A Night With Joe Bonamassa in Northern Florida

May 10, 2018

St. Augustine Amphitheatre
St. Augustine, Florida

By Michael Yanko
Rock Legends Photographers

St. Augustine Amphitheatre is a modern concert venue set in Anastasia State Park with state-of-the-art sound and lighting. Upon arrival at this beautiful venue one could immediately feel the energy and excitement in the air that Joe Bonamassa's concerts are famous for. The majority of the approximately 4,000 seats were filled with standing, cheering fans when Bonamassa walked out on the stage at 7:30 PM and from that moment on both the night and the people belonged to him.

Bonamassa opened the show with "King Bee Shakedown" and other than interrupting the song flow for some on-the-spot comedy, he sailed through 13 more songs in his over two hour set. When he mentioned that he "just got hit by some giant prehistoric flying creature" the crowd laughed even harder than the uproar when he told us he was late to the venue (but he started on time) because he got hung up in Orlando at Supercuts getting a $7 haircut.

Bonamassa also took a few minutes to introduce his seven-piece all-star band including:

Reese Wynans on keyboards (Stevie Ray Vaughan),

Michael Rhodes on bass

Anton Fig on drums (David Letterman's house band)

Lee Thornburg on trumpet (Tower of Power, Chicago, Lowell George)

Paulie Cerra on saxaphone

Australian backup singers Jade MacRae and Juanita Tippins

Bonamassa's performance was much more than just a concert - it was a full scale production. After a very brief stop backstage Bonamassa came back out and finished the set with "Hummingbird." Everyone knows that Bonamassa is a spectacular guitar player but many overlook his outstanding vocals.

Unlike a lot of concerts where the crowd leaves worn out and ready to go home, this crowd was still full of the same energy and excitement that started off the night. For those of you who haven't seen and heard Joe Bonamassa in concert add him to your bucket list. You will be glad you did.

Check out the full gallery from Rock Legends Photographers
Joe Bonamassa's website