Label: J & R Adventures
Release date: June 21, 2024
Production: Kevin Shirley
Genre: Blues Rock
Rating: 9.0/10
Joe Bonamassa is the leading creative force in modern blues rock! A driving locomotive who, with his inexhaustible creativity and ambition, keeps the genre standing in 2024, when you have to work damn hard as an individual just to feel out the honesty of the musical substance in a selection of “an ocean of trillions” of new releases (and I’m talking about every genre). Bonamassa is a hero of sorts, because he set out into the musical realm of crossing blues with rock, which, back when he was starting his career, was by no means in vogue. And never will be again. But he made it. With bulldog stubbornness he gradually grew into a big-name performer who fills halls with several thousand people each. Big venues sell out with feather-light ease. But he slogged for it, and especially in the first era of his career, the continuation of that career was repeatedly put on the line (not so much because everything had already been said in the sixties and seventies in the genre he occupies, but because labels at the time weren’t interested in backing him).
Joe is a highly respected musician today. The chief guitar attaché of blues rock, who with his garage-band stubbornness put the genre back in the spotlight, and whose shows are a vivid experience of untamed passion and emotion, infused with a deliberately blaring, fat (and also robust) Gibson LP sound that doesn’t skimp on noise. Shows that deliver a special experience. He has always strived to make his compositions sound “complete.” Like a rounded-out “orchestra” that makes use of the full spectrum of the sonic picture. From bringing in backing vocalists to a sizable (blaring) crew of supporting musicians, and with it refined arranging, and on his most recent albums especially, he proves that he has brought this vision to full maturity.
Of course, this philosophy carries over from the studio to the stage! Last year’s performance at the Hollywood Bowl is simply the crown on it all. Joe Bonamassa, who has lived in Los Angeles since 2003, has played The Greek Theatre many times, and one of his live albums comes from there. This time, though, he picked a different venue! A venue he had often dreamed of playing someday (and perhaps recording something at, too). Surrounding him was a full 40-piece orchestra, with arrangements by seasoned veterans David Campbell, Trevor Rabin and Jeff Bova, who make their living writing and composing film music. So the best at it. The cream of today’s Hollywood scene. That makes this new live document one of a kind and special. In this musician’s relatively short but prolific career, it’s in a way an artistic summit of the road traveled. It stands on its own. In its rightful place.
A virtuoso like Bonamassa, this time surrounded by a 40-piece orchestra! Could a fan even ask for more? The chosen repertoire sounds magical. Everything that happens in the studio with Bonamassa takes on a new, different character in the live show, an artistically expressive “extension,” let’s say. And it’s exactly that, captured at the Hollywood Bowl, that breaks away from Bonamassa’s previous live releases. It speaks with a different kind of magic, enchantment, and especially theatricality! Precisely thanks to the enriched orchestral arrangements, especially in the intros or the extended outros! The orchestra’s contributions are an essential element that gives this release its special stamp! The performance? As always charged with the dynamite of the central figure called Joe Bonamassa! Nobody can take that away from him. The repertoire has been carefully picked. It delivers a varied cross-section of Joe Bonamassa’s journey so far. The release brims with captured energy and distinctive vibrations, and thanks to the bond between Joe’s guitar genius and the orchestra’s impact, every point in the setlist gains its own musical character and expressive shine!
The album “Live At Hollywood Bowl” is a must for every Joe Bonamassa fan. This is a musician who, with his incredible drive, makes sure at least one release comes out under his name every year. If it’s not a studio album, it’s a collection of covers or a live album. If it’s neither, nor the third thing, he teams up with another artist and puts out a combined album or single. And, when all is said and done? We might even get a new Black Country Communion album on top of that. In short. A musical phenomenon who, at 47, is at the peak of his powers, celebrates the road he has traveled so far with a special live gem that shines with full intensity at a special point in his career. As such, it will keep its status as one of the crown jewels in the years to come, too.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. When One Door Opens Overture
2. Curtain Call
3. Self-Inflicted Wounds
4. No Good Place For The Lonely
5. Ball Peen Hammer
6. The Last Matador Of Bayonne
7. Prisoner
8. If Heartaches Were Nickels
9. The Ballad Of John Henry
10. Twenty-Four Hour Blues
11. Sloe Gin
