Bristol Colston Hall

Seeing Joe and the band is always a spiritual experience for me, so what I'm about to write feels somehow disloyal. But I feel it's important to give honest feedback and I hope Joe's team receives it in the well-meaning spirit it's intended.

Now, I'm not one of those people who complains at ticket prices. I happen to think £90 is reasonable for an act of Joe's quality and I understand the profit margin is modest with so many outgoings. But to have laid out £90, got the night off work and travelled 100 miles to the show, I couldn't help but be disappointed. I just could not pick Joe's guitar out of the mix. When I could hear it, I was getting strange overtones rather than the true notes and my enjoyment of the music was impossible.

I was near the front at stage left and near a group of 3 monitors. The keys were absolutely blasting, as was the rhythm guitar, but Joe was nowhere to be found for me. So frustrating that the song choices were excellent and the whole thing was new and interesting, yet the star of the show was all but lost to me. I appreciate averaging out the sound in a venue is difficult, so I'm not suggesting it could have been improved. It's just disappointing for me personally (and the people around me who felt the same).

I also found it a little strange that Joe has drafted in a rhythm guitarist/keyboard player/singer who he spoke very highly of but did not interact with at all during the show. No dynamic between them at all, resulting in a very bored liking Russ Irwin. Perhaps I misread him, but he looked like he wanted to be some place else and you couldn't help but feel that as an audience member.

Finally, the very end of the night took a turn for the worse. A few fans approached the stage to look at Joe's rig and maybe talk to the crew, but I have to say they were breathtakingly rude. An excited fan asked politely if he could take home the set list and the crew member was unjustifiably rude in return. I appreciate the crew needs to work quickly, but they are, after all, ambassadors for Joe and in the business of public entertainment. We are fee-paying enthusiastic fans, and some of us love the sense of occasion that comes with a show. I thought it was going to turn nasty for a minute and it almost did. I think there's a lesson in there somewhere. The build-up and end of the show are part of the experience too and it's important to convey a sense of appreciation to the people who keep the show on the road with their hard-earned tickets.

There's no way a single negative experience would stop me seeing Joe at the next opportunity. I remain a life-long fan and I think Joe did a great job of paying tribute and capturing the essence of his heroes, without trying to copy their idiosyncratic styles. A difficult balance but one he achieved in admirable style, as always.