JOE BONAMASSA – Live At The Sydney Opera House (2019)

‘Live at the Sydney Opera House‘ is JOE BONAMASSA‘s newest live album, featuring nine tracks from his 2016 performance at one of the world’s most legendary venues. This includes previously unreleased versions of tracks from his coveted no. 1 album, ‘Blues Of Desperation’.
When it comes to hear Bonamassa, you need to check out the man’s magic live. There’s where the bluesman shine, and after listening to ‘Live at the Sydney Opera House’, I don’t want studio albums from him anymore…

The show was captured during the blues ace’s set in the Australian city in 2016, with a statement on the release saying: “Live At The Sydney Opera House perfectly captures the incredible talents a man who’s toured nearly every city, country, and major venue over the world… perhaps even twice over”.
Even the band of heavy-hitters supporting Joe must have known this was going to be a special night at a special venue and they accordingly brought their A-game. With renowned Anton Fig on drums/percussion and Michael Rhodes holding down the bass, the rhythm section is solid as rebarred concrete. Adding Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Reese Wynans on keys and a horn section that includes Lee Thornburg (trumpet) and Paulie Cerra (Sax) almost feels like stacking an already favorable deck.

Opening the set with crowd-pleaser “This Train” is like lighting the fuse on the first stage of an Atlas rocket. This eight and a half minute saga gives the crowd a taste of all the band’s key elements, gives Bonamassa’s guitar plenty of room to roam, and sets a high bar for the rest of the set to follow.
The band gets more funky on “Mountain Climbing” which rides along on a flowing piano line, stinging horns blasts and some righteous backing vocals from Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippins, and Gary Pinto.
Things get moody and atmospheric on “Drive,” which conjures up the perfect soundtrack for a lonely drive down a dark and dusty road in the Southwest… or the Outback.

Rolling into the middle section of the album Joe and the band unleash an epic, tour-de-force version of “Love Ain’t a Love Song,” which fly on a nimble Bonamassa guitar vamp before locking in on another horn-driven funkified blues. Taking nearly eleven minutes to explore every possibility this song has to offer, Joe and the band even trip out on a nearly silent middle-section that tries to get as lost as possible before finding its way back for a powerfully unhinged finish.
Reese Wynan’s keyboards are especially sublime on the moody “How Deep This River Runs,” which rolls out slow and heavy (but never ponderous) and is further elevated by more outstanding backing vocals. Bonamassa’s emotional guitar break tears through the center of this tune before it wraps up with a coda that mirrors the opening.

Following all that big bombast, it makes sense to then lighten the mood a little bit with a cool and cruising cover of George Terry’s “Mainline Florida”, popularized by Eric Clapton.
A solid taste of mournful slide guitar, paired with some reverbed organ work, is both a welcome and a warning on “The Valley Runs Low,” which then rides those keyboard chords as it morphs into a gently intense exploration of the complications of the heart.

This perfectly sets up what is surely the song of the night as Joe and the band slowly unspool the opening bars and verses of “Blues of Desperation” in between moments when the horn-backed, central guitar riff hits the audience right between the eyes. This is the band making the most out of a song with a lot of potential handles to grab on to, and taking the audience along for the ride.

The album closes with a song that would have made equally good album opener; “No Place for the Lonely” is a sweeping, urban city blues with the kind of sophistication you would expect from Robert Cray. The band easily handles the shifting dynamics of the various sections and Bonamassa’s lead, cutting in for real after a bit of an early ‘false ending’ to the song and supported once again by the strong horn and keyboard lines, takes its time building to a climactic finish.
This is likely going to be the most intense three minutes of live guitar work you’re going to hear this year…

“Live At The Sydney Opera House” was clearly a very special night.
If you are tired of live albums that doesn’t apply for a Bonamassa album. He’s better live, much better… and makes you to remember you are dealing with a guitar genius, and to be quite frank he could stick an album out each week and it would be essential.
Highly Recommended
01 – This Train
02 – Mountain Climbing
03 – Drive
04 – Love Ain’t A Love Song
05 – How Deep This River Runs
06 – Mainline Florida
07 – The Valley Runs Low
08 – Blues Of Desperation
09 – No Place For The Lonely

Joe Bonamassa – guitar, vocals
Reese Wynans – keyboards
Michael Rhodes – bass
Anton Fig – drums. percussion
Lee Thornburg, Paulie Cerra – horns
Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippins, Gary Pinto – vocals

Pre Order:
www.amazon.co.uk/Live-At-Sydney-Opera-House/dp/B07WPX2BFH