Album
Joe Bonamassa
Live - from nowhere in particular
Provogue (label)
17 August 2008 (released)
17 August 2008
Anyone up for a double live album of Blues/Rock? Does it help if I say that the guitarist in question is Joe Bonamassa? I have been living with this album for a while and repetition has taught me that 2 CDs of this music just ain’t enough!
Joe Bonamassa has been building his reputation since the first buzz got out about him five or six years ago and in those days he played venues like Pete Feenstra’s ‘Green Man’ in Barnet or the Borderline in Charing X Rd – good venues but packed to the gunnels with 200 people crammed in. The world tour that this album represents saw him playing to some of the biggest halls and even a few stadia as well as playing with some of the biggest names on the scene and it proves that he is good enough to stand up there with any of them.
This is electric Blues and rock of the highest order. His playing is stunning throughout and unlike many of his contemporaries he has more than one style to bring – and bring it he does.
His straight Blues numbers show a player with complete control of his instrument and his audience as he mixes up the power and the subtlety as well as the pace and volume. Number after number show different sides of his playing and his progression from a fast, aggressive young snotnose to the guy who released ‘Sloe Gin’ last year, and throughout the 13 numbers here I never found my attention wandering or felt like skipping to the next track – once you kick this one off you are in for the whole album, just like once of his live performances.
There are a number of highlights – and almost no dull moments – from the opening blast of ‘Bridge to Better Days’ through the walking Blues of ‘Walk in the Shadows’ – where his guitar sounds positively snakelike in its fluidity – or the intensity of ‘India/Mountain Time’ – and three-quarters of the album yet to come. The fluidity of 'Ball Peen Hammer' shows he is as comfortable on an accoustic as he is on the electric and possibly shows his vocal off to its best with the simpler sound.
His touring band – Carmine Rojas on Bass, Rick Nelick on keyboards and Bogie Bowles on drums are as tight as a drumskin and support him almost anonymously – what you are getting is Joe Bonamassa not his band.
The overall performances go together to represent exactly what he played to thousands of fans over the last couple of years and this album really stands as a pointer to what he has achieved so far – possibly drawing a line under where he is now before he moves on to new pastures, who knows?
If you like Blues and rock played at its best then this album is an absolute must have – there really won’t be a better live album released this year.
Joe Bonamassa has been building his reputation since the first buzz got out about him five or six years ago and in those days he played venues like Pete Feenstra’s ‘Green Man’ in Barnet or the Borderline in Charing X Rd – good venues but packed to the gunnels with 200 people crammed in. The world tour that this album represents saw him playing to some of the biggest halls and even a few stadia as well as playing with some of the biggest names on the scene and it proves that he is good enough to stand up there with any of them.
This is electric Blues and rock of the highest order. His playing is stunning throughout and unlike many of his contemporaries he has more than one style to bring – and bring it he does.
His straight Blues numbers show a player with complete control of his instrument and his audience as he mixes up the power and the subtlety as well as the pace and volume. Number after number show different sides of his playing and his progression from a fast, aggressive young snotnose to the guy who released ‘Sloe Gin’ last year, and throughout the 13 numbers here I never found my attention wandering or felt like skipping to the next track – once you kick this one off you are in for the whole album, just like once of his live performances.
There are a number of highlights – and almost no dull moments – from the opening blast of ‘Bridge to Better Days’ through the walking Blues of ‘Walk in the Shadows’ – where his guitar sounds positively snakelike in its fluidity – or the intensity of ‘India/Mountain Time’ – and three-quarters of the album yet to come. The fluidity of 'Ball Peen Hammer' shows he is as comfortable on an accoustic as he is on the electric and possibly shows his vocal off to its best with the simpler sound.
His touring band – Carmine Rojas on Bass, Rick Nelick on keyboards and Bogie Bowles on drums are as tight as a drumskin and support him almost anonymously – what you are getting is Joe Bonamassa not his band.
The overall performances go together to represent exactly what he played to thousands of fans over the last couple of years and this album really stands as a pointer to what he has achieved so far – possibly drawing a line under where he is now before he moves on to new pastures, who knows?
If you like Blues and rock played at its best then this album is an absolute must have – there really won’t be a better live album released this year.