Graham Bonnet live review

  • I was lucky enough to be one of only 200 to see Mr Bonnet play at the LA Rock Cafe in Cannock this Sunday just gone. He was playing this venue as a favour to the owner.

    I could barely get in the place as it was so packed and didnt even attempt any photos. I could see the stage but no clear shots possible. I was actually one of the youngest there what with Down to Earth being 25 years ago :eek:

    A great show and he still has a very powerful voice, though it took a couple of songs before he got going fully :singer:

    Opened with Eyes of the World, God Bless Video(one of my favourite songs of ALL TIME) and Loves No Friend. What a start! Also did Desert Song, All Night Long, Since You Been Gone, Lost in Hollywood, Night Games and a couple of others i cant remember. Everyone knew the words of the big hits and sang along.

    Amazingly he also sang Dio's classic Stargazer although i suppose he did sing it all those years ago in Rainbow. Not a full version cos the guitar solo became a bit of a solo spot for the lead guitarist and then ended without the rest of the song being played.

    He told a few stories about Cozy Powell, Vai and Blackmore but i couldnt hear clearly as the pa between songs seemed too quiet - whereas during the songs it was Loud & Clear :confused:

    If you get the chance to see him its well worth it.

    Makes you wish Ritchie :bow: ditched his minstrel ways for just one more Rock release and tour - Rainbowfest anyone :thumbup:

    Gonna have to dig out Down to Earth again.

    :ghcp: "It's in my blood"

  • Thanks for another of your great reviews, Wolfy (No 1 in this month's 'top 10 most popular topics :cool: ) Mr B has never done much for me vocally, though I do see where you're coming from. Did you get the names of the musicians in the band?

    Your lady is becoming the rock n' roll widow :p Just keep reminding Lucy H to say 'Glenn Hoooos,' and the rest will be history :D

    :thumbup:

    'You thought that you could take me for granted, but I couldn't take it no more. Better run if you see me coming ... '

  • The band are a local (UK Midlands) rock covers band called, funnily enough, Rockstar (I think they have a site rockstar.co.uk) and they doubled up as support act as well !

    Bit of a strange choice as backing muso's as they don't play a single Rainbow song in their normal set and have no keyboards - another local tribute act (Rainbow Rising) would have been a more sensible choice - especially on the night I saw them where there were cock ups galore just through being unfamiliar with the material. They are excellent usually.

    As it was the 25th anniversary of the 1st Monsters of Rock, I dug out my event T-shirt for the night. It fitted where it touched, but it touched EVERYWHERE !! :eek:

  • Steve, i thought Rockstar did pretty good. They had played a week of shows by the time i saw them of course. And how many bands do a Ratt cover! If having one band being support and main backing band saves money and gets Graham over in the UK i'm all for it. Lets be honest, no-one can play like Ritchie and you cant really compare them with him, Cozy Powell, Glover and Airey. now that was a great line-up.

    I forgot to say that Bonnet also sang Bad Girl, a great b-side(to Since You Been Gone i think) which also appeared on Finyl Vinyl.

    :ghcp: "It's in my blood"

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