Concert Reviews

[willowroolz]

NIN at Brixton Academy. Pretty good, although they over did the dry ice (couldn't even see the band for about the first 20 minutes ) and the fun police were stopping us standing up in the circle

[Disco]

Edited March 16, 2007 by Disco

[The Snow Dog]

I saw Alice Cooper in Reading back in October but never posted.

 

The opening act was a disaster but Alice was wonderful. The song selection was really good by mainly sticking to the classics and not the most recent album released. He threw out necklaces, fake money, and other lucky fan memorabilia. His theatrics included being tortured, put into one of those crazy people clothes (the one that you can't move your arms in), collected pieces of a dead body and put it into a coffin, got his head chopped off, had his "chopped head put with the "dead body parts" and came back to life. Eric Singer had an awesome drum solo and at the end he got the most cheers when alice announced all his band members. Really good concert.

[bardan]

QUOTE (The Snow Dog @ Mar 16 2007, 02:09 PM)

I saw Alice Cooper in Reading back in October but never posted.

For any Alice Cooper (or Motorhead) fans in the UK...

 

Alice Cooper and Motorhead hit the road

 

Rock veterans plan special UK tour

17.Mar.07 9:08am

 

Alice Cooper and Motorhead are joining up for a special one-off UK tour.

 

The rock veterans will be hitting the road with Joan Jett & The Blackhearts for a ten-day jaunt in the autumn.

 

They will play:

 

Sheffield Hallam Arena (November 6)

Glasgow SECC (7)

Newcastle Metro Radio Arena (9)

Birmingham NEC (10)

Nottingham Arena (11)

Brighton Centre (13)

Bournemouth BIC (14)

Cardiff CIA (16)

London Wembley Arena (17)

Manchester MEN Arena (18)

 

Tickets go on sale tomorrow (March 17). To check ticket availability after then and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/GIGS.

 

[fritz44]

Stiff Little Fingers - Carling Acedemy, Newcastle

 

Last night (Sunday). What a f**king show. People rammed in. Electric atmoshpere. High energy R'n'R!

 

30th Anniversary of Inflammable Material, and they played the whole LP.

 

Life doesn't get much better.

[The Owl]

I know I'm about 8 months late on this review. But I saw Alice Cooper at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville last september. Easily one of the best concerts i've ever been to

[madra sneachta]

The Waterboys - Mount Errigal Hotel - Letterkenny Saturday March 24th

 

 

The last time I saw The Waterboys indoors was in Cardiff in 1989, so I was hoping this would be a special night. It was better than dared to hope!!.

 

They kicked off with new single Everybody Takes A Tumble, and the first part of the set leaned heavily on the new album. Great versions of Love Will Shoot You Down, Nobody's Baby Anymore, Strange Arrangement,

She Tried To Hold Me, It's Gonna Rain and Sustain.

 

Very hard and edgy, with Mike playing a mean, grungy guitar complimented by some wonderful fiddling by Steve Wickham. The rest of the set leaned heavily on This Is The Sea and Fisherman's Blues. Old England, When Ye Go Away, When Will We Be Married?, a beautiful Stolen Child, Medicine Bow and The Pan Within.

 

The Glastonbury Song fron Drean Harder and Peace Of Iona from Universal Hall were also played, and an extended, riotous Fisherman's Blues provided the encore.

 

To me, though, the absolute highlight was a song I had screamed for in cardiff 18 years ago, but wasn't played.

 

Red Army Blues.

 

A stunning version that not only reflected the passion and pathos of the Pagan Place version, it surpassed it. A few people left the gig diappointed at the absence of a few hits. No Whole of The Moon, no Bang On The Ear, no This Is The Sea.

 

Personally, after a main set closing trio of Red Army Blues/Medicine Bow /The Pan Within, I didn't give a toss. A few nights earlier, they had played The Point in Dublin. It would have been easy for them to turn up to a hotel ballroom in a provincial town, stroll through a contractual obligation hour and a half, count the money and bugger off, but they played like a band of kids who had just been given their big break and their careers depended on what happened during their two hour set.

 

Brilliant.

 

My fifth Waterboys gig, and the best ever by a huge distance.

[Disco]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Thansk for this review, I had no idea that the Waterboys were still such a vital band.

