Joe Bonamassa is an artist who thrives in the spotlight, but who generously never hogs it. If he’s a little bit cocky (“I’m playing the Royal Albert Hall Three f***in’ times this week!”) then it’s only because he stands secure in the knowledge that he has earned every accolade and fought for every sold-out show. And what shows! Joe Bonamassa doesn’t do bad nights, but there is a feeling that he is served best in grand surroundings. Give him an arena, he’ll rock it to the core; give him the Royal Albert Hall, and he’ll raise the roof in a way that has the standing ovations begin during the first song and continue right until the very end. This is the last of a three-night residency at the legendary venue and, true to form, the energy that crackles around the room when Joe (with a self-mythologising entrance worthy of the Thin White Duke) steps on stage to the strains of John Barry’s still-unsurpassed On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, is nothing short of electrifying.
With a focus on excellent new album Redemption, this tour sees Joe drawing from across his back catalogue to deliver a set that thunders passed in what feels like a fraction of its two-and-a-quarter-hour run time. He opens with the joyous Tiger in your tank, the Muddy Waters’ cover that opened the excellent Muddy Wolf set and, right away, toes are tapping and the cheers are coming thick and fast. From there, we head into Redemption territory. These are songs, it must be remembered, that were forged in the live environment (in stark contravention of the modern wisdom that big-name artists play nothing before it is released), and they still sound revelatory. King Bee Shakedown, for example, is a future-blues classic, its sense of fun greatly enhanced by the backing vocals of Mahalia Barnes and Jade MacRae, to say nothing of the blazing horns of Lee Thornburg and Paulie Cerra. Joe is on unstoppable form and, from there, he launches straight into a breathless Evil mama, the huge riffs driven ever forward by Anton Fig’s peerless drumming. Anton, Joe is fond of saying, is “pound for pound the greatest drummer in the world” and, when faced with a performance such as this, who are we to argue?
Having brought the rock, Joe allows things to calm into darker, bluesier territory for just because you can doesn’t mean you should but it’s the Floydian beauty of self-inflicted wounds that stands as an early highlight, the subtle psychedelia of the verse giving way to one of Joe’s most evocative solos yet. It’s an affecting and powerful piece of music and it underscores the fact that, for Joe, the blues is not a career, it’s a part of his being into which he pours his heart and soul.
We head back to the excellent blues of desperation album next for a rampant this train, the eerie title track (with Michael Rhodes using what appears to be a variation of the Chapman stick to conjure up the evocative bass line) and a lovely how deep this river runs, which, once again, sees Jade and Mahalia steal the show with their gorgeous backing. It says much of Joe’s ability to temper a set that he can raise the roof with a rock ‘n’ roll inferno like evil mama and still find the space to deliver such heart-stopping moments as how deep this river runs (complete with a melody that remains firmly lodged in the head for days after) and make it all feel like the ebb and flow of a carefully-constructed album.
The emotional peak of the set is reached with the still-heart-rending cover of Sloe Gin. A track that Joe has made entirely his own, this is possibly the best I’ve ever seen him play he track and when it reaches its crescendo, the audience sits as one, breath drawn in, waiting for the pay off. To have such control over a sold-out venue is rare indeed, but Joe is the master and we dance to his tune alone tonight. The covers continue as the wonderful Bernie Marsden appears on stage for a ferocious cover of Albert King’s I get Evil followed closely by Tea for one / I can’t quit you baby (with a solo that seems to make time itself stand still), little girl and, finally, last kiss, which brings the show to a close, although the sustained applause of the crowd suggests Joe will return…
A few moments later, and Joe is back on stage to play a blistering, solo-acoustic woke up dreaming. Arguably this is the only point where Joe allows his icy-control to crack and a hint of nerves shows through. It’s a raw, mesmerising performance, the crowd craning forward as his fingers fly over the fretboard, and you can feel his concentration as he brings the piece to an epic finale. From there we get a wonderfully ragged SWLABR – a track with a long history on the RAH stage – and, to end the night, mountain time, a track which also brought thunderous applause back in 2009, when Joe first headlined the Royal Albert Hall. It brings both the show, and the residency, to an emotional close and, as the band take their bows, the applause reaches ear-threatening levels.
Joe Bonamassa is one of those rare artists for whom graft is everything. His natural talent is beyond dispute but, like the great bluesmen, he is always seeking out ways to enhance his skills set, and every show is an experience. Nothing feels forced – his joy at playing the Royal Albert Hall is evident – and his interaction with his band is always a delight. Joe makes a point of saying, at each and every show, that this is the best band in the world, and it’s a claim that is quite simply impossible to dispute. However, it is not so much their remarkable musicianship, or their long history as recording artists, that makes them so. It is the remarkably warm and intuitive relationship they share. It’s the smiles on their faces when Lee Thornburg breaks into an impromptu rendition of the Simpsons’ theme tune after Joe makes a crack about his playing on their album; it is the running jump that Michael Rhodes takes towards the front of the stage when Joe summons the audience to stand; it’s the interaction that Lee, Paulie, Mahalia and Jade share with both each other and the crowd and it is the endless looks of delight that Reese and Joe share when a song takes flight. These aren’t musicians doing a job, these are artists doing what they love and the common thread is Joe, whose exceptional song-writing talent has drawn them all together. The Royal Albert Hall feels like the natural habitat for Joe, and his performance tonight is nothing less than exceptional.
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