On May 4, 2009, Joe Bonamassa played to a sold-out crowd at London’s Royal Albert Hall. This was the culmination of a life-long dream of Bonamassa’s and a celebration of his 20 years in the music business. The performance was recorded and was released on DVD this month.

At the beginning of the DVD, Bonamassa recounts watching Cream’s Farewell Concert, which was recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, and how it made him want to play the Royal Albert Hall one day. Suffice it to say, this was a special day for Bonamassa, and he brought out all the stops.

In addition to his regular touring band, which features Carmine Rojas on bass, Bogie Bowles on drums, and Rick Melick on keys, Bonamassa added a horn section and Anton Fig as a second drummer. I wondered how the additional players would affect the sound because I love the sound he gets from his regular touring band and I was hoping that wouldn’t get lost. My worries were unfounded; the additional musicians really added another dimension to the music making it fuller and bigger sounding.

As Bonamassa starts the show, the camera follows behind him so that you can see his point of view from the stage. And, as he walks out onto the stage playing the intro notes to “Django”, you can see the crowd give him a standing ovation, which must have been a tremendous moment for Joe.

The material Joe selected for the show features songs from his latest album The Ballad of John Henry as well as songs from throughout his solo career, including one of my favorites, “Blues Deluxe.” He also played a few classics, including “Just Got Paid” and “Further On Up the Road”, where he was joined by the person that inspired him to want to play the Royal Albert Hall: Eric Clapton. Another special guest, British radio host Paul Jones, joined Bonamassa to play harmonica on “Your Funeral My Trial.”

Joe’s playing throughout the show is, as usual, incredible. The tones he wrangles out of his Les Pauls and his amp combinations are second to none. The gear he uses includes his signature Les Pauls, a few Les Paul historic models, a Gibson Flying V, an Ernie Ball Musicman John Petrucci Baritone, an Ernie Ball Musicman 25th anniversary, and a Yamaha acoustic. He uses his usual combination of amps, which includes a Marshall Silver Jubilee, a Van Weeldon Twinkleland, a Carol Ann JB model, and a Category 5 Joe Bonamassa model.

The DVD also has a few bonus features, including a performance of “Woke Up Dreaming,” which is an acoustic guitar tour de force. Additionally, a bus interview with Bonamassa is included. In the interview, he discusses some of the songs that he plays in the show and how he came to write or record them. While discussing the songs, he plays some fragments of the songs using the brand-new Marshall Class 5 amp, which sounds great.

Joe Bonamassa has previously released two other DVDs, Live at Rockpalast and A New Day Yesterday Live, both of which are very good and both of which I’d recommend. However, Live at the Royal Albert Hall takes it to a different level. I think this is Joe’s best DVD so far. Not only is the performance top-notch, the production by Kevin Shirley is very well done. I had the chance to see Bonamassa a few months before the Royal Albert Hall show, and this DVD perfectly encapsulates that experience for me. I highly recommend this DVD for any fans of guitar-driven music.

I’ve recently had the chance to use a leather guitar strap from Italia Leather Straps, and I can say that these are very well made guitar straps. The one I have is their black on black model, as shown in the picture. In addition to being very well made, the straps carry a lifetime guarantee, so if anything does go wrong with the strap, they’ll replace it for free. As they say on their website: “An Italia Strap is the last guitar strap or bass guitar strap you will ever need to buy.”

I’m used to using nylon straps that came with my guitars. Immediately upon feeling the leather strap by Italia, you realize that it’s a completely different feel than the nylon straps I’m used to. The strap feels like a much higher quality strap and feels like it’ll last for a long time. The leather is also more comfortable than the nylon straps I’ve been using.

If you’re in the market for a new guitar strap, I’d recommend checking out Italia Leather Straps.

Rich Murray of The Guitar Channel recently posted a review of Wayne Krantz’s new album Krantz Carlock Lefebvre:

One of the trademarks of Krantz’s live performances is the amount of group improvising that takes place. In a wise move, Krantz decided to bring that strength to the studio for Krantz Carlock Lefebvre, and the results are fantastic.