 

Disco

[madra sneachta]

My Chemical Romance RDS Simminscourt Pavillion Dublin

 

 

Coming to this venue was like a blast from the past. I saw both of Thin Lizzy's farewell Irish shows there in 1983, Queen in 1984 and Neil Young in the mid nineties, but it's been overtaken by The Point as the main live venue.

 

The other interesting thing about this gig is I was bringing three 13 year olds (my daughter and two friends' boys) to their first ever gig, so half an eye was on the stage, and the other half was on them. An interesting trick to master, but we're getting there!!

 

MCR seem to polarise people like no other band today, attracting adulation and loathing in equal measure. One of the most depressing sights I saw on TV last year was MCR being bottled at the Reading Festival in the UK, probably because they came on right after Slayer on the main stage, and the die hard metallers took exception to their heroes being followed by a whingy bunch of New Jersey nancy boys whimpering about their mascara running.....or something.

 

Neanderthal arseholes. Fair play to the band, they played through their set, lesser beings would have walked off the stage.

 

The Dublin gig followed the pattern of the current tour. The band start as "The Black Parade", play the current album in sequence, finishing 'Famous Last Words' with a cry of "We are The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance are on next".

 

The sound was a bit muddy, and could have been louder, the light show was superb, but the relatively small size of the venue meant some of the pyrotechnics had to be scaled back. The songs are really good, and the presentation was sharp and professional. Gerard Way is a great frontman, communicating well with the crowd, a lot more proactive than Geddy, it has to be said, but by the same token, their musicianship is nowhere remotely close to that of Rush.

 

After The Black Parade, there was a five minute hiatus, during which TBP's hidden track 'Blood' was played to a riotious singalong, then the curtain dropped, and the band came back on as MCR, not only with a costume change, but a whole new stage set up, with the "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge" logo as the backdrop. They played another half hour or so, starting with "I'm Not OK" and finishing with "Helena", not as satisfying as the first set IMO, but to see my daughter close to tears as she bellowed out the words to Helena, The Ghost Of You and What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison was priceless.

 

Helena finished with the obligatory Irish flag draped around Gerard's shoulders, the lights came back on, we drove 150 miles home, me, a happy wallflower, them enthusing about what was "the best night of their lives".

 

Result.

 

 

[fritz44]

This thread seems a little under used for my liking. Are people not going to see music live anymore?

 

Well last night was Wishbone Ash at the Carling Academy, Newcastle, and just over 6 months since their last visit to the said venue.

 

I have to say last night's gig was top stuff. Much better than October's which was missing something, or maybe it was numpties I was with, who didn't like the sound at all.

 

The twin leads were excellent, the Big Finn is a top notch axeman, and Andy Powell is ..... well ... Andy Powell. The new drummer seems to have settled in easily, and Bob the Bass's grin just gets wider.

 

The set was varied and contained its fair share of bluesy stuff and good old fashioned rockers. Obviously, the usual staples were there - The King .., Blowin' Free etc, but I'm reliable informed they included stuff that they'd not played in years. I'm quite new to them, having only seen them 5 times (in two years), but the lad I was with has seen them +30 times.

 

Roll on October - Wishbone and Rush!!

[Disco]

Edited May 15, 2007 by Disco

[Disco]

[tangy]

[floydfanatic111]

I just got in from Roger Waters. Great show. My dad went with me and he said "I am glad I don't drink or drug anymore". He is not kidding. Plus we bailed as the thunder and lightning came our way. The first half went unscathed but when Us and Them came on, the thunder and lightning came to attack. As soon as my dad and I lefy, it was POURING CATS AND DOGS!

 

What I missed I am not disappointed as I have ROger's show from Cork, Ireland with Nick Mason on drums.

 

Next, RUSH

 

Then Genesis

[madra sneachta]

Dave Matthews Band - The Point, Dublin - May 23rd

 

 

Finally, what thousands of people across the US take for granted has becme a reality in Ireland, DMB have played a full gig. And what a gig it was (although the setlist is already worrying veteran US fans because not enough new/underplayed sings were included).

 

Me, I'm a recent convert to DMB, and still finding my way around his repertoire, so I was more than satisfied. The set kicked off with Don't Drink The Water, heralded by a snippet of Daniel Lanois's 'Still Water), and what a start it was.

 

Other highlights included a wonderful Dancing Nancies with a little monologue about being attacked by pigeons while eating a chocolate ice cream cone, Jimi Thing with an extended jam, some scat singing from Dave and keyboard player Butch Taylor and a nice snippet of 'For What It's Worth' at the end.

