Joe Bonamassa's triumphant London Hammersmith Apollo gig paves the way for Black Country Communion

Joe Bonamassa played his biggest concert ever at the London Hammersmith Apollo on Friday May 28th. 5,000 people were in awe.

The guitar slinger from Utica, New York, started playing Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix licks at the ripe age of eight, opened shows in the US for B.B. King at the age of 12, and John Lee Hooker at the age of 14. Now, at the age of 33, and having won Breakthrough Artist of the Year at last year's Classic Rock Awards, Bonamassa is championed by the likes of Eric Clapton, and makes Jeff Beck sound almost prehistoric.

Joe kicked off the festivities with The Ballad of John Henry, and continued to slay the audience song after song including Last Kiss, So Many Roads, So It's Like That, If Heartaches Were Nickels, Further Up the Road and Sloe Gin.

Last year, Slow Hand guested at Joe's Royal Albert Hall gig, but this year, Joe invited Jethro Tull's pied piper, Ian Anderson, to the stage to perform to Tull classics - New Day Yesterday and Locomotive Breath. The audience went wild.

Next up, Joe dipped back into the Ballad of John Henry album and performed Lonesome Road Blues and Happier Times, plus the Zepplinesque Jimmy Page dazzler Blue and Evil (the latter from Bonamassa's stunning new album Black Rock).

In 2009, Bonamassa played the London Royal Albert Hall to great critical acclaim, however, was was noticibly apparent at Friday's Hammersmith Apollo gig was that Joe has definitely veered into a heavier blues rock style that leaned more towards Jimmy Page than Clapton or Beck.

SET LIST:

Ballad of John John Henry
Last Kiss
So Many Roads
So It's Like That
If Heartaches Were Nickels
Further On Up the Road
Sloe Gin
New Day Yesterday (feat - Ian Anderson)
Locomotive Breath (feat - Ian Anderson)
Lonesome Road Blues
Happier Times
Blue And Evil
Three Times A Fool (part VIDEO)
Blues Deluxe
Young Man Blues
Woke Up Dreaming
Django/ Mountain Time
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Bird On A Wire
Just Got Paid

One wonders if Bonamassa's energetic and trippy heavy blues rock guitar direction will lead to Joe's next chapter in rock and roll history books with his new rock supergroup Black Country Communion with Jason Bonham, Derek Sherinian and Glenn Hughes.

http://twitter.com/bccommunion, http://www.bccommunion.com/, www.myspace.com/bccommunion. Photo Credit: (c) Christie Goodwin

Europe Back On The Map With Stunning New Album

Sweden's hard rock band, Europe, best known for their 1986 global anthem 'The Final Countdown', have returned with an exhilarating new hard rock album that radiates an energetic blues rock and swagger.

Fans of Deep Purple, Journey, Bon Jovi, Van Halen - run for cover, because believe it or not, this could be the rock and roll album of the year.

Entitled 'Last Look At Eden', the album rips up vintage blues, R&B, hard rock, 70's funkin' rock grooves and merges it together with pounding drums and John Norum's signature guitar riffs.

Vocally, lead singer Joey Tempest exudes masterful tones and a conviction not heard since Robert Planet yelped his hear out with Led Zeppelin. Although the title track 'Last Look At Eden' is a majestic sexy rocker, with the lyric - "I've seen the truth, modified for you... and we just can't buy it," it's the power ballad, 'New Love In Town', that puts Europe back on the map.

'New Love' is a classic power ballad of the highest order. It reminds me of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin' which has become something of a modern day anthem (thanks to the exposure the song had on the final episode of The Sopranos). 'New Love' is the kind of song Aerosmith and Bon Jovi would kill for. If rock and roll is supposed to be everlasting, this is the song to make it a reality. It’s Europe’s one way ticket to salvation.

With an imminent UK tour in February on the cards, and a whole new generation of hard rock fans looking for a classy return, Europe looks like they around going to be around for another 12 rounds of pure rock and roll mayhem.