Joe Bonamassa - Live at the Hollywood Bowl with Orchestra
Bonamassa has been chipping away at his wish list for many years now and he's achieved some great things like multiple appearances at the vaunted Royal Albert Hall in London. Now he's checked off something closer to home with a fantastic show at the Hollywood Bowl in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles, complete with a 40-piece orchestra. The show was recorded and filmed so that the career milestone could be shared with Joe's seemingly infinite number of fans which will only get larger as this film circulates. The show begins with "Curtain Call," a heavy groove that at times recalls Led Zeppelin that comes from Joe's
Time Clocks album. Bonamassa plays some hot slide guitar towards the end of the song and the orchestra's violin section heightens the song's drama by buzzing like angry hornets. There's lots of rocking to be done throughout the concert to be sure but Bonamassa has for the most part chosen songs with more sedate arrangements for this show, a decision that was no doubt made in consideration of what would best accommodate the color the orchestra adds. A good example is "Self-Inflicted Wounds," a dreamy and reflective cut where Joe's guitar playing shows a fondness for Robin Trower in parts of the song which also features a soulful vocal from longtime backing singer Jade Macrae on the outro. Fully a band effort with the legendary Reese Wynans on keyboards, Josh Smith on additional guitar, Calvin Turner on bass and Dannielle Deandrea teaming with Macrae on vocals, it is particularly noticeable throughout the set what a significant part drummer Lemar Carter plays and he's really up front on "No Good Place for the Lonely." Most of the songs here are written or co-written by Bonamassa but fan favorite "Ball Peen Hammer," written by the late Chris Whitely, is a mid-show highlight and Joe also turns in a heartfelt reading of Warren Haynes' "If Heartaches Were Nickels" where Macrae gets another solo and really belts it out. Orchestra member Rashawn Ross plays, appropriately enough, a mournful Latin-flavored trumpet solo to intro "The Last Matador of Bayonne;" when Joe takes over his vocal and guitar work are both dripping with sadness. "Prisoner," "The Ballad of John Henry" and the raucous "Twenty-Four Hour Blues" lead up to show closer "Sloe Gin," a Bob Ezrin/Michael Kamen co-write that was first heard on Tim Curry's first solo record. As you would expect from Bonamassa, the playing and singing here is spectacular and the orchestra sounds like they've been accompanying Joe for ages. Part of that comes from the arrangements imagined by pros Jeff Bova, David Campbell, Trevor Rabin and in one case bassist Turner. To Bonamassa's credit he lets the music do the talking; there is no stage patter or band introduction, just one helluva good time.
Live at the Hollywood Bowl with Orchestra comes as a DVD + CD package and the set list is identical on both formats.
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