Review from Planetmosh
You just cant keep a great man down, and Joe Bonamassa is one such guy as he is back with another live album. In January 2015, Joe Bonamassa took the iconic Great Stage at Radio City Music Hall for the first time for a sold-out, two-night run that allowed him to fulfil his lifelong dream of performing in one of the world’s most legendary venues. These concerts were recorded, and will be released as ‘Live At Radio City Music Hall’ on the 2nd of October.
The thirteen track CD kicks off with ‘I can’t be satisfied’ with a full backing band, consisting of bass player Carmine Rojas, keyboard player Reese Wyans, drummer Tai Bergman, a horn section with Lee Thormburg on trumpets, Nick Lane on trombone and saxophonist Paulie Cerra. Impressive to say the least.
‘One Less Cross To Bear’ (which you can download for free at the end of this review) is a new song, more of a break down played live as the rhythm section keep it nice and tight, allowing Joe’s guitar to sing until Reese Wyans lets loose with a glorious keyboard solo. Not to be outdone, Tai Bergman and Lenny Castro join in with a percussion run. Glorious.We then get all acoustic for Dustbowl, which is my current (out of many) favourite JB song and is played stripped down here. It certainly shows another side to Joe’s playing, that he is in fact more than just “a blues player” he is in fact a great guitar player.
The great thing about Joe is that he is not afraid to experiment, to work with different people and styles, as witnessed on Joe’s half acoustic/half electric tour (of which these two shows were a part), in particular when he welcomed Irish fiddler Gerry O’Connor onto the stage for ‘Still Water’.
The title track from his last studio album ‘Different Shades Of Blue’ is equally as impressive and features a wonderful Nyckelharpa solo from Mats Wester.
The electric band is back for ‘Never Give All Your Heart’, out of an eerie opening section Joe’s guitar sound comes flying, soaring with melody and tone, truly an uplifting song if ever there was one.
A wonderful Reese Wyans intro for another new song, ‘So, What Would I Do’ brings the show to a close, featuring a great Paulie Cerra saxophone solo, Joe really does allow his fellow musicians a chance to shine.
With enough old material to keep the die-hards happy and enough new material to keep everybody else happy, this is much more than a live album, this is a life event.
The DVD contains all the songs as featured on the CD, plus a lot more besides, including over 2.5 hours of live footage, and a special 45-minute behind-the-scenes featurette.
Review: David Farrell of Planetmosh
Logo: Planetmosh
Date: September 20, 2015
Another star recently played and released an acclaimed and #1 selling album on the blues charts that was recorded live at Radio City Music Hall. That person would be none other than Joe Bonamassa, who has essentially become to the blues what Adele has been to pop music. A fellow record-smasher, Joe Bonamassa has more #1 Billboard Blues albums than any other artist in history. That’s astonishing, although given his immense talent and penchant for being one of the hardest working men in show biz, not wholly unexpected.
Radio City Music Hall – The Stage of Icons, Past and Present
Radio City Music Hall has been host to a bevy of iconic musicians, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Linda Ronstadt, Liberace, Sammy Davis, Jr., Ray Charles and BB King to Bette Midler, Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett, Billy Crystal, The Eurythmics, Barry Manilow, Liza Minnelli, Sting, and many others. Bonamassa is truly both thrilled and humbled to have graced the same stage as these legends, and there are many more too.
But it isn’t just home to the classic greats – it continues to be the New York City stage of choice for an array of music’s biggest stars, like Kelly Clarkson and The Weeknd, it’s most popular rock and rollers like Mumford and Sons and Dave Matthews, and yes, there are still plenty of classic icons playing there today, from Aretha Franklin to Tony Bennett, Sting to John Fogerty, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon and James Taylor.
Joe Bonamassa at Radio City
What does this mean for Joe Bonamassa? It’s one more indication that, as his incredible career progresses, Joe Bonamassa is becoming more and more a legend himself. Music industry people have often argued for the niche status of the blues. They think that the genre is the kind of music that’s better off playing to the small clubs, because it cannot generate the kind of audiences that large theaters and iconic venues need to draw.
Joe Bonamassa continues to prove that theory false every year. Whether it’s Radio City Music Hall, or the Greek in Los Angeles, the Vienna Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall in London, or Carnegie Hall in New York City, Joe Bonamassa is continuing proof positive that great blues music belongs in these palaces of music just as much as pop, rock, or any other genre.
Joe’s two-night stint at Radio City Music Hall is a major milestone in a career that continues to thrill us and astonish with its achievements. And we’re absolutely ecstatic that the music from this occasion has been preserved for posterity on the Joe Bonamassa Live at Radio City Music Hall release. In addition to documenting one of the great concerts of Joe’s spectacular career, it also marks the first release of two new JB songs and nine live debuts. So this is anything but “just another concert release”. This is an event that any Joe Bonamassa fan, from the most casual to the most die-hard must witness. But don’t just take our word for it. The internet has teemed with fantastic reviews of the live album, some of which we have covered here in our weekly newsletter.
- Brian R.
You just cant keep a great man down, and Joe Bonamassa is one such guy as he is back with another live album. In January 2015, Joe Bonamassa took the iconic Great Stage at Radio City Music Hall for the first time for a sold-out, two-night run that allowed him to fulfil his lifelong dream of performing in one of the world’s most legendary venues. These concerts were recorded, and will be released as ‘Live At Radio City Music Hall’ on the 2nd of October.
