By Ryan Arbuckle

On Friday, May the 3rd, at 8:00 P.M. on the dot, Joe Bonamassa strolled casually onto the stage carrying one of the countless acoustic guitars he owns.  On the stage was an empty stool and a low-level microphone, and there Joe sat, ready to deliver the finest musical performance The Fox Theatre had ever seen. Despite not having a radio hit single or being mentioned in mainstream music, he is a guitar god. With three signature Les Pauls to his credit, Bonamassa is not unfairly referred to as a “Blues Titan” and “The Next Stevie Ray.”

Fresh off the release of his new acoustic album, An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House, Bonamassa began the night with a 5 song acoustic set, leading off with “Seagull” and closing with “Woke Up Dreaming.”

The electric set kicked off with the rest of his band joining him:  Arlan Schierbaum on keys, Carmine Rojas on bass, and Tal Bergman on drums. The powerful  “Slow Train” was played from his 2011  No. 1 album, “Dust Bowl”, which started with the slow chug of a freight train that moderately increases in tempo until it reaches full speed.

One of the major highlights of the night was when Joe told the crowd “the greatest  blues guitarist to ever come out of Detroit” would be joining him on stage to play. It ended up being Jim McCarty, who is best known for his collaborations with Jimi Hendrix and Bob Seger. It was a great moment seeing these two trading licks as they played “Further up the road” and “Blues Deluxe” together. It certainly shows how stylish and mature Joe’s playing is, which I don’t think has been seen since Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Joe commented on how The Fox Theatre is one of the most beautiful venues he has ever played, and had one of the largest crowd attendances he has played for in the United States. It was really exciting to see a new guitar was delivered to him for every song he played.

Joe ended the night with yet another intense “Just Got Paid”. He was working so hard that one could see the sweat bleeding through to the outside of his black jacket and pouring off his face.

This night was exactly what you would expect from Joe Bonamassa. A high energy show packed with outstanding guitar licks and top notch vocals.

Setlist:

Seagull  (Bad Company cover)

Jelly Roll  (Charles Mingus cover)

Jockey Full of Bourbon (Tom Waits cover)

Athens

Woke Up Dreaming

——————-

Slow Train

Dust Bowl

Who’s Been Talking  (Howlin’ Wolf cover)

Dislocated Boy

Further on Up the Road  (Bobby Bland cover) (with Jim McCarty)

Blues Deluxe  (Jeff Beck cover) (with Jim McCarty)

The Ballad of John Henry

Driving Towards the Daylight

——————–

Encore:

Sloe Gin

(Tim Curry cover)

Just Got Paid

(ZZ Top cover)

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