Seein' Joe Bonamassa tonight in Albany NY!!

[duhvoodooman]

At the Hart Theatre at The Egg performing arts center in the NYS Capital complex. Seats about 1,000 and not a bad seat in the house. I'm in the 6th row of the main seating section, dead center. Oh boy, oh boy, oh by!!! :happy :dude :happy

[Commodore 64]

Pics or it didn't happen...(yes I know it didn't happen yet).

[Jimi75]

You got great seats, no question. I bet JB is gonna put on a great show. Enjoy the concert and let us have a review please :-)

:AOK

[Tig]

DVM, I don't know whether to love you or hate you!
J/K'ing :poke

Enjoy what could be one of the best shows in your life, you lucky dawg.

[duhvoodooman]

Yeah, should be great. This is my 2nd JB show. Saw him 2/28/09 in Syracuse NY, at the beginning of the John Henry tour. Fabulous.

[Eric]

Nice. I'm going to see him on Saturday and, since I can't find anybody I know who wants the second ticket, will go with my wife. I hope it's good.

How was your show?

[hubberjub]

Sounds like fun. I love seeing shows at the Egg. You should slip a ZYS on stage when he's not looking.

[duhvoodooman]

STUPEFYING!! :eek: :what DVM -> :master :rockon: <- JB

That's the only way I can describe it in a single word. I thought the show I saw in Feb. '09 was great, but this topped it. How Joe can maintain the incredible level of emotion, intensity, and shear physical effort for a 2 hour show is a mystery to me. Plus the Hart Theatre at The Egg where he played is just a great, great venue, and our seats couldn't have been better--close but not too close, dead center, looking very slightly down at the band.

The set list is below, along with my best recollection of the guitars used on each song. Sloe Gin, Blues Deluxe, Mountain Time and Just Got Paid were the highlights for me, but there really wasn't a weak number in the set. The acoustic number, Woke Up Dreaming, was a tour de force of Joe's otherworldly guitar skills--just flat, headshaking unbelievable. And being a "gearhead", of course the constant stream of gorgeous Gibson and Music Man guitars coming on stage added to the enjoyment.

The amps were his usual rig of recent months--four 100W heads: a Marshall Jubilee, a Carol Ann, a Category 5, and a Van Weelden Twinkleland, played through two 4x12 Category 5 cabs. Not only is the guy an incredible guitarist (BTW, he was just named Best Overall Guitarist in the 2010 Guitar Player magazine annual Reader's Poll), but as usual, his tone was to die for. Sorry, couldn't see his pedalboard to report on that, but there are a couple of YouTube videos where Joe walks through his pedal set-up.

If Joe comes anywhere near you, GO SEE HIM!! You won't be disappointed, I guarantee.


MAIN SET:

Ballad of John Henry (double-neck Music Man, baritone-standard)
Last Kiss (dark blue LP)
So Many Roads (")
So It's Like That ('59 Reissue LP)
If Heartaches Were Nickels (")
Further On Up The Road (a different '59 Reissue LP)
Sloe Gin (")
Lonesome Road (")
Happier Times (")
Blue And Evil (single p/u mahogany Firebird)
Three Times A Fool (red ES-355)
Blues Deluxe (")
Young Man's Blues (Explorer)
Woke Up Dreaming (Alvarez Yairi acoustic-electric)
Django/Mountain Time (Steve Morse model Music Man)

ENCORE:

Bird On A Wire (dark red 25th Anniv. Music Man)
Just Got Paid (Flying V)

[Spudman]

Did you see Joe's Balls? His Ernie Balls that is. I know he plays them often.
He's got a red/maroon 25th anniversary, a JP6, an Axis and the Morse and a Doubleneck.

Oh, I see he played the 25th for the encore. Cool!

[warren0728]

i wish he was coming here but so far no florida dates....glad the show was good....i was a little worried for you because joe has been really sick for the past week or so....sounds like he has recovered!

i watch his rah dvd all the time and he is becoming one of my favs....

[duhvoodooman]

Did you see Joe's Balls? His Ernie Balls that is. I know he plays them often.
Yes, indeedy--three of them! :eek: The double-neck, the Steve Morse Y2D (http://www.music-man.com/instruments/guitars/steve-morse-y2d.html) (in the striking Purple Sunset finish on a quilted maple top), and the 25th Anniv. model.


i was a little worried for you because joe has been really sick for the past week or so....sounds like he has recovered!
Yeah, he mentioned that he was recovering from a major case of "burning face"--a bad sinus infection, I guess. Not quite back to normal (he reportedly was too tired after the show for his customary fan "meet & greet" out in the lobby area), but clearly able to play his butt off for 2 hours with no let-up!

[Jimi75]

Breathtaking set list! Great review. I am happy to see that you experienced a great gig.

It's cool that you write which guitar he used. I was wondering which one he used on Three Times A Fool on the Cd, wasn't sure whether it was a Tele or an ES335 (yes he used a Tele, too).

The dark blue LP could be the next JB signature guitar. Heard rumours about the blue one.

The Flying V he uses was bought in Hamburg, Germany (yeahhhhh!) in a vintage guitar shop, read that in an interview.

[oldguy]

He did a great show here last summer. The band was tight, no pauses on stage, no meandering about...just.........BAM!.......in your face music at a perfect SPL for the audience............'course the guitar playing wasn't bad, either.:AOK This was the favorite shot I got of him that night, looking over his shades at the bassist during a solo, right on cue. Great band, great sound.
http://www.thefret.net/imagehosting/thum_1154a9045be436e1.jpg (http://www.thefret.net/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=1258)

[Eric]

MAIN SET:

Ballad of John Henry (double-neck Music Man, baritone-standard)
Last Kiss (dark blue LP)
So Many Roads (")
So It's Like That ('59 Reissue LP)
If Heartaches Were Nickels (")
Further On Up The Road (a different '59 Reissue LP)
Sloe Gin (")
Lonesome Road (")
Happier Times (")
Blue And Evil (single p/u mahogany Firebird)
Three Times A Fool (red ES-355)
Blues Deluxe (")
Young Man's Blues (Explorer)
Woke Up Dreaming (Alvarez Yairi acoustic-electric)
Django/Mountain Time (Steve Morse model Music Man)

ENCORE:

Bird On A Wire (dark red 25th Anniv. Music Man)
Just Got Paid (Flying V)
Saw him last night. He put on a really good show, even for someone like my wife who didn't know a single song by him. I must confess, I don't know all of his material, but I got by. I think his set list and guitar selection was pretty much identical to what you have listed here. We counted somewhere around 17 guitars off to the side of the stage. The acoustic song was completely ridic.

One thing I realized during the show: I wonder if it's odd for him that everywhere he goes, he's probably about 10 years younger than the mean age of the crowd. Kind of odd, huh? In his case, I suppose it's always been that way, but still...can't think of too many artists who would fall into that category.

[sumitomo]

Ya Vood I know what ya mean when I saw him he just went for the whole time.No wonder he's losing alittle weight.Sumi:D

[duhvoodooman]

Coupla videos that show off some of this gear:

Ballad of John Henry live performance (pretty good video & audio quality for an audience recording) showing the double-neck EB Music Man:

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Blue and Evil from the new Black Rock CD, performed on the Bob & Tom Show. Check out the new dark blue-green JB Signature Model LP:

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[duhvoodooman]

Here's a good quality audience vid from the May 8 JB show in Omaha, NE (coincidentally, his 33rd birthday). He's playing that Steve Morse model Music Man on Django/Mountain Time--same as the 4/20 Albany show I saw.

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