Review | Stealth Superstar

Joe Bonamassa blew into the Granada Theater Monday night October 28 and proceeded to blow down the walls with a stellar band, passionate vocals, and absolutely incendiary guitar work.

Bonamassa is a case study in determination. Having been spotted by BB King, he served as an opening act for The King of the Blues at age 12. But by the time he started recording, Rock Radio wasn’t embracing blues like it had when Stevie Ray Vaughn and Robert Cray got airplay. So Joe’s success has been of the DIY variety; he put together his own label for his releases, partners with PBS to create music specials the network uses for pledge drives, and he tours hard. It’s a strategy that’s been hugely successful; he’d had more #1 Blues albums in Billboard than any other artist. He may not be a household name the way one might think a guitar hero with his touch would be, but he’s got plenty of fans among blues aficionados, and plenty of return customers judging by the t-shirts sported by quite a few members of the full house Monday night.

As I settled in for the show I flashed back to my very first concert at The Granada; a double bill of classic blues rock from Fleetwood Mac and The Steve Miller band in 1972. From the first richly over-driven notes plucked from his Gibson guitar, Bonamassa delivered a show to match that magical night. Opener “Hope You Realize It (Goodbye Again)” was the blues filtered into furious funk with a rhythm recalling Tower of Power’s syncopated struts. The band just hit it and didn’t quit all night. Bobby Blues Bland’s “24 Hour Blues” slowed the pace but didn’t reduce the intensity.

Bonamassa cut his teeth on the British blues of the late 60’s and 70’s, so while he may cover some classics, the sonic saturation is more Marshall Amps than Chess Records. An evening of the blues… even blues-rock… could get kind of monotonous, but the band’s mastery of both dynamics and of all sorts of classic shuffles, 12-bar blues, and modern funk rhythms kept things more than just interesting. Like myself, most of the audience weren’t spring chickens, but we were rocking hard.

Joe would make a fine lead vocalist of the blues shouter variety without playing any instrument. His singing isn’t technically great — he joked that he was pitchy — but it’s heartfelt. But then he does play. And how. When he solos he seals the deal every time. He’s not just fast and facile; his vocabulary of blues licks, riffs, and rhythms is huge, and the way he uses them is never predictable. He spends a lot of time wringing the neck of the guitar to evoke the tension and pain of the blues, but how he gets there and gets out shows real originality.

The band was also fun to watch. Backup singers Jade McCrae and Dannielle deAndrea enthusiastically shimmied with synchronized dance moves all night long, and frequently cheered on soloists. Bassist Calvin Turner was rock-solid, second guitarist Josh Smith got in a couple of good lead turns and managed to hold his own, while drummer Lamar Carter’s solo boiled over with rolling polyrhythms. As a fan of rich organ tones I was particularly thrilled to hear former Stevie Ray Vaughn side-man Reese Wynans on the Hammond organ through a real rotating Leslie cabinet! There’s just nothing like the real thing when it comes to these classic instruments, a sentiment Joe clearly shares given his huge collection of vintage guitars. Switching up most every song he utilized a Gibson SG, an ES 335, a Flying V, a Fender Strat, a Telecaster with humbuckers, and most especially a gold-top Les Paul, all with pickups from local Seymour Duncan, and all to great effect.

Things got even heavier at the end of the set when a cover of ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid” included extensive Led Zeppelin quotes. Yet, when he closed with his own “Slow Gin” for the encore, the woman across the aisle was singing along with gusto, warming my heart with confirmation that loud blues and serious shredding isn’t just for guys in black T-shirts.