Blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa has come a long way since his first show in the region at the Customs House in South Shields back in 2006. Through a gruelling schedule of constant touring and recording an incredible eight studio albums since then as a solo artist not to mention a clutch of albums with his Hard Rock side project Black Country Communion, with former Deep Purple bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes as well as collaborations with Beth Hart and the groovetastic Rock Candy Funk Party project no one could accuse Bonamassa of being a slacker.
Blues is a notoriously difficult music form to break into with opinions firmly entrenched in tradition. Bonamassa has managed to break down those barriers to arguably bring the Blues to a much wider audience than any other guitarist in the last 20 years while also bringing the purists along for the ride too so seeing just about every seat occupied by eager fans in The Sage came as no surprise.
Only a fool or a genius would open a show with four new songs. Not songs from a recently released album but ones from an album not due out in September. A brave move indeed but Bonamassa is in such a rich vein of creativity at the moment that his indulgence was not just forgiven but enthusiastically embraced. Certainly, King Bee Shakedown and the supremely Soulful Self Inflicted Wounds have all the hallmarks of instant Bonamassa classics even on the first listen. Bonamassa’s gamble paid off big time.
With Bonamassa nicely warmed up it was then time to raid the back catalogue with a sassy romp through Albert King’s, I Get Evil, replete with King’s signature Flying V guitar and sparkling horn section.
The moody, No Good Place For The Lonely enhanced by some atmospheric lighting and the ultra-Funky Breaking Up Someone’s Home showed two totally different aspects of Bonamassa’s classy playing but it was perhaps the slow burning epic, How Deep The River Runs that took the plaudits, taking the crowd on a rollercoaster of emotions along the way while Bonamassa’s solo defied belief.
Backed by a stunning band that included Reese Wynans on keyboards of Double Trouble and KISS alumni Anton Fig on drums who’s incredible credits also include BB King, James Brown and Bob Dylan not to mention bassist Michael Rhodes who has shared a stage with Johnny Cash and Stevie Nicks, you somehow knew that a band of this calibre would pull a fair few tricks out of the bag. With the band enhanced further by a sparkling horn section and two stunning backing vocalists this was a major musical tour de force with Bonamassa at its centre.
With Zeppelin’s Honky Tonk pounding, Boogie With Stu and riff heavy How Many More Times bookending the raucous shuffle of Last Kiss two hours had passed at the blink of an eye with Hummingbird bringing the show to fitting climax.
With most of the Blues greats of old now sadly departed, it would be fitting for Bonamassa, who once performed alongside the legendary BB King at the age of 13, to take over the crown as King of the Blues. On this performance you’d be hard pushed to find a better Blues player anywhere in the world.
Review and Photos By Mick Burgess
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