Live at the Greek Theatre continues Bonamassa’s tradition of honoring incredible concert venues like the Royal Albert Hall, the Vienna Opera House, Radio City Music Hall, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and the Beacon Theater. As with all Bonamassa DVD shoots, the performance at the Greek offered a unique presentation of this historical music. Songs ranged from blues standards to deep cuts, including “Born Under A Bad Sign,” “Lonesome Whistle Blues,” “Hummingbird,” “Let The Good Times Roll,” and, of course, B.B. King’s famed “The Thrill Is Gone” as the evening closer. For Bonamassa, the tour’s importance deepened significantly when B.B., his friend and mentor, passed away two months before it began. “My only regret is that B.B. was not alive to see it,” said Bonamassa. The eleven-piece band included Anton Fig (drums), Kirk Fletcher (guitar), Michael Rhodes (bass), Reese Wynans (piano, Hammond organ), Lee Thornburg (trumpet, horn arrangements), Paulie Cerra (saxophone), Nick Lane (trombone), and a trio of backup singers including Mahalia Barnes, Jade MacRae, and Juanita Tippins. This tour was a continuation of the celebration of our blues heritage, which began with the 2014 production of Joe Bonamassa - Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks, a tribute to the music of Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Both tours gave a portion of proceeds to presenting partner Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation, a non-profit Bonamassa founded in 2011 that promotes the heritage of the blues to the next generation, funds music scholarships, and supplements the loss of music education in public schools.