I first heard about Krantz through his work with the excellent Tal Wilkenfield. Krantz is definitely a unique guitarist and, based on Rich’s review, I’m going to have to check out the new album.

Emon at Guitarkadia recently posted a review of It Might Get Loud, the new movie featuring Jimmie Page, The Edge, and Jack White. The movie was released in California and New York last Friday and will be released throughout the rest of the US over the next several months. I’ve been looking forward to the film since I first heard of it several months ago, so I’m looking forward to the September release here in Nashville.

The thing that I enjoy so much about Twitter is that you get to connect with people you might not have connected with otherwise. One artist that I’ve met through Twitter is Stuart Weber, a classical guitarist and composer based out of Montana. Weber has recently released a new CD titled The Fifth Row, which includes a number of original compositions as well as performances of Weber’s arrangement of compositions by composers such as George Philipp Telemann, Antonin Dvorak, Bela Bartok, Randy Newman, and Samuel Ward.

Weber’s performances of the pieces are tasteful and well executed. His technique is flawless, but not at the expense of the music. To me, one of the hallmarks of a great classical guitarist is whether you can listen to the guitarist perform and not think about the technique but instead focus on the music. Weber certainly falls into this category. Listening to The Fifth Row, I find myself engrossed in the music. I’m really impressed with Weber’s ability to bring out the emotion of the compositions.

In addition to the performances, Weber celebrates 11 historic theaters in the Western United States by recording a different track in each theater. Some of the theaters Weber celebrates are the Ellen Theater in Bozeman, Montana; the Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, Colorado; and the Ellen Eccles Theater in Logan, Utah.

The Fifth Row highlights Stuart Weber’s excellent performing, arranging, and composing skills. If you are a fan of classical guitar music, I think you’ll really enjoy The Fifth Row.

Also, see Dr. Matthew Warnock’s review of The Fifth Row for Modern Guitars.

Below is a video of Weber playing one of my favorite pieces from the CD, Telemann’s “Bouree alla Polacca”:

Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam played here in Nashville this past week at a local club called 3rd & Lindsley. I’ve seen Back Door Slam once before, but since that time, Davy and the previous members of Back Door Slam split up. Additionally, Knowles worked with Peter Frampton on a recently released new album. I was curious to see how those changes would affect the live show.

A few minutes into the show, it was clear the changes were only for the better. The new live band was surprisingly tight, even though they’d only been playing together for two weeks with only about a week of rehearsal. While the original band was good, they seemed to lay back a little more. By contrast, PK, the new bass player, and Steven Barci, the new drummer, really lay down a solid foundation. Also, Davy’s playing, while excellent before, is even better.

They opened with some songs from the new album, which translated really well to a live environment. Also, as expected, they played a few of the songs from the first album. They also played a few cover songs, including songs by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Rory Gallagher. As the show went on, the band got better and better. They really put on a phenomenal show. Knowles channels a lot of the blues-rock greats, but puts on his style on the music.

Throughout last year, Knowles’ main guitar was a Fender Stratocaster. However, for this show, the Strat was present, but he played a PRS McCarty Smokeburst through a Marshall amp for the entire show, and it sounded great. He even played slide on one song, which I’ve never seen him do before.

After the show, my wife and I had a chance to spend a few minutes chatting with Davy and the band. We asked how he got into playing the guitar, and he mentioned that he started playing guitar after hearing “Sultans of Swing” by Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits. His father had an acoustic around the house, but no electrics, but Davy finally got his dream guitar, a Fender Stratocaster, after seeing one in a local music shop. In addition to Dire Straits, Knowles mentioned that John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, particularly, the Beano album and Peter Green era were big influences, as was Cream and other Clapton albums. He started gigging at 12 and has pretty much been gigging ever since, and he said that he still plays all the time. It definitely shows.