 

Great gig, my first live DMB experience, it won't be my last!!

[Rush!]

Roger Waters, May 24, 2007, Continental Airlines Arena, NJ

 

My Mom & I got in around 7:45 PM and went to our seats. The tickets said 8 PM SHARP on them, but Waters and the band didn't even come out until 8:30 PM. There was a lot of crappy (IMO) music playing while the backdrop of the wine and glass on the table was shown on the main screen. They came out and went right into a hard-kicking version of In The Flesh. Just like on 9/6, the way that Katie Kissoon, PP Arnold, and Carol Kenyon sung the aaa's in the opening gave me goosebumps. It was amazing. The ending was also amazing, featuring some blazing pyro as the song closed. He then went into a quieter, calmer version of Mother. Roger played acoustic for the song, and Katie Kissoon took over the vocals for Gilmour's parts. They then performed a stunning version of Set The Controls featuring a lead solo and some atmospherics from saxophonist Ian Ritchie in the middle section. Once again, the female voices complimented the song very well. Almost immediately as the song ended, we heard the infamous space-like sounds and they went right into Shine On... Jon Carin's wonderful synths opened with that same brass sound as heard on the studio version, Roger then skipped the guitar parts entirely, and went right into the famous 4-note guitar pattern (duh-DUH-duh-DUH, that's the best way I can describe it) and they went into the song. Ritchie's tenor sax playing was spot-on and he did a fantastic job. I noticed that for most of these songs, even on the Dark Side set, that they stayed VERY true to the studio versions of the songs. We then heard Have A Cigar, with a screeching solo from Dave Kilminster, and then a very poignant version of WYWH, featuring images of Syd on the main screen. He then performed 2 songs from The Final Cut, Perfect Sense (Parts 1 & 2 from Amused to Death) and he briefly explained the story that I already knew about Leaving Beirut and how he wrote the song. There was much better reception for the song this time than it was last time when I saw him at PNC. I barely heard any boo's. He then played what I thought was the highlight of the show. SHEEP. Carin's electric piano sounded very faithful to the original, and Waters' voice was awesome. The middle section featured the infamous inflatable pig coming out, this time however, it had a lot of different messages on it such as "Fear builds walls" among a message to Impeach Bush Now on the pig's heinquarters. I didn't mind any of the messages as I'm not big on politics. Sadly the pig did not come as close to me as it did at the PNC show since my mother and I were in the upper level for this show. And since it was an indoor venue, when the song went back into the verses, the pig was gently carried backstage. Kilminster's guitar solo was AMAZING and I think they even extended with a minute or two from the original. The lights were awesome for this as well, just like at the PNC show. He then closed the 1st set saying they would take a short break, 15 minutes, and would come back out performing Dark Side. He was replied with loud cheers, big surprise, eh?

 

Dark Side was amazing, the whole thing. I don't need to say much about it. On The Run was especially incredible, I could feel the bass and the sounds vibrating in my body, it was an amazing experience. And check this, Harry Waters (Roger's son) was using the exact same synth (VCS3) as they used to originally construct On The Run in the studio, I could see him turning knobs as they performed it! The only 3 performers on this track were Harry, Jon Carin, and Graham Broad who kept the steady hi-hat rhythm for the whole song as well as adding some nice splash cymbal accents. Broad also performed an excellent performance on the roto-toms in the opening to Time. Great Gig was incredible, Carol Kenyon was the highlight on this one. She hit those high notes in such an amazing register that.. it was just amazing, you had to be there. Harry Waters did a very nice job on the piano intro, as well as adding organ touches to the song. Money was great, Kilminster ripping out an amazing solo. Us and Them was awesome as well, another great performance from saxophonist Ian Ritchie. Any Colour You Like was another highlight for the keyboardists, Carin and Waters. Brain Damage and Eclipse were incredible, the light show was absolutely incredible, the best light show I've seen. They had a metal prism suspended from the ceiling and during Eclipse they turned lasers on which made the prism look exactly like the original Dark Side prism. It was amazing during every couple of verses the lights passed right over me, it was so freaking cool. It was an amazing ending.

 

They then went backstage for about 3 full minutes, came back out, and Roger complimented the audience very much, saying how we were a great crowd, something like that. He then closed with Happiest Days of Our Lives/Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, then performed Vera/Bring the Boys Back Home (Roger hit some very high notes here, harkened back to the original) and then to end the show completely, Comfortably Numb.

