Not 80s, but Still...
Huge Joe Bonamassa Fan
Since the year 2000, not much in the way of good music (to me) has been produced. I can remember driving down the highway in the early 2000s listening to a report on the radio that Metallica was suing people for illegally downloading their music on Napster. Remember Napster? That was the popular file sharing website where people would "share" their music with others. What that actually meant was that people would either download music or buy CDs and rip them to upload the files to the service. Then, anyone, anywhere could download any music they wanted to. It was a free for all and the music industry nearly went bankrupt because of it. And artists no longer made the money they deserved. I'm not sure if this was the impetus for the horrible music because there was some pretty bad stuff coming out before that, but I'll tell you that it's only gotten worse since. And what they're producing today is just insane. I recently browsed the Billboard Top 100 listings for new music and I was left nearly speechless. Names like
Jawsh 685 x Jason Derulo,
Pop Smoke Featuring Lil Baby & DaBaby, and
Juice WRLD x Marshmello populated the screen. I mean, seriously? Is this the best we've got? Whatever happened to power bands like U2, Bon Jovi, Guns N' Roses, and Pink Floyd? You know, bands who actually made their music, practiced it, and took over the world? Have you ever seen a U2 concert? It's like nothing else. They made people cry. I'm not sure if Pop Smoke and Lil Baby ever made anyone cry. If you've never seen U2 play, I encourage you to watch this video. It'll open your eyes.
Well, such is life. I suppose people like this don't exist anymore. Well, there is one artist who exists and who is making remarkable music this very day. But before I get to him, I'd like to offer you another video of an incredible man. His name is Phil Collins. This is real music. Watch the entire video.
Let's move on to the best musician to stand on a stage today. There's no comparison. This man puts almost everyone else to shame in 2020 and has been doing so for the past decade. Mr. Joe Bonamassa may very well be the best guitarist in the world at this moment and his singing ain't bad either. It's actually very, very good, which is simply mesmerizing.
I was first introduced to Joe Bonamassa in 2012 when I first began learning how to play the guitar. I searched YouTube for "guitar" and one of his videos was the third result. At the time, he hadn't played at too many venues, but he did play at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which is where I saw him play Woke Up Dreaming, Last Kiss, and
Woke Up Dreaming
Last Kiss
Ballad of John Henry
Royal Albert Hall Documentary & Concert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQWq-qeqlPo
You can't touch this kind of music. What truly moves me about Joe is actually his fans. When I watch his videos. I see that his fans are around the average age of 50 years old. That's such a wonderful thing. Such class. Such grace. Such beautiful music.
Joe has come a long way in the past decade. He's played a countless number of venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Royal Albert Hall (again) in London, and the Vienna Opera House in Austria. If you're interested, here's another version of
Woke Up Dreaming, but this time from Carnegie Hall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM1M6p1fiUM
The songs I added above are some of my favorites, but there are some new favorites as well. I'll list them below.
Drive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euMNVyuqmwo
Mountain Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiMqvPYPvQ0
Mountain Climbing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qJ8bT3W1D0
While I wouldn't characterize myself as one of Joe's
mega fans, because I recognize that there will always be a group of bigger fans than I could ever possibly include myself in, I would say that I'm a
huge fan. I love Joe and I love his music. He's so down to earth and so very talented; such a rarity these days. And he's a true artist. Another rarity.
So far, I've got five of Joe Bonamassa's CDs. Mostly they're recorded from his concerts, but one is studio recorded. They are:
Blues of Desperation,
An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House,
Live at Carnegie Hall,
Live From New York - Beacon Theater, and
Live From the Royal Albert Hall. I'll include some of the album covers below. I don't have the Royal Albert Hall one because I stupidly gave that one away to a friend after I ripped it. My mistake because I'd like it back.
Are you a fan of Joe's? I'd love to know. How did you find him? Why do you like him? Have you ever gone to any of his concerts? You really need to fill me in.