JoeB at the RAH

guitartango

Seen a few gods at the RAH but Mr Bonamassa !  ....wow he started on time and had no breaks just song after song after song. Amazing guitar player and guitar nerd !https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb6ixKnmMp4

Strat54

I like him but his songs and setlist at the mo just aren't doing it for me....not enough to spend £80. Seen him a dozen times, first time there were 88 people there and it was £15. Not a lot of love for him on forums, not sure why. I think people struggle with his alter-ego stage image. Met him a few times and he's an affable type of guitar nerd who is more than happy to let you play his guitars! 

cruxiform

I like him. Saw him at Hammersmith last year. Fantastic tone.

guitartango

Strat54 said:

I like him but his songs and setlist at the mo just aren't doing it for me....not enough to spend £80. Seen him a dozen times, first time there were 88 people there and it was £15. Not a lot of love for him on forums, not sure why. I think people struggle with his alter-ego stage image. Met him a few times and he's an affable type of guitar nerd who is more than happy to let you play his guitars! 

£80 ! Christ i paid £150 and i must admit i didn't like his set list. He could have done Sloe Gin + some of his hit songs. Amazing playing just so fluid. My only gripe is "don't sing" Joe.

ourmaninthenorth

I like this a lot...

Strat54

guitartango said:

Strat54 said:

I like him but his songs and setlist at the mo just aren't doing it for me....not enough to spend £80. Seen him a dozen times, first time there were 88 people there and it was £15. Not a lot of love for him on forums, not sure why. I think people struggle with his alter-ego stage image. Met him a few times and he's an affable type of guitar nerd who is more than happy to let you play his guitars! 

£80 ! Christ i paid £150 and i must admit i didn't like his set list. He could have done Sloe Gin + some of his hit songs. Amazing playing just so fluid. My only gripe is "don't sing" Joe.

The tickets were around £80 for Blackpool, I was offered one for £75 from a friend that couldn't go. I guess they are always more expensive for the RAH. Yeah, Sloe Gin, Mountain Time, Bird on a Wire...thats more my kind of stuff. 

trolley

My Blackpool tickets were £55 including the dreaded 'booking fee'

rlw

Friday night at the RAH.  Good seats in the stalls, place was rammed.  Not unlike a football crowd at times funnily enough.

A strange evening in my view.  Joe was in great form as was the band.  A variety of songs from Blues of Desperation to begin with, all suitably toughened up with different solos; some favourites to follow followed by some of the songs he did on the British Blues Explosion tour last year.  A good mixture of old and new. originals and covers.

The sound was simply superb, never heard better at the RAH.  As loud as possible I guess and super clear.  The solos could have stood out a bit more but that would be my only criticism.  Again, the bass lines were clear and defined with no thud, thud, thud.  Drums sounded great, as did the two singers.  The two horn players were clear and distinct.  Pretty much perfect.

Guitar wise we got two, maybe three strats, two teles, two LPs, a Firebird, a Flying V and an Explorer.  Presumably all worth a fortune and played without sympathy.

Joe played as he plays.  Showy but superb.  The few times he talked to the audience, he was witty and humble.  

But the venue sucked all the life out of it.  It's too big and airy for that kind of show which needs to be in a proper theatre to remain intimate.  Hammersmith Odeon, the Colosseum, even the RFH, would be better.  But that's the price of success I imagine.

What should have been a fantastic night out was a bit like watching it on the TV.  Brilliant performances by all concerned, let down by the hall.

Still, it could have been the O2, which would have been even worse.


Copied and pasted from my thread in Guitars.....

Gassage

THe first time I saw JB (2010) he was incredible as he was breaking though in the UK. He played his nuts off to a level that was mindblowing.

But since then I have found him to get more and more indulgent and less viceral and the set list to become more diluted.

On fire, he's unmatchable.

Ossyrocks

Circumstances contrived to keep me away from the gigs on this tour. I really would have liked to have gone to Blackpool or Sheffield.

