Smokin Joe at Birmingham AL!!!

I drove down from the Nashville area last night. Besides the fire alarm mid-set it was truly a bazaar night. The Eagles were also playing at the same BJCC complex at the same time. Traffic and parking was a nightmare($20/parking). Regretfully I have to say I was disappointed last night. This was my 6th JB concert and this was the worst I have heard him sound. The acoustic set was fine but his electric show was not up to previous concerts. The guitars just "sing" as they usually do. At times they sounded fuzzy and flat, just did not have that trademark JB haunting, penetrating and soaring tone. I was also disappointed in the play of Derek Sherinian. Very heavy. Seemed to clutter up the songs. Derek is obviously a talented and accomplished musician but I much prefer Rick's simple clean and supportive style especially on the B3. Derek's heavy keyboard work seems to clutter up the songs. Not to be completely negative, Joe's vocals were the best I've heard from him. Clear, strong and great phrasing. He has really gotten better and I have always liked his singing style. Tal was terrific. Truly a master drummer. He now sits high atop a platform center stage. You can really watch him play. Carmine was terrific also. Truly a musician's musician. Back to the negative. I did not care for Joe's new versions of Sloe Gin and Midnight Blues. The haunting intro of Midnight Blues was changed and Sloe Gin's intro of Rick's keyboard and Joe's penetrating guitar was different as well. I much prefer Joe's RAH version of Sloe Gin and the Beacon Theatre's Midnight Blues. All in all it was still worth the 360 mile trip (Did not get home until 2:00AM). A not as great sounding JB is still worth the experience. I have tickets for JB's show at the Ryman in April. The Ryman can be a tough venue to dial in a great sound. I sure hope Joe gets it right. I am interested in hearing from other fellow attendees last night. Was it just me?

Thanks for sharing.   Curious what actually happened. Did the fire alarms sound loudly?  Or did they make an announcement?
I think the sound at a Joe concert really depends on your seats.

welcome to the forum gbarr and jglen, good to have you and thanks for the reviews. I live just south of Birmingham and have declined to attend the last 2 times at the Civic Center. The main reason is the sound quality. You guys were in the concert hall, which has a little better sound than the main hall. I saw Al Di Meola there many years ago, it was OK, but my hearing is not what it used to be. Why they would have both of them on the same night is beyond me, I feel your traffic and parking pain gbarr. After seeing him in state of the art concert halls I won't compromise. There has been a lot of discussion here about sound in different venues, all the way down to where you were sitting. Looks to me like jglen had the right seats on this one. It seems the closer you are, or being up front on the floor, the better the sound is. I'm guessing gbarr's seats were further back.
That being said, the whole Joe experience is still very much worth the price of admission, and parking. Very glad you both enjoyed it, we already knew that Joe is smoking hot but I believe this is a first for him setting off a fire alarm, sounds about right. Hang around and enjoy the topics, a great Bonafamily is here for you.

Oh, somebody made up that burned hot dog story, we all know it was Joe.

Tres

well, I was wrong in assuming you were further towards the back. Those sound like great seats. So you just never know with all that high powered equipment. You may have been getting some of that "white noise" off the back of the hall. I saw Zeppelin in the arena in 1978 and the sound was atrocious, but you were in the concert hall. It's quite all right to offer constructive criticism here, your take on it is fine, I assure you nobody is going to bite your head off. I hope the next one goes better.

This was my first Bonamassa show, but long time fan. My wife and I had tickets for his last show in Birmingham, a few years ago. But were unable to attend last minute. All in all, it was a great show. The acoustic set was exceptional, and the band was in fine form. A few hurdles in the show, but I think he put on a great show regardless. As a professional guitarist myself, it is truly inspiring to see someone play at that level. My only complaint is that up until the fire alarm he seemed to be really getting into the show and inspired. But after, never seemed to cut lose. He was very good, but his playing seemed like it was way to easy and safe, as if he wasn't even trying. I prefer to see musicians push themselves a bit more. But under the circumstances (fire alarm, impending hot dog doom!) I can relate how it's hard to make that happen when thrown a curve ball. All in all great show and will look forward to seeing him again.