin' honestly notes like volcano lava
MOUNTAIN TIME........ Was Quite Simply Beautifully Delivered , And as we all know it can touch a very special humbling nerve , you just go quiet and watch in awe  & the solo was outstanding and greeted with rapturous applause
BRIDGE TO BETTER DAYS........ guitar chops and dancing 1 2 , 1234 breakneck speed solo to finish . note for note perfect , awesome
BURNIN' HELL........ Joe and the boys letting all hell break loose with some southern boogie blues .Audience participation time "Ain't no hell , but a burnin' hell " so loud and the crowd were going wild ,and the slide wailed around the auditorium , oh yeah
MISS YOU HATE YOU ... Joe thanked the people of london for coming , all 2000 of 'em , turned round to see a packed full theatre applaud
, lovely rendition of song which drifted into
WOKE UP DREAMING ........ This was quite unbelievable ,,,, people silenced by the blurring hand speed of joe , then shouting and screaming as he cranks up the acoustic tempo again , from blues acoustic into spanish type flamenco into classical , jazz and back into blues finish all delivered with a million notes in perfection is just "HOW" shaking head in bewilderment .....   
JUST GOT PAID ........ This absolutely tore out the blocks .... oh my god ....... heavy rock/blues knockin' the Audience back on their heels , and Joe let rip with Guitar Acrobatics , the crowd cheered every time he whacked the frets , loud and ferocious and Bogie smashed out an INCREDIBLE drum solo that had a crowd who most people thought that drum solo's were boring going absolutely crazy , what a Finale , then
STARSHIP TROOPER ..... With Golden Les Paul ....... it's a lovely sad sounding song in which way to finish a show with Joe just oozing guitar playing like no other , And the large crowd rocked and swayed to the strums ........... 100 decibel roar followed in Appreciation

encore : ASKING AROUND FOR YOU ......... This was the Perfect way to bring the evening to a close ,,, Gentle Jazz tinged blues where you could hear Mark pound the bass strings and they'd reverb the whole place like a soothing purr as well as a giant Mirrorball up above the stage sprinkled thousands of beads of reflections around the hall as Joe Sung from his Soul ........ Really touching visual experience ( well it looked so cool )
JOE , MARK & BOGIE had completely won over an 2000 Audience with a Quite outstanding live show of musical masterclass that i don't think many people of London had seen for some time
The 3 Entertainers took their bows to an creshendo of screams and applause ............................................... michael     

and the rain came down