 

Overall, a 10/10 show, absolutely amazing light and concert performance experience. Anyone who hasn't seen Roger yet and is hesitating, DO NOT HESITATE. Go out and see him, it will be completely worth the price you pay. My Mother and I had an amazing time, and I hope you will too.

Edited May 25, 2007 by Rush!

[Rush!]

Setlist - 1st Set:

 

In The Flesh

Mother

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Have A Cigar

Wish You Were Here

Southampton Dock

The Fletcher Memorial Home

Perfect Sense (Parts 1 & 2)

Leaving Beirut

Sheep

 

15-Minute (almost exactly) Intermission

 

2nd Set:

 

Speak to Me

Breathe

On the Run

Time

The Great Gig in the Sky

Money

Us and Them

Any Colour You Like

Brain Damage

Eclipse

 

Encores:

 

The Happiest Days of Our Lives

Another Brick in the Wall, Part II

Vera

Bring the Boys Back Home

Comfortably Numb

 

Musicians:

 

Roger Waters: bass and some acoustic guitars, voice

Dave Kilminster: lead electric guitar, voice

Snowy White: occasional lead electric guitar

Andy Fairweather-Low: rhythm guitar, voice

Katie Kissoon: female voice, tambourine

PP Arnold: female voice, tambourine

Carol Kenyon: female voice, lead voice on Great Gig, tambourine

Ian Ritchie: soprano and tenor saxophones

Jon Carin: keyboards, synths, guitar, slide guitar, voice

Harry Waters: piano, organ, VCS3 Synth (!!!)

Graham Broad: drum set, percussion, roto-toms

[Lerxst2112]

Atlanta Jazz Festival 2007

 

 

 

Saw Terri Lyne Carrington and Friends at 9, and they put on an amazing show. Never heard about them before, but I will definetly check them out now. Played an AWESOME cover of "Let it Be". Afterwards, The Herbie Hancock Quintet came out(who I came to see), and let me tell you, even though his set was only 1 hr and 20 mins(due to the park closing), it was a phenomenal set. Played a different version of "Watermelon Man", by combining it with a song called, "7 Teen", which was a song that had 17 different beats to it. So it was a more high tempo and exciting version of "Watermelon Man".

 

After that, Herbie got on his Keytar and started jamming out to the bass player and guitar player. Reinforced my belief that Herbie Hancock is the only man on earth to pull off the Keytar.

 

After that, everyone left except the guitarist and played a solo on which he called his own personal, "soup" of different cultural sounds. Played a mean guitar solo and a guitar tapping solo. He also did an odd beatbox of an African beat sound.

 

 

Overall, the two shows I saw were awesome, and if any more big name Jazz artists come back, I will definetly will have to come back.

[GhostGirl]

Tool - May 26, 2007 - Verizon Wireless Music Center, Pelham, AL

 

I'm not a Tool fan, so I kind of went along for the ride on this one. 1001 was there and can give you a FAN'S review.

 

As for me...I was underwhelmed. Yes, Danny Carey is an amazing drummer. Yes, the visuals were great. But other than that, Maynard is pretentious and pompous in the way he addresses the crowd, and in his lack of connection with them. I know that's his "trademark," but for me it ruins the whole experience.

 

Today I've watched a few YouTube interviews, etc. and they cemented my opinion of him and his obvious contempt for the very fans that butter his bread.

 

He spent the whole show in silhouette, never interacting or relating to the crowd - and this was a sold-out venue. Maybe that's just par for the course for Tool, but...I didn't like it. I also didn't like the seemingly endless noodling around (you couldn't call it a "jam" in any sense of the word) and bringing the horrendous opening act (Kinski) back on to join them for one song.

 

Now, let's have a REAL fan give a review.

[GhostGirl]

The bright side is that I'm even MORE pumped about RUSH!!!

[PuppetKing2112]

With the possible exception of the Roots show I saw earlier this year, the Arcade Fire last night was is the best show I've seen in my life. I counted 10 people onstage, and everyone was just playing full-throttle the whole time. I don't even know how to describe the energy of the show. Anyone who's ever seen Arcade Fire live knows exactly what I mean though.

 

After the first song, Win said, "if anyone wants to come a little bit closer, that's okay." So everyone on the floor started crowding the aisles and getting closer to the stage. We stayed there for about three songs before security made us go back to our seats. That was the only slight disappointment of the night, everything else was perfect. They had a cool stage setup...they had these neon-light poles at the front of the stage that changed colors with the rhythm of the song.

