Topic: Denver, CO Bellco Theatre April 23, 2013
I finally made it out to the forum this morning and was shocked to see there were no show reviews from Denver last night yet. So, I am happy to get the topic going.
The show was all around fantastic as you would all expect!! I was lucky enough to be added to the meet and greet with Joe before the show. Joe was in a great mood at the meet and greet. He was joking with us about the fact that there was a Mexican restaurant in the lobby of the theatre where the meet and greet was held. He said that is the first time he has ever seen that and he was sure that with 4500 plus people attending the show there has to eb at least 20 who are thinking they need to have some tacos. The meet and greet was very well organized. Joe, as usual, took time to talk to and connect with everyone who was participating. You could have up to 3 items signed per person and his tour manager Clay was there to take photos for everyone. The line moved quickly and efficiently with everyone I witnessed getting great time and interraction with Joe. It was tremendous to get to talk to Joe for a few minutes and to let him know how much his music and playing means to me. My Father in law who was with me told Joe what a fan he is of the song Driving Towards the Daylight. Joe took the time to explain to him the process around writing that song and specifically that he began writing that song 10 years ago and that it finally just completed itself.
As for the show itself, Joe and the band sounded fantastic. The Bellco theatre was a very nice venue for Joe and the sound was fantastic where we were. (12th row just off center). I apologize to all of you as I am not a good person to do the setlist. I tend to get lost in the music/show. Hopefully someone else was keeping track. I will say it was a very similar setlist to the other shows. If I remember correctly it was 5 acoustic tunes and then immediately into the full band set with no break at all. The total show time was 2 hours and 20 minutes including the encores. The encore was 1 difference. Joe talked about how he got into trouble by ommiting Sloe Gin form the setlist in Phoenix as he thought people felt he had played it enough. He indicated this was apparantly a giant mistake and he would never make it again. So, it was added into the encore along with Just Got Paid. One of the funny moments of the evening was when Joe indicated he got into trouble someone from the audience yelled did he get a speeding ticket? Joe commented by saying how would I get a speeding ticket...I don't even own an F-ing car in Denver. Pretty funny. Lots of comments from Joe about the change in weather from Phoenix being 95 degrees and Denver being in the 30's with 6 inches of snow and slush. Probably the coolest thing for those of us in Denver was the fact that Joe mentioned several times that the Denver show with over 4500 attendees is the single largest gathering of humanoids ever for a Joe Bonamassa show in the US. He talked about it several times, how much that means to him, and how he would never forget that evening and it would forever endear Denver to him. Pretty cool to be part of that. Joe even paused to take pics of the audience with his camera and had his guitar tech behind the band taking pics as well.
For the guitarists on the forum like myself, Joe used an arsenal of guitars last night. I kind of lost track to be honest. In general I noticed 5 different Les Pauls, a regular MusicMan, a double neck MusicMan, 2 Firebirds, and a 335. Not to mention a couple different acoustics for that set.
It was an amazing night all around and I feel so blessed to have been part of it. Big thanks to Joe and the band for continuing to do what they do so well and for a terrific night all around that I will not forget. 5th Bonamassa show for me dating back to 2005 and he just continues to amaze me every time. Hoping we get to do it again in Denver very soon.