Before I even give my opinion of this fellow by the name of Joe Bonamassa – I have to give a shout out to Kathy & Shadow – had they not thrown this guy my way I would have NEVER gone to see him in Denver (or the other 7 times the past 2 years) and I would have missed out on one of the BEST concert(s) of my life. I was also lucky enough to spend the evening with a handful of my friends – Sandi, Jason, Mark & Lisa (my newest friend).

That said if you have never had the chance to see Joe – well it’s a crying shame… You simply need to go and I promise you are in for an evening you will never forget. He is probably my favorite performer of all time! (except Kenny Loggins who will always be my #1) Don’t be fooled – he sings the blues – but in a way that you will leave (I promise) with you jaw dropped to your chin! I don’t think he realizes how good and more than that how powerful he is. I not ashamed to admit he brings me to tears. If anyone can introduce Blues to our younger (and old) listeners to music that will truly change your life he is the one to do it. I’ve seen him now 8 times in the past 2 years and will never miss him when he comes anywhere the Phoenix vicinity, but will go just about anywhere to see him. I’m actually going on the Blue Cruise in February next year – which I’m hoping is the icing on the cake – though I’m not sure how he can top his performance last night.

So, let’s talk about that for a few minutes – the venue is one that I can assume is on everyone’s list of “must do before I die” list – and it should be and you simply have to go there. It is an experience both exhilarating and emotional. It’s hard to believe back in 1941 they would have known how ‘perfect’ a venue this was going to turn out to be. I’m sure I will not be telling you anything knew of the comments about how perfect the acoustics are there or how the view is incredible, but to finally be able to say I’ve been there is just priceless. I can’t wait to go again, but to say I got to see Joe Bonamassa doing a concert, not to mention songs from the best of the Blues artists – Muddy Waters – I mean ‘shut up’… it was so good – not kidding tears welled up on many of the songs.

He is truly a class act and a showman beyond words. Like I say I don’t think he truly knows how good or moving his shows are – he comes out in his Armani suit and sunglasses – walks up to the mike and from that point on you are in a world you will simply never forget! I was with a few folks that had never seen and few had never heard of, but came on my ‘nudging’ and one of the guys turned to me said – ‘crap I’m getting goose bumps’. Watching their faces made my night. Well – truth be told watching Joe made my night! I understand the performance was recorded and will be on PBS and Palladia – please for the love of Pete – mark your calendars – you will NOT want to miss this performance. I can’t leave out the other folks that joined him on stage though I have to admit, my eyes and camera were mainly focused on Joe. I think I ended up with over 500 pictures and will cherish every one of them. It was hard to pick out those I wanted to post on the site – so I hope you like those I picked. I may have overloaded you – but they are each worth it.

I just simply gets to me – I don’t know how to explain it really – makes no sense, music is music right? Well – he is the one that just knows how to ‘get to you’. So like I say, if you have Songkick or any other concert ‘watch out’ apps (I love Songkick, works great at reminding me of my faves on tour) to make sure you don’t miss out – you will thank me later!