The Bonamassa blues....

Last night, I went to see Joe Bonamassa in concert, and as I’m all for trying everything once, I’m going to write about it. As will soon become apparent, anyway, I couldn’t not. I think the term ‘that was the best gig ever’, is used far too often, but I can assure you, I’ve never said that before last night.

After the show however, and following my immeasurable high, I felt quite sad, I’ve never felt the presence of such talent before, to such an extent that I didn’t quite know how to take it.
To prove my point, I've come across no one else my age who has heard of Bonamassa. Or infact, any of his influences. Every day, X Factor winners make more money, and people such as Bonamassa fade further into the distance. As a society, we don’t care about talent; we don’t search past the end of our noses to find good music. We’re passively spoon-fed Simon Cowell’s money making projects.
Bonamassa was like no one I’ve ever seen before. He was understated, he was funny without having to say much. He shied away from the audience several times to have little moments with his guitar. There was no flamboyance, but effective choreography at the right moments.
Like I mentioned earlier, the sounds emitting from the stage were so beautiful I didn’t know how to take it in. He seemed slightly uncomfortable when singing, but his voice was entrancing.
There was a little bit of a Spanish vibe at times, but, like many who sing the blues, the heartache was effortlessly communicated. His biggest achievement of the night was holding 3,500 northerners in complete, silent captivation during a heart wrenching ten minute solo.

For the first time, I can’t think of a word to do justice what I experienced. I think, sometimes in life, there are moments we encounter that we can't encapsulate in words.
Like any good guitarist, he conveyed his passion, he ticked all of the boxes. But there was just something about him. The sound that came out of his mouth and through his guitar were amazing.... whereas he almost looked like an unsuspecting guitarist, like he could just be jamming in his bedroom, almost.
Definitely a live performer, Bonamassa’s recorded music really doesn’t do him full justice. Although his recorded music includes a couple of covers, last night he stuck to his own music. With a few little cheeky snippets of Jeff Beck and Led Zeppelin, of course.
One reason I couldn’t take my eyes off him, was because I couldn’t figure him out. He was somewhere on the wide spectrum between a sad old bluesy guitarist, and a new age singer. I read a recent(ish) interview with him that said he recently moved across America with all of his belongings to be with a girl. A girl who promptly sent him a text when he landed at the airport that she wanted to end things. If that isn’t material enough for a 2 hour set of the blues, I don’t know what is...