JOE BONAMASSA – BRIGHTON CENTRE – 27TH APRIL 2025
Tonight, Joe Bonamassa closes his 2025 UK tour at Brighton Centre. This is becoming something of a regular fixture. Joe clearly likes the venue, and the Brighton crowd love him, so it’s a win-win situation. Joe is one of those rare artists who plays without a support band, so we’re in the venue ridiculously early, whilst the sun outside is shining brightly, safe in the knowledge that we’re going to get a two-hour set.
Whilst Soul Finger by the Bar-Kays plays over the PA, the house lights go down and seven shadowy figures lope onto the stage and cut straight into Hope You Realise It (Goodbye Again) from 2023’s Blues Deluxe Volume 2. It’s pretty funky with some wonderfully fluid soloing, and is essentially Joe setting out his stall for the rest of the evening. It quickly becomes clear that tonight is going to feature something of a cavalcade of classic guitars. He starts with a Gibson SG, then switches to a Les Paul. That’s followed by a Fender Stratocaster, a Gibson 335, a Fender Esquire, and a Telecaster. It won’t surprise anybody to learn that Joe’s guitar collection is near legendary.
It’s alright having all of the gear, but you’ve gotta be able to play it. Well, there are no worries on that score, because Joe is one of the best guitarists that you’ll see live. Not only that, he’s not overly careful with his chosen musical genre. Regular readers might know that musically polite blues guitarists are something of a bugbear of mine. Joe and his band are undoubtedly slick, but their rough edges remain in place. Joe may wear a sharp suit onstage, but when he plays, he works hard! Joe is also a generous band leader, and I should stress that he has a band, not a bunch of backing musicians. There’s plenty of interaction between them onstage, and everybody gets their turn in the spotlight.
The highlights come thick and fast. Guitar Slim cover Well, I Done Got Over It features Joe and keyboard player Reese Wynans soloing in unison. Self-Inflicted Wounds from Redemption has a bass-solo intro courtesy of Calvin Turner, and a vocal solo from Jade MacCrae, which is on a par with Clare Torry’s vocal on The Great Gig In The Sky from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon. Rhythm guitarist Josh Smith solos on I Want To Shout About It (a Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters cover) before Joe lets rip towards the end of the song.
It’s not all high-octane bluesology, though. The Last Matador of Bayonne from Dust Bowl is the set’s exquisitely quiet moment, with the drummer using brushes and Joe playing a solo which would equal Jimmy Page’s on Led Zeppelin’s Since I’ve Been Loving You. Freddie King’s Pack It Up features some dual lead guitar between Joe and Josh Smith, which is frankly awesome.
The set closes with a very authentic cover of Led Zeppelin’s How Many More Times, complete with The Hunter section towards the end. Not many artists would attempt this, and fewer would carry it off with such aplomb, but Joe and his band do so more than admirably. They leave the stage for a very few minutes but soon return. Joe tells us that in Scotland and Wales, they received some complaints because they didn’t play the classic Sloe Gin. How they even thought that they could get away with that, I don’t know! They play it tonight, though. Riots in Brighton are very rare, but I think there may have been one if that particular song hadn’t been played. They play almost up to the curfew, so there’s no chance of any more, unfortunately. What a gig! What a guitarist!!! Joe Bonamassa is his generation’s Jimmy Page. There’s absolutely no question of that, squire!
WORDS: MARK KELLY PHOTOS: CRIS WATKINS
GALLERY
