Joe Bonamassa “Live From The Royal Albert Hall”
Joe Bonamassa dreamed of being a professional guitarist and playing the Royal Albert Hall ever since he was a young boy growing up in Utica, New York. This dream came true on May 4, 2009.
Joe Bonamassa dreamed of being a professional guitarist and playing the Royal Albert Hall ever since he was a young boy growing up in Utica, New York. This dream came true on May 4, 2009.
The Monterey Blues Festival is held each year over the last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in June. One of the things I like about the Monterey festival is that it’s more Afro-centric than many other festivals I’ve attended
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is special. That’s what I found out when I went to my first one in 1985. So special to me that I’ve been back every year since (okay, I missed one). It’s an immersion, an immersion in all things New Orleans and Louisiana; music, food, culture and fun.
As I walked out of the festival grounds the thought struck me that I’d just seen something special. I missed Muddy Waters and Stevie Ray Vaughn, the two blues musicians I would most like to have seen live, but I had now seen Kenny Wayne Shepherd in his prime. And it was a show I would remember.
I’d heard Kenny in 1996 at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium when he was 19 years old and remember thinking he was pretty good for a kid. But, this time he had matured as a guitar player and showman and I found him mesmerizing. Part of it was his appearance – in command of the stage and somewhat surly. Yet when he talked to the crowd he sounded polite and appreciative. With a white scarf wrapped around his neck he reminded me of a 1970’s guitar god. Kenny played four different Stratocasters, swapping them out every few songs. Maybe because he’s so partial to Strats, Fender named an Artist Series signature model after him!
