If you are a fan of the man, you might not have been surprised to find Joe Bonamassa’s performance was spilt into two very different halves.
But the murmurs among the crowd at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne (on Friday 19th September) showed that many were pleasantly surprised by the evening’s two-pronged performance. One gentleman passionately stated: “Double Bonamassa for my buck!"
Set in the run down, but stupendous, grandeur of the Palais Theatre in St. Kilda, Joe opened up with the super-speedy, finger-picking-delicious 'Woke Up Dreaming’ before introducing the band in with a Bad Company cover, ’Seagull’.
Bonamassa was joined by members of his group who were featured on his 2013 DVD, 'An Acoustic Evening At The Vienna Opera House’. These fine musicians are percussionist Lenny Castro, along with his fellow Black Country Communion keyboard player Derek Sherinian (also known for his work with Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Yngwie Malmsteen, Kiss and Dream Theater), the incredible fiddler/ mandolinist Irishman, Gerry O’Connor, and Swedish-born nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle or as Joe so elegantly put it, “What the fuck is that?") player, Mats Wester.
At the halfway point a short intermission interrupted the bliss while the stage was set for part two — the electric band. Sherinian and Castro joined Joe again, along with bass player Carmine Rojas and drummer Tal Burgman.
Opening with 'Dust Bowl' and then the new number ‘Oh Beautiful’, the crowd's feet started tapping to the beats and the ‘Oh yeahs’ and ‘Woo hoos’ bellowed in-between the licks and breaks.
Both sets were full of Joe’s best tunes and a good number from his soon to be released album, ‘Different Shades Of Blue’.
