{"id":36473,"date":"2014-01-30T07:17:48","date_gmt":"2014-01-30T12:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=36473"},"modified":"2014-01-30T07:38:19","modified_gmt":"2014-01-30T12:38:19","slug":"joe-bonamassa-tour-de-force-live-in-london-blueray-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/joe-bonamassa-tour-de-force-live-in-london-blueray-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Bonamassa | Tour de Force \u2013 Live in London<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Steve Patrick<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"JoeIt\u2019s such a rare thing to come across a musical project that can truly be called original, but that\u2019s exactly what can be said of Joe Bonamassa\u2019s latest Blu-ray\/DVD releases. The entire project is called Tour de Force \u2013 Live in London<\/em> and documents 4 shows in London over the course of 4 days in March of 2013, all presented on 4 different, separately sold Blu-rays\/DVDs. This small London tour quickly became advertised as \u201cThe Guitar Event of the Year\u201d and received rave reviews from all in attendance. To be honest, when the project was first announced my initial reaction was that this will be an excessive amount of material from one artist all released at once, but those thoughts couldn\u2019t have been further from the truth.<\/p>\n

Each of the shows represented on Tour de Force<\/em> was designed to highlight a particular facet of Joe\u2019s incredibly successful career thus far. The first night, which was shot at The Borderline, is the most intimate of the 4 shows. Bonamassa performed at the small 200-seater club with a \u201cpower trio\u201d band made up of bassist Michael Rhodes and the legendary Anton Fig on drums. This set harkens back to Joe\u2019s earliest solo days playing bars and small clubs when just Joe, Eric Czar (bass) and Kenny Kramme (drums) were in the band.<\/p>\n

In an apparent nod to his hero Eric Clapton\u2019s 24 Nights<\/em> live release from 1991, Bonamassa\u2019s 2nd night in London was dubbed the \u201cblues night\u201d and took place at Shepherd\u2019s Bush Empire. This lineup consisted of longtime Bonamassa band members Carmine Rojas on bass and Tal Bergman on drums augmented by Arlan Schierbaum on keys and a small horn section. The \u201cblues night\u201d owns up to its moniker by highlighting some of Joe\u2019s best solo blues songs to date like \u201cLast Kiss,\u201d \u201cLonesome Road Blues\u201d and \u201cThe Great Flood\u201d. Another standout in the set is Bonamassa\u2019s incendiary take on B.B. King\u2019s classic \u201cChains & Things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 3rd night of Bonamassa\u2019s stay in London was the \u201crock night\u201d at the Hammersmith Apollo and again features Bergman, Rojas, and Schierbaum, but drops the horns. However, Lenny Castro (percussion) and Doug Henthorn (background vocals) are added to the mix for this show. The setlist starts with an acoustic set that displays Bonamassa\u2019s softer side that is also visible on the recent An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House CD\/DVD\/Blu-ray. The longtime set staple \u201cWoke up Dreaming\u201d once again gives a nod to Joe\u2019s past which then segues into the electric portion of the show. Joe blasts into the unmistakable riff of Rory Gallagher\u2019s \u201cCradle Rock\u201d which was also track 1 on Bonamassa\u2019s first solo record A New Day Yesterday. An explosive version of Joe\u2019s most well-known song \u201cThe Ballad of John Henry\u201d along with a reverent reading of Led Zep\u2019s \u201cTea for One\u201d featuring Henthorn on lead vocals made the \u201crock night\u201d a memorable one for sure.<\/p>\n

The 4th and final night of the Tour de Force<\/em> set of London shows was a return to the illustrious Royal Albert Hall. Bonamassa has already released an incredibly successful live CD\/DVD\/Blu-ray of his 2009 appearance at the venue which included a much publicized live collaboration with Eric Clapton on the song \u201cFurther on up the Road\u201d. Four years later, as documented here on Tour de Force<\/em>, Bonamassa demonstrates that although having a guest star of Clapton\u2019s status would have been a nice bonus, it\u2019s hardly necessary since Joe is an undisputed guitar hero in his own right. Joe\u2019s older material like \u201cAround the Bend\u201d and \u201cMoutain Time\u201d fit seamlessly side-by-side with his newer offerings like \u201cDriving towards the Daylight\u201d and \u201cSlow Train\u201d. The band at the 2013 RAH show is a collection of the musicians that Bonamassa performed with on the prior three nights and each lend their talents that combine to a truly unforgettable blues rock spectacle.<\/p>\n

