Joe Bonamassa Live Stream Austin City Limits Live April 1, 2021

 



Live music.

I miss it more than any words are possible and if there is one man on the planet who misses it more than me it's Joe Bonamassa who is the ultimate road warrior and never rests.

Back in September Joe live streamed his brand new album Royal Tea for the world to see with only 2100 cardboard cut outs as company. The event also raised over $32,000 for Bonamassa’s Fueling Musicians program, presented by his non-profit Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation (KTBA). 

Austin City Limits Live had a socially distanced crowd of 700 and every one had the time of their lives.

Austin is one of the first spots Joe originally performed as a three-piece, years ago at legendary Antone’s, and the city saw the rise of guitar visionary Stevie Ray Vaughan. Austin City Limits Live, known as “music’s best address,” is a national landmark and was awarded “Best New Major Concert Venue” by Pollstar when it opened.

The perfect place for Joe to go for the ultimate power trio backed by Anton Fig on drums and Steve Mackey on bass with Jade Macrae on backing vocals.


With a setlist picked by the fans these are the delights we witnessed.

Oh Beautiful

Love Ain't A Love Song

Midnight Blues (Gary Moore cover)

Lookout Man

Beyond The Silence

Jockey Full Of Bourbon (Tom Waits Cover)

Wandering Earth

Pain Sorrow

Miss You Hate You

Scuttle Buttin' (Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble cover)

Blues De Luxe (Jeff Beck cover)

The Ballad Of John Henry

Encores of Woke Up Dreaming 

Cross Road Blues (Robert Johnson cover)


 Oh Beautiful starts the show with the sound and picture perfect and so good to hear fans in the venue and Joe's first guitar solo is a thing of beauty with a jaw dropping display of virtuosity and technique and his tone stunning and at times near to feedback..

Love Ain't A Love Song has wonderful vocal harmonies with Jade shining and Joe showing in the chorus that he is also a world class vocalist.

Gary Moore's Midnight Blues has always been a favourite and Joe and the band take it down low with the band dynamic showing through so well with light and shade as the song ebbs and flows and Joe extends the solo as only he can. Anton and Steve lay down a base that Joe can embellish over and watching all of the world class performances on a live stage is a joy.

We then dip into Joe's latest album Royal Tea with Lookout Man and Beyond The Silence especially going off the framework of the recorded version with many a detour and Joe soloing hard and fast and again the band interplay from another planet and the crowd transfixed.

We then dip into Joe's back catalogue with Wandering Earth from Black Rock that he had never played live before but you would ever have known as the guitar solo mid song is added to all of our list's of favourites.

Pain and Sorrow from So It's Like That and then Miss You Hate You from A New Day Yesterday show that the fans went very deep with the setlist and both are met with fan delirium and how there are so many songs that Joe could end up with a setlist 2 days long !!


Covers are a part of Joe's life and his recorded output showing his influences and his versions are always true to the original with Joe embellishments. Jockey Full Of Bourbon and even more so Scuttle Buttin' that he takes on and tears it up on while in Stevie Ray Vaughan's old stomping ground of Austin shows that Joe can take on any song anywhere and make it his own.

A romp through Blues De Luxe with so many highs takes into set closer The Ballad Of John Henry with Jade taking backing vocals to another stratosphere. Joe's vocal is stunning and the huge guitar riff levels the audience as the light and shade shines as the song goes up into the chorus and then ever higher with the power trio sounding fantastic. Jade and Joe trade vocal and guitar riffs mid song taking into a Led Zeppelin feel with the crowd howling their approval before Joe's extended theremin work out leads into a guitar solo taking the song into never before seen territory and we can only marvel at the delight's in front of us. Wow.

First encore Woke Up Dreaming is an acoustic master class taking the poor instrument to within an inch of it's life and played at break neck speed and again we can only marvel at Joe's playing before the guitar is taken into therapy and the repair shop!

Cream classic Crossroads ends the show on a high with Joe and the band injecting a new energy level with enough to run a small town after a 2 hour 15 minute show that shows that Joe Bonamassa is at the top of any guitar hero poll.

A simply outstanding performance from Joe and his band that helps heal the hole in our hearts that we all have from missing live music.

Live stream tickets and packages are available to purchase at www.jbonamassa.com/streaming/acl.

The live stream concert will be available “On-Demand” for 1 month after the live airing to anyone who purchases tickets. Fans who purchase the virtual live stream ticket will have the chance to watch the entire concert for repeated viewings until May 2021.

Each ticket purchase for the livestream will include a $1 donation to ‘Fueling Musicians’.


All photo's credited and used with thanks to Allison Morgan.


Popular Posts from last 30 Days