Joe Bonamassa convinces in Rotterdam with pure guitar passion
The first thing that stood out in the beautiful RTM Stage of Ahoy was that it was actually sold out, with around 4,000 fans. The near-daily advertisements on social media gave reason for concern. A performance by master Bonamassa is nowadays mainly reserved for the more affluent blues enthusiast, as ticket prices are steep, between €80 and €225. On top of that, many also faced hefty parking costs of €21. The nickname ‘Joe Bonakassa’ was therefore heard quite often. The guitarist himself has stated that he aims to become financially independent within a few years so that he can stop touring almost continuously, which has an impact on the prices. But as soon as Bonamassa walked onto the stage at exactly 20.00, the seated audience was primarily focused on the music. And that, as somewhat expected, did not disappoint.
There was a new album to promote on this tour, so the show opened with the slightly too poppy singalong and title track ‘Breakthrough’ and the somewhat simple shuffle ‘Trigger Finger’. Later came the summary ‘Drive By the Exit Sign’. Songs that fortunately were delivered with more power live and enhanced with longer solos, but are not standouts within Joe’s oeuvre. Unfortunately, for me, the best songs from “Breakthrough”, the ballads ‘Broken Record’ and the heart-wrenching ‘Life After Dark’, were left out. Fortunately, a delightful extended version of ‘Twenty-Four Hour Blues’ appeared early in the setlist, featuring old-school soloing that reached for the stars.
The advantage of a seated audience is that it remained completely silent during the songs, while the disadvantage was that the atmosphere took some time to build. Clapping and singing along from a seat feels different. Joe himself only addressed the audience after an hour and mentioned that he is a big fan of the Netherlands. A nice gesture. The music had to carry the evening, aside from an effective light show. Fortunately, the sound was outstanding, and the excellent band visibly and audibly enjoyed themselves. Drummer Carl Lemar Carter and the new, young keyboardist, the Australian Lachy Doley, particularly on Hammond, played very strongly. But of course, it was all about Joe’s phenomenal guitar work, although his sidekick, Josh Smith, was also given a notable amount of space.
These days, Bonamassa fills a large part of his setlists with fairly obscure covers that do not appear on any album. Nice for him, but less so for the audience that prefers more familiar material. It is hard to imagine that many people were familiar with ‘Well, I Done Got Over It’, ‘Well, Well’ or ‘Hard But It’s Fair’. Fortunately, each of them received beautiful, highly extended performances, offering more than enough to enjoy. Still, a few songs from top albums such as “Time Clocks”, “Redemption” or “Dust Bowl” would have been welcome.
Amid all the lesser-known covers, some recognisable highlights thankfully emerged. Halfway through, the beautiful and goosebump-inducing ‘Driving Towards the Daylight’ provided a high point, as did audience favourite ‘Sloe Gin’, which always works no matter how often you hear it. The set closed with ‘A Million Miles Away’. Bonamassa performed a tribute to Gallagher in Ireland last year, from which an album and Blu-ray will be released in June. A short introduction to these and the other covers would have been welcome, but Joe is simply a man of many notes and few words.
In the encore, we were further treated to what is, in my opinion, his finest song, ‘Mountain Time’. The audience stood up and gathered in front of the stage to enjoy one of the most powerful solos of the evening. A wonderful ending to a two-hour guitar showcase. Despite a few remarks about the setlist, the audience left the venue very satisfied. Joe Bonamassa delivered a pure musical experience at Ahoy Rotterdam. Already looking forward to his Gallagher tribute and the next studio album, although with this ‘hardest working musician’, we fortunately never have to wait long.