As mentioned above, the sound is always good. The last time I saw him in Leeds it was exceptional.

The tone he rings out of that Goldtop in the video Paul posted above is exactly where it's at for me. How could it be any better?

He's reaching a whole new and younger audience and getting them excited about playing guitar. I had a long chat the other night with a young lad of 16 years old (and a pretty handy player too) who was at the Blackpool gig. He said it's the best gig he's ever seen, and now he's on the hunt for a tweed amp to try to get that tone.

Cheers,
Rob.

EricTheWeary

Just reading through - when I saw him at the Genting arena it was easily the best overall live sound I've ever heard in there. Credit to Joe that he clearly employs some good people. But I'm not sure I do £75 tickets so he's off my radar these days. 

ourmaninthenorth

Ossyrocks said:

Circumstances contrived to keep me away from the gigs on this tour. I really would have liked to have gone to Blackpool or Sheffield.

As mentioned above, the sound is always good. The last time I saw him in Leeds it was exceptional.

The tone he rings out of that Goldtop in the video Paul posted above is exactly where it's at for me. How could it be any better?

He's reaching a whole new and younger audience and getting them excited about playing guitar. I had a long chat the other night with a young lad of 16 years old (and a pretty handy player too) who was at the Blackpool gig. He said it's the best gig he's ever seen, and now he's on the hunt for a tweed amp to try to get that tone.

Cheers,
Rob.

Couldn't agree more Rob...exactly where it's at for me too. 

See you for LPFUKEM III (uk & european meet - copyrighted and pat. pending) ...coming soon. 

ChrisMusic

Does anyone know what PA gear he uses, who supplies it and what engineer arrangements he has ?

The descriptions of how good and how clear the sound at RAH (good acoustics there from experience) and the other venues too which are probably more problematic, has got my interest piqued.

dindude

ourmaninthenorth said:

I like this a lot...

Nice tone, but seriously is he singing in a different language, didn't understand one word, not one.

ourmaninthenorth

dindude said:

ourmaninthenorth said:

I like this a lot...

Nice tone, but seriously is he singing in a different language, didn't understand one word, not one.

He's singing..??? must have missed that..too busy listening to that neck pickup to be honest...hee hee

This Goldtop belongs to a Pal of Mine and Rob's...the cleanest vintage Goldtop that I've ever seen...to hear that it sounds this good under battle conditions is, as Rob says, what it's all about for me too. 

Skipped

ourmaninthenorth said:

This Goldtop belongs to a Pal of Mine and Rob's...the cleanest vintage Goldtop that I've ever seen...to hear that it sounds this good under battle conditions is, as Rob says, what it's all about for me too. 

That guitar looks unbelievably clean.
And thanks for clearing that up. I have been staring at your clip for 5 minutes and wondering when the Historics got that good.

It is amazing how many people are willing to let Joe gig/tour with their Original Gibson Les Paul (including Bernie Marsden). The trust that they place in him says a lot about Joe Bonamassa.
The clip shows that all you need is a 1950s Les Paul (any colour. Sunburst is purely cosmetic), 2 Grolsch washers (does he use one at the butt end of the guitar?) and an old tweed amp.
And Joe's talent.

ourmaninthenorth

Skipped said:

ourmaninthenorth said:

This Goldtop belongs to a Pal of Mine and Rob's...the cleanest vintage Goldtop that I've ever seen...to hear that it sounds this good under battle conditions is, as Rob says, what it's all about for me too. 

That guitar looks unbelievably clean.
And thanks for clearing that up. I have been staring at your clip for 5 minutes and wondering when the Historics got that good.

It is amazing how many people are willing to let Joe gig/tour with their Original Gibson Les Paul (including Bernie Marsden). The trust that they place in him says a lot about Joe Bonamassa.
The clip shows that all you need is a 1950s Les Paul (any colour. Sunburst is purely cosmetic), 2 Grolsch washers (does he use one at the butt end of the guitar?) and an old tweed amp.
And Joe's talent.