I really enjoyed the show, and I highly recommend checking out Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam if they come through your area. They are going to be opening for Chickenfoot this summer, and also have other headlining shows throughout the year. If you can catch them at a small club like I did, you’re in for a real treat. I can’t imagine Davy and BDS playing small venues for too much longer.

I’m an impatient person. When I get my mind on something, I want to do it now. For anyone who’s played a musical instrument, you know that you’re not going to be able to play anything up to speed the first try. You must first slow down in order to play fast. This is something I’ve struggled with since I started playing guitar. Enter the Capo app from SuperMegaUltraGroovy. Put simply, Capo is software to slow down music.

There are other software applications to slow down music, some of which are quite good, but the thing I really like about Capo is its simplicity. Capo was seemingly created with a single purpose in mind: to help musicians slow down music to ease the learning process. I was up and running within seconds of installing Capo. Getting started was as simple as dragging a song onto the interface. And, the controls are intuitive and easy to use.

Capo has the ability to loop sections of songs to help you focus on just that section of music. Additionally, Capo supports markers, where you can place markers at important parts of a song. After marking a section of a song, you can jump directly to that section at a later time. You can even adjust the pitch of a song if needed.

Not surprisingly, Capo cannot play DRM-protected music, but since Apple lifted the DRM from songs in iTunes, that’s less of an issue now than it was a year ago. Additionally, Capo is Mac-only, so Windows users will need to use one of the alternatives, such as Transcribe! or the Amazing Slow Downer (both of which are cross platform).

Capo currently has an introductory price of $39, but the price will eventually be raised to $49. I can see Capo becoming an invaluable part of my practice routine. Highly recommended.

(Also see Jon’s review of Capo at Guitar Noize.)

I haven’t had time to write full reviews for some of the music I’ve enjoyed over the past few months, so I thought I’d do a quick post highlighting some of my favorites:

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I had the chance to see Tommy Emmanuel perform live last year, and will hopefully get to catch him again as he performs in Nashville this summer. Last October, Emmanuel released a DVD titled Center Stage of a performance at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, California.

This DVD is a good representation of what a Tommy Emmanuel performance is like. I didn’t know what to expect when I went to the show last year, but as I mentioned in my review of the show, I was blown away by Emmanuel’s performance. It was primarily just Emmanuel and his guitars on stage, and he really knows how to put on a show.

If you get a chance to see him live, I highly recommend it. If not, Center Stage is a good alternative.

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I’ve mentioned Erik Mongrain before here, but he released a new album last year title Equilibrium. Mongrain’s playing style evokes images of Michael Hedges, who Mongrain cites as an influence.

Mongrain gained quite a following as a result of YouTube videos showing his fairly unique playing style of sitting the acoustic guitar on his lap and tapping rather than plucking the strings. However, Mongrain offers more than just visual flash. His playing is both atmospheric and emotional. In fact, if I had to describe this album in one word, “atmospheric” would be the word I’d use. The album also features Michael Manring on fretless bass and was recorded as Paul Reed Smith’s studio, the Dragon Crossing Studio.

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Carl Verheyen is a guitarist that I recently heard about, although he’s been around for a while. He recently put out a new album titled Trading 8s. This album mixes a combination of guitar instrumentals and vocal tracks.

The album features some top-notch guest artists, including Joe Bonamassa, Albert Lee, Steve Morse, Rick Vito, and Scott Henderson. Each guest artist adds a nice touch to the album. Also included on the album is a nice cover of George Harrison’s “Taxman”.

I’ve really been enjoying this album over the past couple of months. If you haven’t checked out Carl Veheyen yet, Trading 8s would be a good place to start.

A little less than a year ago, I wrote about a product called ToneRite. I’ve now been able to spend several months reviewing the device to see how it works.

In short, ToneRite simulates the effects of playing a stringed instrument to help mature the sound of the instrument. It’s actually pretty ingenious how it works. It essentially just sends continuous vibrations to the top of the guitar. You can adjust the rate of vibrations as desired.

I used the ToneRite device on my two acoustic guitars. One is a Takamine GS430S acoustic guitar with a solid cedar top, and the other is an Alhambra 7P classical guitar with a solid spruce top.

