Joe Bonamassa, Auckland NZ, 2019

Joe Bonamassa

27th September 2019
Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand.

Review by Mike Beck. Photography by Mark Derricutt.

In the present-day landscape of rock and blues guitarists, Joe Bonamassa’s name often holds strong contention as the current king of the mountain. A keeper of the flame, Bonamassa carries the torch of his axemen predecessors; including childhood hero and mentor BB King, Charlie Hunter, Paul Kossoff, Peter Green and Eric Johnson to name but a key few. Last here three years ago, Bonamassa is back in New Zealand for two performances, last night being the final show of the Australasian leg of his world tour in support of latest album, the gospel tinged Redemption.

Somewhat predictably, guitar fans were out in force at Spark Arena, gathering to experience one of the great modern-day exponents of blues/rock electric guitar in the flesh. Joe Bonamassa has a classic name and plays a bunch of classic and vintage guitars to boot. He’s brought many of them with him and is a guitar tech’s worst nightmare because he switches axes almost as many times as he plays songs in any given night.

The evenings show presented a great platform for Joe Bonamassa to shine, as he also brought with him a dynamic eight piece strong band, including a horn section, and trio of female backing vocalists. Amongst the rhythm section was also an ace; former Stevie Ray Vaughan keyboardist Reese Wynans. This was the quintessential blues big band line-up.

Whilst still in darkness, a sound bite from the legendary Muddy Waters ushered the band on stage, where they soon tore into a version of the father of modern Chicago blues’ ‘Tiger In Your Tank’. Having the extensive band on tour paid immediate dividends, with trumpeter Lee Thornburg and Saxophonist Paulie Cerra adding tasty stabs in unison with Bonamassa’s Gibson ES-335.

Evident early, and slightly disappointing for drum fans, was the absence of legendary drummer Anton Fig, who records and tours with Joe Bonamassa extensively; a broken ankle sadly putting a halt on his touring until January 2020. But with the opening of next number ‘Evil Woman’, his replacement Lemar Carter (Demi Lovato), made his presence felt with a nailed rendition of the drum intro to Led Zep’s ‘Rock and Roll’. This was also an archetypal moment with regards to the tradition of blues music, where referencing, borrowing and even stealing riffs and licks have become synonymous with the genre itself.

‘Just Cos You Can Don’t Mean You Should’ highlighted Bonamassa’s soulful and gospel like vocals, having a trifecta of classy female singers behind him no doubt lifting his game. Perhaps not quite in the same league of great guitarist-singers like George Benson or Robert Cray, Bonamassa nonetheless has strong vocals, confidently tackling ballads in particular.

As the sound began to gel and the band began to cook, Bonamassa ploughed into a ripping version of up-tempo shuffle ‘King Bee Shakedown’ which concluded a triple play of numbers from latest release ‘Redemption.’

With ‘If Heartaches Were Nickels’, Bonamassa returned to the start, lifting the big ballad off his year 2000 debut record ‘A New Day Yesterday’. By now, Bonamassa was finding a sweet spot with his favoured six-string for the evening, his vintage gold Gibson Les Paul.

‘This Train’ found keys man Reese Wynans reproducing another familiar intro, this time Jethro Tull’s ‘Locomotive Breath’ receiving a significant retelling. Bonamassa stretched out, dropping down to exchange solos with first call bassist Michael Rhodes.

The psychedelic Doors-like ‘Blues of Desperation’ provided Bonamassa an opportunity to play slide on his 63’ Gibson Firebird. Throughout the night, the seasoned Wynans acted as a musical director to Bonamassa’s occasional cues, all the while swivelling between his keyboards on a wheeled business chair. Legend.

‘Sloe Gin’ was greatly enhanced by the Australian based backing vocalists of; Jade McCrae, Mahalia Barnes (daughter of Jimmy) and Auckland born Juanita Tippins. The trio swayed and wailed all night, each getting an opportunity to showcase their talents. Mahalia in particular embraced her chance, evermore living up to the mantle her parents bestowed upon her (Barnes naming her after Gospel great Mahalia Jackson).

Aside from an occasional shout out to exceptional band member moments, it took a while before Bonamassa finally paused to speak to the audience; in pensive mode, he joked that Anton Fig had either taken up position as a customs officer, or as a politician in New Zealand, as they were much better paying gigs. In his blue suit and shades (which he kept on almost the entire night), Bonamassa went on to introduce his fierce band, who by this stage were really showing their stripes, running back into the funky groove of ‘Well Well’, adding some off-beat tambourines via Barnes and McCrae. During a drop-down section Bonamassa showed his dexterity with some intricate finger picking; the only song of the night drawn from several collaborations with Beth Hart, Bonamassa’s versatility is often put to the test when working with her, as he sits in a more supportive role.

The slow 6/8 ‘Nobody Loves Me but My Mother’ brought things back to the blues, its building arrangement and dynamic horns giving Bonamassa the platform to soar high and pay homage to his hero, BB King; and with a revved up cover of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers ‘Little Girl’, Bonamassa proved he has a seemingly endless bevy of chops up his sleeve, as well as the ability to lift and maintain the intensity of his playing whenever he needs to.

One of Bonamassa’s anthems, the epic ‘Ballad of John Henry’ rightfully closed out the set; with its recurring motif “Who killed John Henry, in the battle of sinners and saints”, Bonamassa unleashed an aggressive extended solo, as if he himself were out in the fields of conflict, his affinity to the mythical character within the song staking his claim as an absolute master of his craft.
Politely coaxed back for an encore, Bonamassa returned minus his band, equipped only with an acoustic guitar. As Buddy Rich once infamously inquired “let’s see how you cope without all the assistance”, Bonamassa passing with flying colours. “Tu Meke bro” someone shouted, summing it all up in kiwi speak.

The full band returned onstage for the final number of the evening; the southern rock/country themed ‘Mountain Time’, Bonamassa selecting a Fender Telecaster to match the tone of the tune. It capped off a night of guitar goodness that both satisfied and captivated his audience, justifying Bonamassa’s mantle as one of the very finest of his generation.

Were you there at Spark Arena for this magnificent blues rock arena show? Or have you seen Joe Bonamassa somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Setlist:

1. Tiger In Your Tank
2. Evil Mama
3. Just Cos You Can Don’t Mean You Should
4. King Bee Shakedown
5. If Heartaches Were Nickels
6. This Train
7. Blues Of Desperation
8. Sloe Gin
9. Well Well
10. Nobody Loves Me But My Mother
11. Little Girl
12. Ballad Of John Henry
13. Woke Up Dreaming [encore]
14. Mountain Time [encore]

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