Making a triumphant return to Birmingham for the first time since 2018, Joe Bonamassa is back at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena with a setlist packed with classic cuts and heavy-duty covers. Perhaps surprisingly, bearing in mind his recent live release (Tales Of Time, reviewed here) focused almost exclusively on the excellent Time Clocks album, this tour eschews it almost entirely, focusing more on the period running from 2011’s Dust Bowl to 2020’s Royal Tea, with a sprinkling of covers thrown in for good measure. It feels like something of a reset for, as much as Joe’s themed tours have been an absolute pleasure, this feels more like a consolidation of the fantastic run of albums with which Joe has graced us, and the man himself looks relaxed as he takes to the stage, suit and shades fully intact.
The show gets off to a cracking start with a bruising Evil Mama, the lead track from 2018’s epic Redemption. Whether because this is the last night of the tour, or simply because Joe’s current band absolutely cooks, the performance is ferocious, with that ascending riff simply smoking out of Joe’s fretboard. It’s an auspicious start and it firmly grabs the audience’s attention, not least when Joe stands back to allow Reese Wynans the opportunity to rip out a keyboard solo that matches Joe beat for beat in intensity. Next up, and sounding more Floydian than ever, Dust Bowl sees Joe using his lovely ES 335 to haul the track from layers of reverb, as excellent drummer Lemar Carter lets his cymbals wash over it all. Always a fantastic song live, tonight it takes on a proggier aspect than we’ve seen previously, providing a calmer moment before an epically expanded Love Ain’t A Love Song detonates with all the force of a tactical nuke. With the band playing for their lives, not only do we get another explosive keyboard solo, but we also see Joe tearing into his guitar with such abandon he cuts his hand open (“we’re literally bleeding for you people”, he comments later). Blood, sweat and tears there may be up on stage but it’s surely worth it for, with Joe and his entire band committed to the performance, the audience have no choice but to strap themselves in and try to go the distance.
It’s not all frantic guitar workouts and, following Love Ain’t A Love Song, we get the beautiful Self-Inflicted Wounds – one of Joe’s most intimate and affecting songs. A beautiful rendition, it sees a breathtaking vocal from Jade MacRae, who evokes Clare Tory’s scene-stealing performance on The Great Gig In The Sky, her commitment to the moment such that fellow singer Danielle De Andrea claps and cheers with delight. It’s a wonderful moment and it holds the entire arena, audience and band alike, absolutely captivated.
The middle portion of the set sees the band having fun with some lighter numbers. First up, a breezy Just ‘Cos You Can Don’t Mean You Should leavens the mood, neatly paving the way for a joyous cover of Coco Montoya’s I Want To Shout About It. A glorious, fifties-style boogie, it provides Josh Smith an impressive moment in the spotlight, while Jade and Danielle have fun winding the audience up with some call and response vocals towards the conclusion. There’s even room for some old school blues, with a brilliant cover of Double Trouble (Otis Rush), providing Jade and Danielle a moment to leave the stage, as Joe leads the band for a stripped-back performance that feels like a nod to his earliest days, getting to know the blues through covering the greats.
Kicking things up a notch, the wired riff to I Didn’t Think She Would Do It sets the stage a light once more, while the breezy A Conversation With Alice skips past quickly as the band head towards the one moment from Time Clocks on offer today – the slinky, bluesy shuffle of The Heart That Never Waits, which boasts gorgeous backing vocals and an extended opportunity for more of Joe’s sublime guitar work. Of course, while it’s Joe’s name on the sign, he’s always happy to give his band a chance to shine, and with the sparks still flying, he tears into Lonely Boy, providing space for Josh Smith to take the lead, before Reese and Calvin Turner get into a bass and keys battle that lights up the stage. It highlights the wonderful chemistry the band members have forged out on the road, and it also gives Joe a moment to stroll off, only to return with his flying V, ready for the show’s big rock number. And, of course, when it comes to Joe Bonamassa, it doesn’t get much bigger than his all-guns-blazing take on ZZ Top’s Just Got Paid. Extended here to a wonderfully ridiculous extent, the entire audience is on their feet for a number that takes in fiery solos, an extended drum break that leaves jaws on the floor, and even a brief snippet of Paranoid as Joe pays loving tribute to the Birmingham crowd.
With the audience still on their feet and a sense that the show has been an almighty blow-out for Joe’s band, who are looking forward to going home at the end of the tour, Joe drops the traditional Mountain Time encore, with which he’s been ending shows elsewhere, in favour of an epic Sloe Gin, a cover that maintains a special place in Joe’s catalogue. It is the perfect finale to an epic show, and it leaves the audience cheering for more long after the band have taken their final bow and the house lights have risen.
Joe Bonamassa shows are always special, and you never quite know what to expect. Tonight, having successfully concluded another run, Joe’s enthusiasm frequently runs away with itself. An artist who usually seems so unflappable, even when tearing through a solo that would have most guitarists running for cover, tonight he’s a demon, shredding his guitars (and his fingers); and even dropping the carefully-guarded façade (albeit briefly), when humorously admonishing the crowd for booing the fact that it’s the tour’s final night. With the current band firmly bedded in after their time out on the road together, and with Josh Smith providing additional weight to the guitars, it’s the heaviest we’ve seen Joe in some time and the blazing Just Got Paid finale reminds us that while Joe has blues in his soul, sometimes he just wants to rock – tonight we saw both sides and it was one hell of a performance.
