Joe Bonamassa Band
First Ever English Show
Mr Kyps (200 seat venue)
Lower Parkstone, Poole, Dorset, UK
18 May 2005
Source: Audience (20 feet from centre stage, with 12 inch left/right mic
separation)
Lineage: Stereo Omni Mics & Battery Box (9V) -> JB3 (@48kHz) ->
firewire -> HD -> Audition/Wavelab -> WAV -> CDR
Recorded, transferred and mastered by: Cuztard Pi
Introduction
Woke Up Dreaming
Takin' The Hit
A New Day Yesterday
Blues Deluxe
Mountain Time
You upset Me Baby
The River
Burning Hell
Encore 1:
JB Solo
Are You Experienced
Encore 2:
I Don't Live Anywhere
1st show (out of 5) in the UK after European tour promoting album "A New
Day Yesterday Live"
For those interested - basic details of the mastering applied to the original
recording during production of the original CDR's are as follows:
A: left/right frequency response balance using Audition FFT filtering
B: 48 -> 44.1kHz/ EQ/ Multiband Compression/ Limiting (-0.2dB max) using
Wavelab
C - WAV split to fit on to 2xCDs (with overlap) plus fade in/out using Wavelab
D - Track naming & split using Wavelab
Joe Bonamassa is the blues prodigy from Utica, New York, who started playing
guitar at the age of four after hearing Stevie Ray Vaughan. Such was his
talent that by the time he was twelve he was opening for BB King and well
on his way to establishing himself as a phenomenon in his homeland. In the
UK for the first time to play just a handful of dates, it is credit to Mr
Kyps that they were able to secure the services of such an exceptional player.
Kicking off the set with a rousing blues solo acoustic number, Joe demonstrated
his virtuosity from the word go with some frenetic pickin’ that left the
unacquainted in the crowd stunned. Joined by his cohorts for 'Woke Up Dreaming',
they wasted no time in seizing the attention of any remaining sceptics with
their blistering, potent, full in-the-face approach, using 'Takin’ The Hit'
to demonstrate how to push the boundaries of the blues into the hard rock
quarter.
The cover of Jethro Tull’s, 'A New Day Yesterday”'had Bonamassa tearing into
his Les Paul with the ferocity of a high-octane roadster. With a change to
his glitter gold Strat, echoes of the Austin sound immortalized by SRV were
in evidence in a superb interpretation of the Rod Stewart penned 'Blues Deluxe',
injected here with new life and styling. The three-piece outfit generated
a full and powerful sound, rocking with fervour and jamming with an intense
passion, with each member feeding off one another like musical veterans.
Drummer Kenny Kramme provided a solid rhythm section whilst the charismatic
Eric Czar continually demonstrated his own ability with some outstanding
five string bass phrasing. A soaring version of 'The River' from his latest
'Had To Cry Today' CD had Joe exhibiting some excellent bottleneck, but it
was 'You Upset Me Baby' that defined the band’s sound and style perfectly;
spartan, riff driven, high intensity blues rock.
Throughout the set, Bonamassa effortlessly executed a series of diverse solos
that mesmerised the majority in attendance. The range of emotional reflection
that he expressed through his fretwork was stunning, but what I found particularly
salient was his ability to deliver a striking lead vocal, whilst executing
such intricate rhythm and lead guitar riffs. A perfect example of this was
the encore version of 'Are You Experienced' which was especially well done
with the main man switching between hyperactive rock and slow blues licks
with ease. Bonamassa may not look your archetypal blues guitar hero, but
his playing has him firmly established in that genre. And on this performance,
I expect him to remain there for the foreseeable future. Incidentally, if
you enjoyed this gig, then I suggest that you check out Larry Miller next
time he’s in town (I think you’ll be suitably impressed)!