Joe Bonamassa at Topeka Performing Arts Center, Topeka KS (2024-08-08)

Downtown Topeka happily had a case of the Blues again–

Following a barnstorming performance at Red Rocks near Denver, popular and prolific blues rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa returned to downtown Topeka, playing the Topeka Performing Arts Center for the first time since his previous appearance in April 2014.

His latest release is a live album and accompanying film, “Live at the Hollywood Bowl With Orchestra”, released in June via his own J&R Adventures label, and featuring the guitarist joined by a 40-piece orchestra.

He opened for The Rolling Stones in Seattle and is currently out on his “Blues Deluxe Tour”, a coast-to-coast summer tour that celebrates Bonamassa’s albums Blues Deluxe (2003) and last year’s chart-topping successor, Blues Deluxe Vol. 2, which earned him a record 27th #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart. As one of twenty dates on the tour, Topeka was fortunate to be one of those stops, and the town came out on a weeknight, to pack the venue.

Bonamassa could be considered a child prodigy, growing up in western New York and having started playing guitar at age four, being mentored by famed guitarist Danny Gatton at eleven, and supporting B.B. King before he was a teenager. He brought those decades of practice and experience to a 135-minute performance that received numerous standing ovations.

The night began with a cut from Blues Deluxe Vol. 2, “Hope You Realize It (Goodbye Again)” with flashes of Bonamassa’s guitar style, an East Coast (or Piedmont) style that blends jump and uptown blues, with some rock and jazz influences.

His ten-piece band was both tight and loose all night and included a three-piece horn section and trio of expertly wailing background singers, all anchored by Florida guitarist/producer Josh Smith (whom Bonamassa described on stage as a much better guitarist than himself) and legendary keyboardist Reese (Double Trouble, Captain Beyond, Jerry Jeff Walker) Wynans.

Bonamassa, in a dark embroidered sequined suit and trademark slim sunglasses, proved his knowledge of the genre, covering many of the greats, but not on the obvious familiar hits or blues standards. “You Upset Me Baby” is a powerful song, but not one of B.B. King’s bigger hits and the same can be said for Muddy Waters’ “Tiger in Your Tank” penned by Willie Dixonin 1960, but Bonamassa and band made both songs their own.

“Blues Deluxe” was actually written by both Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart (adapted from a previous B.B. King song) and was the point in the show when energy went up into another gear as the ten-piece band tore through an Albert King cover following. It was also at this part, some seventy minutes in, that Bonamassa properly introduced himself and the players and mentioned how glad they were to be returning a decade later (showing how his hairline has only slightly receded, and he went up just a single suit size, in the ten years between local performance dates).

Fans yelled as Bonamassa’s technique went from a whispering finger-picking groove to an amplified scream, and he strode frequently from one end of the stage to the other, so everyone in the venue could feel like they had a closer look.

Smith shone on his own original, “Is It Safe to Go Home” which ends the new album and the jump blues of 1961’s “See See Baby” put the spotlight on the horn section and had everyone clapping along. The set-closing gospel-tinged “Hummingbird” which Leon Russell did originally with Joe Cocker, seemed a perfect finishing song, with the backup singers, harmonically repeating “Don’t fly away”.

The encore quickly began with Bobby Parker’s “It's Hard But It's Fair” which kept everyone on their feet and wrapped with a Bonamassa original and crowd favorite from his second album, the epic and cathartic “Morning Time” which ends with the promise lyric of “I'll be there when the morning comes.”

Not too long ago, downtown Topeka was a regular spot for the Blues – from the dark basement lounge of Por’e Richards where the kitchen stayed open until 3am and Kansas City stalwarts like Little Hatch and the Houserockers would travel in from their regular stops at KC’s Grand Emporium, to other hideaways that would host the likes of Rhythm Kings, Black Cat Bone, Brody Buster, and other regional favorites.

More recently, it was Joe Bonamassa’s appearance in 2014, but the decade wait seemed to be worth it to bring world-class blues alive downtown again- Topeka just hopes they don’t have to wait another ten years to have the Blues like this, again.