Joe Bonamassa - Beacon Theatre & Vienna Opera House

Joe Bonamassa is trying to displace Warren Haynes as the hardest working man in the music business.   He’s done two duet albums with Beth Hart, three studio albums and one live with Black Country Communion [now defunct], and he recorded guitar parts for Jon Lord’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra.  He puts out a studio album under his own name almost every year [10 between 2000-2012], and he tours constantly [documented by 4 live albums].  In the space of 6 months [September 2012-March 2013] he’s released two more live albums.  The first was recorded at New York’s famed Beacon Theatre on November 5^th, 2011 [Beacon Theatre: Live from New York].  It was an electric show like what he usually presents.  The second album is a different kettle of fish.  An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House was recorded July 3^rd, 2012.  As the name implies, it’s a totally acoustic show, something he hadn’t done before.  First, a look at the electric set from the Beacon.

Interesting song choices.  There are reverential tributes to two Irish blues rock legends – Rory Gallagher and Gary Moore.  Joe does more than justice to Rory’s Cradle Rock and Gary Moore’s Midnight Blues.  Somewhere those two Irish guitar giants are smiling… J He covers Leonard Cohen’s Bird on a Wire [?!?].  He pulled out his own rarely-played Blue and Evil from his Black Rock album.  At the end of the show he launches into Young Man Blues.  A valiant attempt, but The Who owns this song – they always have, they always will.  Other than the tunes I just mentioned he stuck with songs from Dust Bowl and Black Rock, with a couple of exceptions.

The guests.  Joe has three guests, the first of whom is Beth Hart.  Beth and Joe did two songs from their first album together, Don’t Explain.  Her performance of I’ll Take Care of You is smoldering.  But her take on Lowell Fulson’s Sinner’s Prayer is simply jaw-dropping.  This is simply the best version I’ve heard by anybody.  She’s sassy, brassy, ballsy, and bluesy.  Susan Tedeschi, call your office!  This is how women sing the blues!  Next comes John Hiatt, who performs two of his songs [Down Around My Place and I Know a Place].  Paul Rodgers is saved for last.  He and Joe’s band take a trip back to the Seventies and perform two songs from Free [Walk In My Shadows and Fire and Water].  Joe channels his inner Paul Kossoff very well, especially on Fire and Water.  Paul Rodgers performs as expected – perfectly.  It’s all good with all three guests.

The setlist:

72^nd St. Subway Blues

Slow Train [Dust Bowl]

Cradle Rock [A New Day Yesterday]

When the Fire Hits the Sea [Black Rock]

Midnight Blues [G. Moore]

Dust Bowl [Dust Bowl]

The River [Had To Cry Today]

I’ll Take Care of You [Don’t Explain]

Sinner’s Prayer [Don’t Explain]

You Better Watch Yourself [Dust Bowl]

Steal Your Heart Away [Black Rock]

Bird on a Wire [L. Cohen – Black Rock]

Down Around My Place [J. Hiatt]

I Know a Place [J. Hiatt – Black Rock]

Blue and Evil [Black Rock]

Walk in My Shadows [P. Rodgers – Free]

Fire and Water [P. Rodgers – Free]

Mountain Time [So, It’s Like That]

Young Man Blues

If Heartaches Were Nickels [A New Day Yesterday]

The band:

Joe Bonamassa: Guitar/vocals

Carmine Rojas: Bass

Rick Melick: Keyboards

Tal Bergman: Percussion

Tony’s take:  Joe Bonamassa’s singing is not his strong point [it’s solid but not great], but he more than makes up for it with his electric six-string work, which is incendiary.  Make no mistake – the dude can wail on guitar, and if his vocals are passable that’s good enough for me.  He doesn’t write many original songs himself, but I like his choice in other peoples’ material.  This live offering is a little better than his Live from the Royal Albert Hall release [2009], and that one was pretty damn good.  Buy it!

Favorites:  Sinner’s Prayer, Cradle Rock, Midnight Blues, Fire and Water, Blue and Evil

An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House.  He’s played at the Royal Albert Hall, New York’s Beacon Theatre, and now Vienna’s Opera House.  The likes of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms presented some of their works here, so this is a prestigious music venue.  Who would think an American would play the blues here?

As Joe told an on-line publication:  “Originally, when I had the idea of doing an all-acoustic concert, I imagined doing it solo. I’d surround myself with a bunch of guitars, tell the background story of each song, and then play it. Kevin believed the show would be more exciting with a band and he got to work. All of a sudden, we had a five-piece group, and 72 hours to rehearse 20 or so songs. It was amazing, different than anything I’d ever done before.”  Instead of his regular electric band, producer Kevin Shirley assembled an acoustic band of all-stars to include Gerry O'Connor, on Irish banjo and fiddle; Mats Wester, on nyckelharpa and mandola; Arlan Schierbaum, on harmonium, accordion, baby piano and glockenspiel; and Lenny Castro, on percussion.  What the hell is a nyckelharpa [aka “key fiddle”]?  It’s a traditional Swedish stringed instrument that’s a cross-between a violin and a hurdy gurdy [see picture].  Instead of having a fingerboard like a violin, it has keys to press while bowing with the other hand.

Song choices:  Some of the songs presented here were originally recorded on acoustic guitars.  Others were originally don’t with electrics, so Joe had to take the same approach as Eric Clapton did on his Unplugged album.  Fortunately none of the electric songs were castrated like Clapton did with Layla.  Instead of loud guitars and drums we hear folky violins, banjos, mandolas, and different kinds of percussion that add to rather than subtract from the performances.

The setlist:

Arrival
Palm Trees, Helicopters and Gasoline [You & Me]
Jelly Roll [Sloe Gin]
Dust Bowl [Dust Bowl]
Around The Bend [Sloe Gin]
Slow Train [Dust Bowl]
Athens To Athens [Black Rock]
From The Valley [The Ballad of John Henry]
The Ballad of John Henry [The Ballad of John Henry]
Dislocated Boy [Driving Towards the Daylight]
Driving Towards the Daylight [Driving Towards the Daylight]
High Water Everywhere [You & Me]
Jockey Full of Bourbon [The Ballad of John Henry]
Richmond [Sloe Gin]
Stones In My Passway [Driving Towards the Daylight]
Ball Peen Hammer [Sloe Gin]
Black Lung Heartache [Dust Bowl]
Mountain Time [So, It’s Like That]
Woke Up Dreaming [Blues Deluxe]
Sloe Gin [Sloe Gin]
Seagull [Sloe Gin]

Tony’s take:  In the movie Amadeus, the Austrian emperor was asked to critique Mozart’s music.  His reply – “too many notes.”  On some [not all] of the acoustic songs presented here, Joe has the same problem as Mozart.  He’s naturally an electric guitar player, so playing with blazing speed is something that comes naturally to him.  That approach isn’t always appropriate for the acoustic guitar.  Can you picture Muddy Waters or Howlin’ Wolf playing acoustic guitars at Warp Factor Eight?  Me neither.  Acoustic blues is supposed to be slow [IMHO anyway…]. The songs where he does ease off the gas and takes it slow are outstanding.  That having been said, the songs with the different acoustic instruments from all over Europe have a more colorful, more exotic character that makes for great listening.  The recording is flawless. Bottom line:  buy it!

Favorites:  Dust Bowl, Slow Train, Black Lung Heartache, Ball Peen Hammer