I wonder myself how many 50's Gibson's Joe and Mike have had in their hands over the last few years, must be in the 100's.... ??

I think the generosity shown towards Joe is more than reciprocated by him towards others. By all accounts He and Mike are very generous with their time on tour. 

guitartango

Anyone know if he was playing Lazy J's or Fender amps at the RAH ? 

guitartango

rlw said:

Friday night at the RAH.  Good seats in the stalls, place was rammed.  Not unlike a football crowd at times funnily enough.

A strange evening in my view.  Joe was in great form as was the band.  A variety of songs from Blues of Desperation to begin with, all suitably toughened up with different solos; some favourites to follow followed by some of the songs he did on the British Blues Explosion tour last year.  A good mixture of old and new. originals and covers.

The sound was simply superb, never heard better at the RAH.  As loud as possible I guess and super clear.  The solos could have stood out a bit more but that would be my only criticism.  Again, the bass lines were clear and defined with no thud, thud, thud.  Drums sounded great, as did the two singers.  The two horn players were clear and distinct.  Pretty much perfect.

Guitar wise we got two, maybe three strats, two teles, two LPs, a Firebird, a Flying V and an Explorer.  Presumably all worth a fortune and played without sympathy.

Joe played as he plays.  Showy but superb.  The few times he talked to the audience, he was witty and humble.  

But the venue sucked all the life out of it.  It's too big and airy for that kind of show which needs to be in a proper theatre to remain intimate.  Hammersmith Odeon, the Colosseum, even the RFH, would be better.  But that's the price of success I imagine.

What should have been a fantastic night out was a bit like watching it on the TV.  Brilliant performances by all concerned, let down by the hall.

Still, it could have been the O2, which would have been even worse.


Copied and pasted from my thread in Guitars.....

Same night at me , would be nice if he had taken a break but really good concert. Not sure if it was worth £150 !!!!

Ossyrocks

ourmaninthenorth said:

Skipped said:

ourmaninthenorth said:

This Goldtop belongs to a Pal of Mine and Rob's...the cleanest vintage Goldtop that I've ever seen...to hear that it sounds this good under battle conditions is, as Rob says, what it's all about for me too. 

That guitar looks unbelievably clean.
And thanks for clearing that up. I have been staring at your clip for 5 minutes and wondering when the Historics got that good.

It is amazing how many people are willing to let Joe gig/tour with their Original Gibson Les Paul (including Bernie Marsden). The trust that they place in him says a lot about Joe Bonamassa.
The clip shows that all you need is a 1950s Les Paul (any colour. Sunburst is purely cosmetic), 2 Grolsch washers (does he use one at the butt end of the guitar?) and an old tweed amp.
And Joe's talent.

I wonder myself how many 50's Gibson's Joe and Mike have had in their hands over the last few years, must be in the 100's.... ??

I think the generosity shown towards Joe is more than reciprocated by him towards others. By all accounts He and Mike are very generous with their time on tour. 

Late 2015 in Leeds, Mike and Joe were looking at the guitar Rich had brought along, I think it was 9 1972 belonging to Johnny Marr. It was only a few numbers away from Snakebite which Joe had brought on tour. They were saying that they were now up to 96 in hand. That was a while ago, so I reckon they have gone way past that now.

The guitar was very close in looks and tone too. Joe used it at soundcheck and felt it was so similar to Snakebite that he couldn't/shouldn't/wouldn't buy it. I got to play two bursts that day, lovely chap he is.

@guitartango I believe they are are all vintage Fenders, but there has been the odd appearance of a prototype Fender HighPower Twin on occasion. I'll try to find out.

Rob

ourmaninthenorth

I was lucky to play Johnny's 'Burst too Rob ( # 9 1970 )  - beautiful top, and a fantastic sounding guitar....

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee299/williams123_photo/image13_zpsjzphy503.jpeg

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee299/williams123_photo/image9_zpsxxzzinxy.jpeg