Yeah, JoeBeacon is right on how the whole thing was arranged. How can you have a general admission show and not know that people need to get in a line first. Well, we kind of took matters into our own hands and started a line, lol. Still were some that ended up dodging it inside, but it was real cool to have the store security people apologize to us for it after the show. They tried the best with what little direction from management they had to work with. Lots of people came out for this event. Most I had no idea who they were, but we did see Beth Hart's husband, Scott, before the show. Beth was in the city but wasn't coming because she was worn out from doing something there all day. Also talked to Roy for a moment.
Nice to get a chance to have a small chat with Joe and Mike H. before the show. Joe was in Clark Kent mode so nobody was recognizing him as he walked past them numerous times. We knew of course 
At one point he and Mike had to go out to Guitar Center and pick up a cable. Thought this was kind of amusing. He told us he was originally supposed to do 3 songs and it was cut to 2 because of so many people scheduled to play. He had wanted to play with Warren and seemed disappointed that wasn't happening, but did seem very pleased to be playing with GE Smith. Turned out that Steve Miller had Joe come out for his 3 songs at the end of the show. Both Joe & Neil Schon were there for all 3, but only Joe had solos on all 3. Joe Satriani was added to the 2nd song of Miller's and on his 3rd song, the rest of the guys came out: Warren Haynes, Johnny A., and Steve Vai. So the final song was pretty cool with 8 guitarists playing which included GE Smith since he was part of the house band of the night.
One of the best parts of the night though, was hearing the crowd just roar when Joe came out and played. No other performer got that reception and it kind of made me swell with pride. That was our Joe that everybody was excited to see. It was cool seeing the other players show their approval of Joe's playing. A clap on the back here, a smile there. You could tell all were impressed. Thought it cool that Steve Miller played blues songs instead of his own and thought it coincidental Freddie King's "I'm Torn Down" was chosen for the finale given Joe is doing the 3 Kings tour. Everybody loves the blues.
The one thing Phil and I found a bit odd, though, was the people they chose to play at this celebration. Here it was a celebration of Les Paul and most of the guys playing never play Les Pauls. Only Joe and Warren are true LP people. Have to give credit to GE Smith for playing a really cool customized '60's LP with 3 pickups in it. But the rest of the guys? I mean there are hundreds of LP players in the world and this is the list they come up with. Just makes me wonder why.
On another note, there was something at this event that just makes me love Joe even more. On the final song of the event when everyone was on stage, Johnny A. was having equipment issues and was frantically running about trying to get his guitar to work. The pressure was on because he was supposed to do a solo like everyone else and Steve Miller called on him and he wasn't ready. After Joe completed his own solo, he came to his rescue, removed the cable from his own guitar and let Johnny plug into his amp. No one else was making any move to help out Johnny, but Joe did which resulted in Joe not having any sound for part of the song. What a good guy he is and that's why we love him.
So all in all it was a pretty darn cool night of music. It was great hanging out with JoeBeacon. He found a perfect spot to stand at the front of the balcony and we came over and stood next to him. Perfect location for filming which has resulted in me capturing some awesome video, one of which that Guitar Player magazine has posted on their website.
After the Hard Rock Cafe show we went down to the Iridium where the celebration continued. We hadn't really planned on going there, but knew there was an event scheduled and we were hungry. We thought it was a VIP thing that you needed special passes for, but when we walked up to the door, they immediately put bands on us without any questions or tickets. So we went in and they were serving free hors d'oeuvres and a guitar shaped cake in honor of Les Paul. The band, Count 77s played a bit and Steve Costello and another young kid Lyric Dubee joined them on one song each. Then the Les Paul trio performed a few with Earl Slick sitting in, and then Joe Louis Walker joined them as well. The event continued, but we left at that point. Long day of standing and music and needed to get back and do some uploading.
I'm Torn Down featuring Steve Miller, Joe Bonamassa, Neil Schon, Warren Haynes, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Johnny A and G.E. Smith https://youtu.be/kaDeIn8wP8c
One Mint Julep featuring Steve Miller, Joe Bonamassa, Neil Schon & Joe Satriani https://youtu.be/FipFYYZmLpg
Blues With A Feeling featuring Steve Miller, Joe Bonamassa & Neil Schon https://youtu.be/bltJVgC36bE
Soulshine Warren Haynes https://youtu.be/jO5QIXUD0mg
Breaking Up Somebody's Home Warren Haynes https://youtu.be/DE07kB2Fmhg
Double Trouble Joe https://youtu.be/59UOasIYcuE
All Aboard Joe https://youtu.be/59UOasIYcuE
will post more of show once uploaded.
) ... always great to see Joe sharing the stage with others. Thanks once again for sharing with us!)
