Saw Joe Bonamassa last night!

  • Thread starter Thread starter SLOgriff
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SLOgriff

SLOgriff

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We were 10th row (thanks to my awesome girlfriend) and it was a pretty good show! He started exactly on-time with an acoustic jam for about 25 minutes. Then came out tearin' it up on a Gibson Firebird. Joe had great tone for the most part, clear, full, and pleasant is how I'd describe it. He played a few Les Pauls, Firebird and the Ernie Ball Steve Morse which sounded thin compared to the Gibson's.

Amps on stage:

* Friedman 100 watt Dirty Shirley (powered on but NOT plugged into)
* Suhr SL68 (powered on but NOT plugged into)
* Marshall 4-input (powered on but NOT plugged into)
* Marshall 1987 "I think" (Plugged into with Diaz reverb unit on top)

He has some super fast (Eric Johnson) type runs and I was also surprised how much Jeff Beck influence he has in his playing as well. Played a lot of finger picking slower leads, and volume pot swells (ala Jeff Beck). Large venue and the place was packed!! Mid way thru Joe took off his shades and commented on how surprised he was seeing so many people....said he was honestly humbled by the crowd.

One thing I did notice is when he is playing by himself without the band playing (acoustically and some electric) his TIMING was off, even though he would be tapping his foot. Very strange that a guy of his caliber would have timing issues! :confused:

He has a killer band....overall good show. Was a 2 hour show....and that's about all the Joe Bonamassa you need! :D
 
Sounds like a great show. One of the guys I would like to see someday.
 
Heritage Softail":71uqxrxr said:
Sounds like a great show. One of the guys I would like to see someday.
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Definately someone to see!! He really is a great player....and has great tone! I don't think I heard him hit one sour note either! He has a "mature" tone for lack of a better word or maybe more classic sounding. Not a lot of gain but it cuts thru and fills the room.
 
Awesome! I've seen Joe at least 8 times and he has never disappointed. Interesting and odd thing you mentioned regarding his timing being off on the acoustic. Maybe it was an off night.
 
I've seen Joe a few times. Truely a very crafted great player. His control and dynamics are amazing. Reminds me of Micheal Landau in that dept. The volume swells and fingering.. Jeff Beck. Virbrato... Gary Moore. Fast Pentatonic runs...Eric Johnson excelled. Super nice guy to top it off. So much of his tone is in his hands. I've heard him with just a Fender Twin and a tube screamer. He had Steve Vai on his feet at that show and dropped jaws. He is true student of the guitar, and has mastered it enough to sit anyone down. I actually dig his voice to. He has the soul and fire of a legend. His skills set him apart. Though, there is nothing original about his style in a sense. He's mastered them all. Thats what makes him so entertaining and a must see. :)
 
SLOgriff":34qhoxgu said:
Joe had great tone for the most part, clear, full, and pleasant is how I'd describe it. He played a few Les Pauls, Firebird and the Ernie Ball Steve Morse which sounded thin compared to the Gibson's.
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Cool review, but I don't quite agree in regards to the EBMM. I saw him recently and almost everything he played sounded the same...Les Pauls, EBMM, Firebird, SG Special. I can't imagine being able to detect any meaningful "thinness" from one particular guitar...his tone simply doesn't lend itself to that. His tone is damn near the same even when he plays a Strat.

Did he play the ES-350 through the Victoria combo? That was the only part of the show where his tone was unique from what we usually hear.

Good eye on the amps...Joe fanboys would be surprised by his live rig ;)
 
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