Joe Bonamassa
8 p.m. Nov. 22-23, $107.70 to $145.50 (including fees), Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta.
Joe Bonamassa came into 2013 feeling it was time to open a new chapter in his career.
“You can’t just keep playing the same tunes over and over again,” the guitarist said. “I don’t want to become a tribute act to myself. It’s dangerous, but it’s also, ‘What else are you going to do?’
“It’s not time to call it in, pack it in. It’s time to almost say we’re done with this part of our life. It’s time to invent the new one.”
Bonamassa is bringing two shows to the Fox Theatre Nov. 22 and 23, featuring his mix that can thrill crowds with acoustic Delta sounds at one moment and electrified blues-rock the next.
He showed his range in his recent effort to reinvent himself.
He scheduled four shows at four venues in London. Each show focused on a different side of Bonamassa’s virtuosity.
The result of this grand adventure can be seen on four DVDs called “Tour De Force.” Each of the DVDs, which were released on Oct. 29, documents one of the four shows in London.
One would never know that right up until the time of the shows, Bonamassa had reason to wonder if he had bitten off more than he could chew with this ambitious project.
“We had to do something to kind of make a statement,” Bonamassa said.
“The original idea was maybe to do four different shows with the same group and just rehearse the hell out of it, or do a three-piece. But it was like doing something three quarters. And (producer) Kevin (Shirley) and I and my manager, Roy (Weisman), we didn’t like (that) idea. So if we were going to do this, we were going to do it correctly and call in the troops and do it right.”
Bonamassa revisited the early power trio era of his career, playing a set that included extended takes of songs that hadn’t been in his shows for years with a band that featured the rhythm section of bassist Michael Rhodes and drummer Anton Fig.
For the show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, Bonamassa focused on his blue-oriented material. He was joined by his touring band — bassist Carmine Rojas, drummer Tal Bergman and keyboardist Arlan Schierbaum — plus a three-piece horn section.
For the third night, at Hammersmith Apollo, Bonamassa cut loose with a full-on rock set featuring Rojas, Bergman and Schierbaum joined by percussionist Lenny Castro and backing singer Doug Henthorn.
Then it was on to the grand finale at the Royal Albert Hall. The evening began with Bonamassa reuniting the acoustic group he had assembled for a 2012 tour of Europe. A show from that tour was released earlier this year on the DVD “An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House.” That group – Shierbaum, Castro, Gerry O’Connor (fiddle, banjo, mandolin), Mats Wester (nyckelharpa) – played an opening “unplugged” set. Then Bonamassa returned with his touring band for a full electric set, with the trio of Bonamassa, Fig and Rhodes also making an appearance during the latter set.
Assembling the different bands meant that the shows would be more unique – and more of an event — than originally devised. It also meant a lot of preparation to pull off the four shows.
The preparation process began with three weeks of rehearsals in California, then a warm-up tour in Europe and another couple of weeks of rehearsal in London just before the actual four shows.
Together the four DVDs showcase the depth of a song catalog Bonamassa has built over a 10-album solo career that began with the 2000 album, “A New Day Yesterday,” the variety in his rocking, blues-based music and, of course, the playing skills that have made Bonamassa one of music’s most acclaimed guitarists.
Bonamassa’s fall tour will feature a show similar to the Royal Albert Hall concert mix.
He’ll open with an acoustic set and then plug in for a second set, with the same musicians from Royal Albert Hall taking the stage with him (except for Schierbaum, who will be replaced by keyboardist Derek Sherinian).
“It’s trying to honestly make the best night of music I possibly can for the fans that have supported me over the years,” Bonamassa said.
“So when they see it, they go ‘OK, I get it. You have two different bands.’ It’s like Barnum & Bailey in the three rings. They walk out and they go ‘Wow, that was really a cool experience all the way through, from start to finish.’ And that’s all I can really ask for.”
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