Hot on the heels of the New York maestro’s latest album release Blues of Desperation, followed by a short UK tour, Joe Bonamassa hits these shores again for a run of 5 Summer shows as an homage to his British blues guitar heroes : Clapton, Beck and Page.

Billed as A Salute to the British Blues Explosion, Bonamassa is famously quoted as saying that without the British influence during the early 60’s, rock as we now now it may never have happened...

Set up like a mini festival, and with the impressive Newark Castle ruins behind the stage, first up is Brummie Joanne Shaw Taylor. Despite being the support act, the majority of the assembled are in their seats and attentive during her impressive 40 minute set. She sure can play guitar and has an impressive set of lungs to match. Job done ; crowd warmed up.

And so at 8pm sharp, the now familiar opening backing track of Cash’s Ring of Fire blares out before the band, and finally the immaculately suited and shaded Bonamassa joins them. And without ceremony, they set off into Beck’s Bolero.

Despite the poor vocal volume during the first couple of songs, momentum grows especially when the first Zep song of the night Boogie With Stu lands, and the population of middle aged blokes in the audience show their appreciation.

Bonamassa’s first address to the audience basically suggests that without listening to his heroes back in his childhood, he wouldn’t have picked up a guitar and would have gone down the house painting route...Their loss....

Double Crossing Time, actually a John Mayall cover, features one of several insane solos during the night, and leaves us aspiring guitarists wondering why we bother.

The Clapton songs covered during the night are obvious even if you are were not familiar with the tracks, as Bonamassa almost has a touch of old Slow Hand’s vocal style, and Motherless Children is the perfect example.

Bonamassa’s backing band are Anton Fig on drums, Russ Irwin on rhythm guitar, Reece Wynans on Keys and the inimitable Michael Rhodes on bass. And what a band. They are certainly not just there for Bonamassa to show off his peerless talent, but to enhance it. Let’s face it, you’ve got to be on your game when playing with a maestro.

SWLABR is one of the many highlights of the night, culminating is a furious bass/guitar play off which clearly shows 2 friends having fun and loving what they do.

Zeppelin’s I’ Can’t Quit You Babe is also a masterpiece....is it sacrilege to suggest it actually might have been an improvement on the original...? Magnificent.

Finally, the crowd are urged to join the band on their feet for the finale of How Many More Times, and sadly it felt like this should have happened an hour ago to really get the party started, but better late than never and the euphoric ending was entirely appropriate.

And so to the encore. Bonamassa himself announced that he would not have been able to sleep properly tonight if he hadn’t played something the crowd really knew and loved, and so onto the epic Sloe Gin. The roof would have been brought down if we’d had one, instead we showed our appreciation into the usual manner and sloped off into the now chilly night grinning from ear to ear.

So a unique occasion, in a unique setting and a truly special night. If the aim of the tour was to show his admiration and respect for his heroes, then mission accomplished. If it was to entertain his legions of fans along the way, then mission accomplished with bells on it. Page, Beck and Clapton may have been pivotal at the beginning of blues rock as we know it, but Bonamassa is at the forefront of its future. The Blues couldn’t be in better hands.

Keith @kjsmith4082

photo: Christie Goodwin