ToneRite recommends using the device for at least 24 straight hours for the initial application. For my tests, I did this for both guitars and then used the device intermittently for several weeks.

After letting the device work its magic on the Takamine, I played it to see how the sound differed from before. There was a subtle, but noticeable difference in tone. The guitar sounded a little warmer and a bit fuller than before. As this was the first guitar I tried, I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleased with the change, but, truth be told, I don’t think ToneRite’s market is the sub-$300 guitar market. The ToneRite device itself costs 50% of the total price of the guitar, and there just wasn’t enough of a difference to warrant paying for a device like this. I suspect that the quality of wood and bracing affects how much the ToneRite device alters the sound.

The results on my classical guitar were more in line with my expectations. The results were much more noticeable. The spruce top really opened up after letting the ToneRite device work for a few days. The sound was much warmer and fuller than before. Additionally, and I don’t know if this is imagined or real, but the top seemed to respond a little differently to plucking. I’m not even sure how to describe it, it just felt different. I’ve never owned an acoustic instrument that’s had time to age, so I can’t compare directly, but the ToneRite device definitely made a difference.

In my opinion, ToneRite is probably best suited for higher-end guitars and for guitarists who want to get the most out of their guitars in the shortest time. To that end, ToneRite is a solid device that breaks in newer guitars in a much shorter time than through playing. In my experience, the ToneRite device made for a warmer- and fuller-sounding guitar.

I’m excited to announce that I have three (3) copies of the Blu-Ray version of Jeff Beck’s recently released video Performing This Week…Live at Ronnie Scott’s to give away!

To Enter The Contest:

Send me your e-mail address by filling out the contact form using the subject “Jeff Beck”, and indicate in the message that you want to be entered into the contest.* That’s all you have to do! I’ll randomly select the winners and notify them via e-mail. All entries must be received by May 17, 2009. I’ll pick and notify the winners on May 18, 2009. Unfortunately, with apologies to my International friends, the contest is limited to only readers in the United States.

* NOTE: Your e-mail address will be used only to notify you if you are the winner. I will not use your e-mail address for any other purpose.

Information About Performing This Week…Live at Ronnie Scott’s:

Performing This Week…Live at Ronnie Scott’s is a compilation of a series of concerts that Beck performed in 2007 with his band at Ronnie Scott’s club in London. Beck’s band for these shows included Tal Wilkenfeld on bass, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, and Jason Rebello on piano. Beck invited several guests to perform with his band, including Eric Clapton, Imogene Heap, and Joss Stone. The track list for the Blu-Ray is:

1. Beck’s Bolero
2. Eternity’s Breath
3. Stratus
4. Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers
5. Behind The Veil
6. You Never Know
7. Nadia
8. Blast From The East
9. Led Boots
10. Angel (Footsteps)
11. People Get Ready – with JOSS STONE
12. Scatterbrain
13. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat / Brush With The Blues
14. Space Boogie
15. Blanket – with IMOGEN HEAP
16. Big Block
17. A Day In The Life
18. Little Brown Bird – with ERIC CLAPTON
19. You Need Love – with ERIC CLAPTON
20. Rollin’ And Tumblin’ – with IMOGEN HEAP
21. Where Were You

Bonus Material:
Jeff Beck Interview: rare in depth interview talking about Ronnie Scott’s, his band, the setlist and his guest performers. Interviews with the band members.

Blu-ray Exclusive Material: 7 Track rockabilly set with the Big Town Playboys exclusively available on the Blu-ray version:
1. Race With The Devil
2. Crazy Legs
3. Train Kept A Rollin’
4. My Baby Left Me
5. Matchbox
6. Baby Blue
7. Honky Tonk.

This is a great collection of songs by Beck and his group. Beck’s playing is really inspired, and his band provides a solid foundation for his guitar pyrotechnics. They play pretty much all of Beck’s hits, as well as several covers. Particularly noteworthy is Beck’s cover of the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” which is probably my favorite track from the video.