Adelaide, South Australia, Friday 27th May 2011

Adelaide is a special city for me.  It is where, 25 years ago, I learned to play guitar.  My first band(s) and thus my first gigs were here, and I bought my first real Gibson Les Paul and Fender Strat from great little music shops in this quaint town.  So, whilst I now live on the other side of the country, Adelaide still holds a special place in my heart, musically.

Which is why when I heard that Joe Bonamassa was touring Australia, I had the pick of which city to see him in, with nearly all of them being the same cost to fly to from where I am, but I chose to catch him at his last show of the tour in the City of Churches.

I was also fortunate enough to get into the meet and greet before the show, to meet the man himself and get one of my guitars signed (http://www.jbonamassa.com/forum/viewtop … 56#p194556)

I apologise in advance for the very poor quality iPhone shots here.  If anyone has any better pictures of the gig, I would be more than happy to upload them.

THE VENUE

Joe played his Adelaide gig at Her Majesty's Theatre in the heart of the city.  The theatre itself is a bit of a relic of a bygone age, but has a certain alluring charm about it.  It has been renovated and modernised a bit internally so that it doesn't look too run down, and all 1009 seats at the venue were sold out I believe.  The acoustics were quite good, and the whole ambience seemed to suit Joe's style quite well.

The venue from outside.  The white signboards says "JOE BONAMASSA MAY 27TH" but my phone camera could not sort out the contrasts
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/577 … 80da_z.jpg

The excited crowd starting to gather...
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5305/577 … ae4c_z.jpg

C'mon, open the doors already...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2466/577 … 3a9f_z.jpg

My son and I sat in Row 3, towards the right hand side of the stage.

THE SONGS

The set list was the same as Joe's other Australian shows, so I won't take up space here.  An excellent selection of his big songs past and present.  All of my favourites were there, and the 2 hours of the concert just flew by as if was 15 minutes.

JOE B

What can I say without sounding like a gushy fan?  Because that is exactly what I am.  Joe's playing was as stellar as ever, and I believe that he covered almost every playing style there is apart from two handed tapping and shredding (which I don't really like anyway).  There are those that say Joe 'plays too many notes' but these flurry of Myxolydian runs were interspersed with some really soulful, slow passages which were full of feeling and vibe.

Joe's intro to 'Sloe Gin' is particularly memorable, as he stood at the front of the stage and plucked notes that were barely audible and had me leaning forward in my seat to hear them.  Same with the volume swells he did during 'Django'...all whilst perched precariously on one of his stage monitors.

As a guitar player myself, I would sit there and listen to a certain passage and say to myself "Hey, I think I could manage to play that part", but then Joe would engage the afterburners and blast into another blistering run or just a soulful whole tone bend with a sweet vibrato at the end that would make me want to just go home and burn all my guitars and chew on the ashes...

Joe constantly exuded showmanship and confidence.  He made use of all the stage space to move back and forth and play for every single member of the audience.  During his tribute piece, "Midnight Blues", it seemed as if Joe was channelling the spirit of the late, great Gary Moore - he seemed to be playing from a different place.  Very moving and beautiful.

If there was any one criticism, it was that I thought that Joe had throttled back a little on the vocals.  He seemed to either be conserving his voice, or was having trouble giving it his all (I suspect the former).  Understandable really, being at the end of a 45 day gruelling tour.  Not that this distracted from the concert at all, but I know from previous live clips I have seen, his voice didn't have the punch that it usually does.  This could also have been the mix and acoustics of the venue though.

When Joe switched to his acoustic for a couple of numbers, you could hear the yelps of appreciation from the crowd - at least from those who could pick their jaws up from the ground.  Any notions that I had about being able to play as good as Joe if I practiced 10 hours a day were crushed.  There are just not enough hours left in the universe for me to acquire such skill.

Just to reassure us that Joe is not a mechanical guitar playing autobot though, there was one flubbed note during "Midnight Blues", which Joe acknowledged with a wry grimace and a cheeky smile.  Just the one wrong note, but that just served to endear me to him even more.  He IS human after all!

The Show is ON...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2802/577 … e921_z.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3279/577 … 92a9_z.jpg

THE BAND

Joe's band can be summed up in two words: "World Class".  They were as tight as anything, and you could see the enjoyment they all displayed working with each other.  As others have commented, Rick's keyboards can sometimes get lost in the mix, but they do stand out during those important songs such as 'Sloe Gin' where they are critical.

Carmine spent nearly half the concert with his back to the audience looking at Tal, but that is fine because he and Tal obviously love playing with each other, and the two of them set a really tight groove for Joe to build upon.  Plenty of smiles and knowing looks exchanged between bassist and drummer during the gig.  At one stage, it looked like Carmine was having problems with gear or the foldback system, but unless you were looking right at him, you wouldn't have picked it up.  He managed to communicate with the stage crew whilst still holding down the beat, and I hope he got things sorted out OK in the end.

Others have described Tal as 'Animal' from 'The Muppets' and I can think of no other better analogy for him.  The sheer energy that he radiated from his podium behind the drum was outstanding and I have NEVER seen drumming such as his.  I kept looking for the extra pair of arms he must have sprouted, or the Red Bull intravenous drip directly into his spine.  I am amazed that his gear withstands such hard hitting.  There were times that I was just waiting for his whole set to implode in a smoking heap, or just collapse down on poor Carmine, such was the frenzy and explosive energy that he played with.

NB: Is it just me, or does Tal look just like my favourite British comedian Bill Bailey??

The 3 amigos...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/576 … 4158_z.jpg

I must admit that before the concert, I was worried that the band would just be flat out worn down, as they had just played in Melbourne the night before, and had literally 24 hours to tear down, fly to Adelaide, set up, sound check and play again.  A mammoth effort by them and their road/management crew no less.  If the Joe and the band were tired, they did not show it one bit.

THE GEAR

Joe played 4 guitars during the set.  His #1 Prototype Gold Top Les Paul (with the Bigsby vibrato), beautiful flame top Les Paul reissue, His Alvarez acoustic, and of course his beautiful "Holy Grail" 1959 Burst Les Paul.

The '59 LP was played the most, and you can understand why a player of Joe's calibre NEEDS to play a guitar like this.  It was one of the sweetest sounding guitars I have ever heard, and Joe managed to eke out a full range of tones from this guitar - from lilting violin caresses to crushing power chords that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

It is gratifying to see a guitar like this in the hands of a master, instead of locked away in a humidicrib somewhere.  I must admit I was hesitant about playing my own Bonamassa signature Les Paul at live gigs, but after seeing JB not holding back, I am determined to play it live now.

CONCLUSION

This would easily be in the top 3 concerts that I have ever been to.  It was just amazing to watch such impeccable guitar work at close range.  I spent a lot of money to catch this show, and I would do the same again at the drop of a hat.  Hopefully the travel and gear dramas earlier on in the tour have not put Joe and the team off from touring Australia again.  This country NEEDS to see such talent again and again.

PS: BOTH my son and I managed to catch a pick that Joe threw into the crowd at the end...Pretty freaky considering this is the second time I have ever managed to get a pick thrown at a concert I have been to!

Thank you Joe, for memories that will last a lifetime!

Adios.