An added treat to the Tour de Force<\/em> DVD\/Blu-rays is the behinds the scenes feature \u201cNo Man\u2019s Land\u201d and \u201cThe Making of Tour de Force\u201d which are both broken up into four parts, one on each show disc. This bonus material is sure to satisfy any die-hard fan who likes to take a peek behind the show curtain and get to know their favorite artist a little bit better.<\/p>\n

Joe Bonamassa\u2019s body of work is truly staggering when one looks at the sheer frequency of his musical output. In 2013 alone he put out An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House, a second record with Beth Hart called Seesaw, and these four Tour de Force DVD\/Blu-rays. 2014 will see the release of a new Bonamassa solo record and who knows what else from this unstoppable guitar powerhouse. If you\u2019re a fan of Bonamassa from any period in his career, do yourself a favor and pick up these Tour de Force<\/em> shows. The picture and sound on all four releases are impeccable. Each show stands up well on its own, but combined as a whole the shows rarely repeat themselves set-list-wise and all four shows present a comprehensive picture of one of the most talented musicians in modern times.<\/p>\n

Genre: Blues, Rock<\/p>\n

THE BORDERLINE:<\/p>\n

TRACKLIST:
\n\u2022 I Know Where I Belong
\n\u2022 Spanish Boots
\n\u2022 Your Funeral My Trial
\n\u2022 Blues Deluxe
\n\u2022 Pain And Sorrow
\n\u2022 Happier Times
\n\u2022 Steal Your Heart Away
\n\u2022 Miss You, Hate You
\n\u2022 The River
\n\u2022 Burning Hell
\n\u2022 Don’t Burn Down That Bridge
\n\u2022 Story Of A Quarryman
\n\u2022 Are You Experienced?<\/p>\n

SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE:<\/p>\n

TRACKLIST:
\n\u2022 Slow Train
\n\u2022 So It’s Like That
\n\u2022 Midnight Blues
\n\u2022 Last Kiss
\n\u2022 So Many Roads
\n\u2022 You Better Watch Yourself
\n\u2022 Chains & Things
\n\u2022 Lonesome Road Blues
\n\u2022 Stop!
\n\u2022 I Got All You Need
\n\u2022 The Great Flood
\n\u2022 The Ballad Of John Henry
\n\u2022 Asking Around For You
\n\u2022 Further On Up The Road<\/p>\n

HAMMERSMITH APOLLO:<\/p>\n

TRACKLIST:
\n\u2022 Seagull
\n\u2022 Jelly Roll
\n\u2022 Richmond
\n\u2022 Athens To Athens
\n\u2022 Woke Up Dreaming
\n\u2022 Cradle Rock
\n\u2022 When the Fire Hits the Sea
\n\u2022 Dustbowl
\n\u2022 Dislocated Boy
\n\u2022 Driving Towards The Daylight
\n\u2022 Who’s Been Talking
\n\u2022 Jockey Full Of Bourbon
\n\u2022 Tea For One
\n\u2022 Lonesome Road Blues
\n\u2022 The Ballad Of John Henry
\n\u2022 Sloe Gin
\n\u2022 Just Got Paid<\/p>\n

ROYAL ALBERT HALL:<\/p>\n

TRACKLIST:
\n\u2022 Palm Trees, Helicopters and Gasoline
\n\u2022 Seagull
\n\u2022 Jelly Roll
\n\u2022 Black Lung Heartache
\n\u2022 Around the Bend
\n\u2022 Jockey Full Of Bourbon
\n\u2022 From the Valley
\n\u2022 Athens to Athens
\n\u2022 Slow Train
\n\u2022 Last Kiss
\n\u2022 Dustbowl
\n\u2022 Midnight Blues
\n\u2022 Who’s Been Talking
\n\u2022 Happier Times
\n\u2022 Driving Towards The Daylight
\n\u2022 The Ballad of John Henry
\n\u2022 Django
\n\u2022 Mountain Time
\n\u2022 Sloe Gin
\n\u2022 Just Got Paid<\/p>\n

Label: J&R Adventures<\/p>\n

Website: www.jbonamassa.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Steve Patrick – Senior Columnist — It\u2019s such a rare thing to come across a musical project that can truly be called original, but that\u2019s exactly what can be said of Joe Bonamassa\u2019s latest […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":36474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[8729,8730,8731,3814,2387,8728],"class_list":{"0":"post-36473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-blueray-review","9":"tag-blues","10":"tag-jr-adventures","11":"tag-joe-bonamassa","12":"tag-rock","13":"tag-tour-de-force-live-in-london"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}