 

Apparently there was a goth convention in Portland recently, and so Win was making cracks about that all night. Near the end of the set, he was like "Okay, next up, we have a seminar on buying used Cure T-shirts online to look like you actually went to that tour...and then we have a round-table discussion on men's options for buying eyeliner. Then we'll have a break and everyone can have a cookie, and then an '80s dance. And there will be members of Bauhaus outside signing autographs." It was probably the funniest stage patter I've ever heard at a show. But then he casually counted off the next song, like, not even making a big deal, so it was kind of a shock when they just kicked full-speed into "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)," and then they segued into "Rebellion (Lies)." Probably the best musical moment of any show I've been to. Although the encore comes close..."My Body is a Cage" and "Wake Up." My god.

 

Setlist, in case anyone here is a fan:

Keep the Car Running

No Cars Go

Haiti

Neighborhood #2 (Laika)

Black Mirror

Neon Bible

Distortions (which I am told is a Clinic cover)

In the Backseat

Intervention

(Antichrist Television Blues)

Ocean of Noise

Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

The Well and the Lighthouse

Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)

Rebellion (Lies)

________

 

My Body is a Cage

Wake Up

 

I cannot recommend this band enough.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

QUOTE (GhostGirl @ May 27 2007, 10:47 PM)

Tool - May 26, 2007 - Verizon Wireless Music Center, Pelham, AL I'm not a Tool fan, so I kind of went along for the ride on this one.  1001 was there and can give you a FAN'S review. As for me...I was underwhelmed.  Yes, Danny Carey is an amazing drummer.  Yes, the visuals were great.  But other than that, Maynard is pretentious and pompous in the way he addresses the crowd, and in his lack of connection with them.  I know that's his "trademark," but for me it ruins the whole experience. Today I've watched a few YouTube interviews, etc. and they cemented my opinion of him and his obvious contempt for the very fans that butter his bread.  He spent the whole show in silhouette, never interacting or relating to the crowd - and this was a sold-out venue.  Maybe that's just par for the course for Tool, but...I didn't like it.   I also didn't like the seemingly endless noodling around (you couldn't call it a "jam" in any sense of the word) and bringing the horrendous opening act (Kinski) back on to join them for one song. Now, let's have a REAL fan give a review.

Believe it or not, I agree with a lot of that.

 

Maynard's interactions with the crowd were limited to "Ala-f*ck yeah-bama" near the beginning, introducing the lame warmup band as they joined in for a song (an extremely labored and boring improvised 10-minute noise segment in "Lateralus") and saying how the few bags of popcorn they threw out to the crowd at the end was "your bonus." Wow, thanks!

 

Besides that 10-minute "Lateralus" segment, there were other long and wasteful interludes between songs. They work fine on the albums because they're short, but a few of them were loooong and took up way too much show time, and they were frustrating to sit through. There's something really wrong with looking at your watch during a Tool show (or any rock show for that matter). Those filler segments were even more frustrating when we realized they did not play "Sober," "Prison Sex" (in fact, NO songs from Undertow!) or "The Pot." And, there was no encore. NO ENCORE!!!

 

But, when they DID play songs, they were solid. The drums and vocals were a little low in the mix, but the overall sound quality was loud (but not TOO loud) and clear. Danny Carey is a lot of fun to watch -- he's always playing. Guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Justin Chancellor's stage movements weren't too animated, but their playing was. Their interaction with each other is a main reason why this band sounds so unique. Maynard stood next to the drummer and was in silhouette the whole show, but you could still see his slithery moves. His voice, though low in the mix, sounded fine.

 

So, mixed feelings about this show. Sound/visual presentation and playing ability get an 8/10, overall show pacing and presentation gets a 5/10.

