Joe Bonamassa
SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center
1301 L St, Sacramento, CA 95814 USA
8:00 PM, Friday, November 8, 2024

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2024 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2024 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[7:57 PM] {lights down; pre-show walk-on music: the Bar-Kays Soul Finger; band noodling}

1. [7:59 PM] Hope You Realize It (Goodbye Again) (Joe Bonamassa & Tom Hambridge)
2. [8:06 PM] Twenty-Four Hour Blues (Dan Walsh‚ Steve Barri‚ & Michael Price)
   [8:12 PM] {JB: Thank you!}
3. [8:13 PM] Well‚ I Done Got Over It (Guitar Slim)
4. [8:21 PM] Self-Inflicted Wounds (James House‚ Joe Bonamassa‚ & Kevin Shirley)
   [8:29 PM] {JB lauds Jade McCray}
5. [8:29 PM] I Want to Shout About It (Steven Gomes & Ronnie Earl)
   [8:39 PM] {JB lauds the backup singers}
6. [8:39 PM] The Last Matador of Bayonne (Joe Bonamassa)
7. [8:49 PM] I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home (Al Jackson & Timothy Matthews)
   [8:58 PM] {JB rote entertainer chit-chat; Grammy nomination rant & merch pitch; band introduction}
8. [9:06 PM] The Heart That Never Waits (James House & Joe Bonamassa)
9. [9:18 PM] Is It Safe to Go Home (Josh Smith)
   [9:27 PM] {JB: Thank you!}
10. [9:27 PM] Lazy Poker Blues (Peter Green & Clifford George Adams) »
11. [9:32 PM] Just Got Paid (Bill Ham & Billy F Gibbons) » [9:34 PM] Mule (tease) (Allen Woody, Matt Abts, & Warren Haynes) » [9:34 PM] jam (?JGP reprise?) » [9:37 PM] Dazed & Confused (jam) (Jimmy Page) » [9:38 PM] unidentified interlude jam » [9:38 PM] Dazed & Confused (jam) » [9:39 PM] (drum solo) » [9:45 PM] Dazed & Confused (jam) » [9:45 PM] Just Got Paid (finale)
    [9:46 PM] {applause and encore break}
    [9:47 PM] {band heads offstage}
    
    Encore
    [9:48 PM] {JB and band return for the Encore; JB yack about living in CA; shout out to his parents; props to Sacramento; Blues-Rock yapping; props to the band; intro last tune}
12. [9:50 PM] Mountain Time
    [10:03 PM] {JB takes off his guitar‚ waves goodbye‚ and walks offstage}
    [10:04 PM] {final applause}
    [10:05 PM] {lights up! Walk-out music: Ethel Merman: There's No Business Like Show Business}

• Joe Bonamassa: guitar, vox;
• Lamar Carter: drums;
• Dannielle De Andrea: vox;
• Jade McCray: vox;
• Josh Smith: guitar, vox;
• Calvin Turner: bass, vox;
• Reese Wynans: Hammond B-3 organ, keyboards.

The drive up to Sacramento is typical Friday Night Hell: we leave just before 5, suffer numerous jams, and then finally bust free for the last 20 miles before bonking into the ongoing re-construction mess surrounding Sacramento. It's quite stressful, but I keep telling myself the arrival meter says we'll be parking by 7:30, so keep calm instead of blowing a gasket. We eventually get to the parking lot and find an open spot. Whew! Phase one of tonight's mission accomplished!

We're only 2 blocks away from the venue, so we grab our coats, and walk a hundred steps or so. A few minutes later we've passed through the obligatory security theatre routine (these aren't the bags you're looking for), gotten our tickets scanned, and been released into the crowded lobby area. Joe has a giant merch setup that covers about 25% of the main lobby: more than 20 different t-shirts, plus all sorts of other fabulously tempting crap (anyone looking for a 24“ Joe Bonamassa fan?). It's questionable whether there are more people lined up for merch or cocktails. My bet is that alcohol wins out, especially if you count the extra bars in the upper level lobby, offering shorter lines and brisk service to fans smart enough to skip the long lines on the ground floor. I find a fountain and full up my empty water bottle. I'm not a big fan of over chlorinated river water, but 16 oz won't bother me too much, and it's good to start hydrated, right?

Even though we've been here at SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center a few times already, it takes me three tries to find the right door to get to our assigned seats. I know what I want, but it's hard to correlate that with the signage! Fortunately, we're still pretty early, so I just bumble around until I find the door that I'm looking for: turns out that center balcony can only be accessed from the far sides (helpfully signed as “lower balcony”) left and right.

Lights go down a minute or two before 8 pm with 'get psyched' music blasting from the PA. The band members enter in darkness, and then launch into the first tune as the lights come up: and were off! The first three tunes are all high energy pummeling rock blues tunes, but Joe breaks that pattern to play a slow, quiet blues fourth. Whew! The dynamic variation is a real breath of fresh air, and except for a few mooks six or eight rows behind me, most of the crowd is attentive and listening. What a treat to be able to listen deeply without distraction!

Soul tunes… Classic blues… More screamers …a few more really quiet solos. Joe's talk at the start of the encore implies that Mountain Time is a rare treat, but it's the same ending as [2022-11-23], so I'm a little dubious. Maybe he's just feeding us what he thinks we want to hear? There certainly were a lot of loudmouth fans yelling for it. Despite the motivation, it's a fun listen, especially in the 'spot the influence' jam section.

Overall, I'm happy I made it to Sacto for this show despite the travel hassle: it's good to spend an evening getting drenched in blues rock now and then!

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2024 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2024 event list! ☸ On to the next event!