The thirteen track CD kicks off with ‘I can’t be satisfied’ with a full backing band, consisting of bass player Carmine Rojas, keyboard player Reese Wyans, drummer Tai Bergman, a horn section with Lee Thormburg on trumpets, Nick Lane on trombone and saxophonist Paulie Cerra. Impressive to say the least.
‘One Less Cross To Bear’ (which you can download for free at the end of this review) is a new song, more of a break down played live as the rhythm section keep it nice and tight, allowing Joe’s guitar to sing until Reese Wyans lets loose with a glorious keyboard solo. Not to be outdone, Tai Bergman and Lenny Castro join in with a percussion run. Glorious.We then get all acoustic for Dustbowl, which is my current (out of many) favourite JB song and is played stripped down here. It certainly shows another side to Joe’s playing, that he is in fact more than just “a blues player” he is in fact a great guitar player.
The great thing about Joe is that he is not afraid to experiment, to work with different people and styles, as witnessed on Joe’s half acoustic/half electric tour (of which these two shows were a part), in particular when he welcomed Irish fiddler Gerry O’Connor onto the stage for ‘Still Water’.
The title track from his last studio album ‘Different Shades Of Blue’ is equally as impressive and features a wonderful Nyckelharpa solo from Mats Wester.
The electric band is back for ‘Never Give All Your Heart’, out of an eerie opening section Joe’s guitar sound comes flying, soaring with melody and tone, truly an uplifting song if ever there was one.
A wonderful Reese Wyans intro for another new song, ‘So, What Would I Do’ brings the show to a close, featuring a great Paulie Cerra saxophone solo, Joe really does allow his fellow musicians a chance to shine.
With enough old material to keep the die-hards happy and enough new material to keep everybody else happy, this is much more than a live album, this is a life event.
The DVD contains all the songs as featured on the CD, plus a lot more besides, including over 2.5 hours of live footage, and a special 45-minute behind-the-scenes featurette.
Review: David Farrell of Planetmosh
Logo: Planetmosh
Date: September 20, 2015
Radio City Music Hall: Home of the World’s Biggest Stars
With apologies to Taylor Swift, Adele may just be the biggest pop star in the entire world right now. Adele’s 25 made history recently by becoming the fastest selling album in a single week with 3.48 million copies. And after taking a four year break, Adele played her first concert, an event that could not have been more highly anticipated. And where did she choose to have her comeback performance, you ask? None other than New York City’s most hallowed music stage at Radio City Music Hall, of course.Another star recently played and released an acclaimed and #1 selling album on the blues charts that was recorded live at Radio City Music Hall. That person would be none other than Joe Bonamassa, who has essentially become to the blues what Adele has been to pop music. A fellow record-smasher, Joe Bonamassa has more #1 Billboard Blues albums than any other artist in history. That’s astonishing, although given his immense talent and penchant for being one of the hardest working men in show biz, not wholly unexpected.
Radio City Music Hall – The Stage of Icons, Past and Present
Radio City Music Hall has been host to a bevy of iconic musicians, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Linda Ronstadt, Liberace, Sammy Davis, Jr., Ray Charles and BB King to Bette Midler, Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett, Billy Crystal, The Eurythmics, Barry Manilow, Liza Minnelli, Sting, and many others. Bonamassa is truly both thrilled and humbled to have graced the same stage as these legends, and there are many more too.
But it isn’t just home to the classic greats – it continues to be the New York City stage of choice for an array of music’s biggest stars, like Kelly Clarkson and The Weeknd, it’s most popular rock and rollers like Mumford and Sons and Dave Matthews, and yes, there are still plenty of classic icons playing there today, from Aretha Franklin to Tony Bennett, Sting to John Fogerty, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon and James Taylor.
Joe Bonamassa at Radio City
What does this mean for Joe Bonamassa? It’s one more indication that, as his incredible career progresses, Joe Bonamassa is becoming more and more a legend himself. Music industry people have often argued for the niche status of the blues. They think that the genre is the kind of music that’s better off playing to the small clubs, because it cannot generate the kind of audiences that large theaters and iconic venues need to draw.
Joe Bonamassa continues to prove that theory false every year. Whether it’s Radio City Music Hall, or the Greek in Los Angeles, the Vienna Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall in London, or Carnegie Hall in New York City, Joe Bonamassa is continuing proof positive that great blues music belongs in these palaces of music just as much as pop, rock, or any other genre.
Joe’s two-night stint at Radio City Music Hall is a major milestone in a career that continues to thrill us and astonish with its achievements. And we’re absolutely ecstatic that the music from this occasion has been preserved for posterity on the Joe Bonamassa Live at Radio City Music Hall release. In addition to documenting one of the great concerts of Joe’s spectacular career, it also marks the first release of two new JB songs and nine live debuts. So this is anything but “just another concert release”. This is an event that any Joe Bonamassa fan, from the most casual to the most die-hard must witness. But don’t just take our word for it. The internet has teemed with fantastic reviews of the live album, some of which we have covered here in our weekly newsletter.
- Brian R.
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