[Necromancer]

QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ May 29 2007, 10:53 PM)

QUOTE (GhostGirl @ May 27 2007, 10:47 PM) Tool - May 26, 2007 - Verizon Wireless Music Center, Pelham, AL I'm not a Tool fan, so I kind of went along for the ride on this one.  1001 was there and can give you a FAN'S review. As for me...I was underwhelmed.  Yes, Danny Carey is an amazing drummer.  Yes, the visuals were great.  But other than that, Maynard is pretentious and pompous in the way he addresses the crowd, and in his lack of connection with them.  I know that's his "trademark," but for me it ruins the whole experience. Today I've watched a few YouTube interviews, etc. and they cemented my opinion of him and his obvious contempt for the very fans that butter his bread.  He spent the whole show in silhouette, never interacting or relating to the crowd - and this was a sold-out venue.  Maybe that's just par for the course for Tool, but...I didn't like it.   I also didn't like the seemingly endless noodling around (you couldn't call it a "jam" in any sense of the word) and bringing the horrendous opening act (Kinski) back on to join them for one song. Now, let's have a REAL fan give a review. Believe it or not, I agree with a lot of that.   Maynard's interactions with the crowd were limited to "Ala-f*ck yeah-bama" near the beginning, introducing the lame warmup band as they joined in for a song (an extremely labored and boring improvised 10-minute noise segment in "Lateralus") and saying how the few bags of popcorn they threw out to the crowd at the end was "your bonus." Wow, thanks!   Besides that 10-minute "Lateralus" segment, there were other long and wasteful interludes between songs. They work fine on the albums because they're short, but a few of them were loooong and took up way too much show time, and they were frustrating to sit through. There's something really wrong with looking at your watch during a Tool show (or any rock show for that matter). Those filler segments were even more frustrating when we realized they did not play "Sober," "Prison Sex" (in fact, NO songs from Undertow!) or "The Pot." And, there was no encore. NO ENCORE!!!   But, when they DID play songs, they were solid. The drums and vocals were a little low in the mix, but the overall sound quality was loud (but not TOO loud) and clear. Danny Carey is a lot of fun to watch -- he's always playing. Guitarist Adam Jones and bassist Justin Chancellor's stage movements weren't too animated, but their playing was. Their interaction with each other is a main reason why this band sounds so unique. Maynard stood next to the drummer and was in silhouette the whole show, but you could still see his slithery moves. His voice, though low in the mix, sounded fine.   So, mixed feelings about this show. Sound/visual presentation and playing ability get an 8/10, overall show pacing and presentation gets a 5/10. I'd say that would be my review the first time I saw them too. Very disappointed on some levels, but the parts that were great, were VERY great. Justin Chancellor is an AMAZING bass player and I loved watching him play. He interacts with the crowd more than anyone.   When I saw them last tour, I was SHOCKED that they'd dropped Sober. Now you say they've dropped Prison Sex as well? That's hard to swallow. How do you drop such classic songs from a set? Wow.   I thought Maynard was famous for changing up his routine. I'm surprised that he's still doing that shtick on this tour too.   Maybe I won't be as bummed now that I missed this tour. Can't believe they didn't do THE POT either.   I guess the best time to see them was back around the Lolapalooza days, before Maynard became such a serious ass.

[Red Baby Dragon]

Joe Bonamassa - May 31, 2007 - The Jewish Mother, Virginia Beach, VA

 

I drove all the way up to Virginia yesterday to see this guy, and it was worth the trip twelve times over. The concert was INCREDIBLE. For those of you who don't know, which is probably everyone, Joe Bonamassa is a modern blues guitarist with several albums to his name, and his recognition as the greatest guitarist of this generation is growing fast. He opened for B.B. King when he was twelve years old.

 

The concert was in a little club called The Jewish Mother. This was great for me, because I got to stand right next to the stage - I was literally two feet away from him. Watching Bonamassa play solidified his place in my mind not just as the greatest guitarist of his generation, but as the greatest guitarist who still lives.

 

He did a ten minute acoustic solo in which he pulled of some of the most amazing guitar harmonics I've ever seen or heard. It also seemed to be improvised - the other members of his band were looking at each other like they didn't know what was going on, and at the end, Joe gave them a look that said "sorry, I couldn't help myself."

 

Towards the end, the band did a medley of ZZ Top's "Just Got Paid" and Led Zep's "Dazed and Confused" which blew me away. His speed and use of harmonics was unbelievable, and his note holding was ridiculous. At one point, Bonamassa told everyone to "shhhh" (which was easy to accomplish because the place was so small) and held one note for about two minutes.

 

If you haven't heard any of this guy's stuff, check it out. It's awesome. Anyone who plays guitar needs to watch him play - check him out on YouTube, or, better yet, see him live. Just make sure you do it in a small club like that so you can get up close. This was without a doubt the best concert I've ever been to.

[WCFIELDS]

Joe Bonamassa is incredible....nice review, thanks!