Venue:
The London Palladium
Date: 03/06/2023
The house-lights were still going down when Bonnie and her band walked onto The Palladium stage and she seemed genuinely moved at the sight and sound which greeted her. A roar of delight from the audience that one of the best singers on the planet was back in town and a gasp from her that she had packed out this wonderful old theatre as she looked up at the third tier of adoring fans. “Look at you,” she said, waving up at the gods. I suspect the Gods were waving back.
Like a favourite comfort-blanket, the sound of the Bonnie Raitt band kicking into Made Up Mind just felt right. The Bros. Landreth song from her most recent album, Just Like That, is a perfect Bonnie-cover – a mid-tempo, bluesy stroll which allows for a little slide-guitar and some spot-on harmony vocals from the boys in the band.
It’s a new band, this year. Canadian, Glenn Patscha, from the band Ollabelle, is a revelation on keys, pumping that Hammond at every opportunity but also playing beautiful, delicate piano when required. On guitar is Boston’s Duke Levine, best known from Mary Chapin Carpenter’s band. He has huge shoes to fill with the retirement from touring of the great George Marinelli, who had been with Bonnie for nearly thirty years, (and who still guested on a few of the recent American dates.) Duke is a brilliant player, as he demonstrates frequently, who also knows how to support the song and fade into the shadows.
The two new boys join Durban’s Ricky Fataar on drums and Massachusetts-born James ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson on bass – the two of them combining for 73 years of service with Bonnie – one of the best rhythm sections touring today.
The set combines tracks from Just Like That with a tour through Bonnie’s back-catalogue – something which throws up some unexpected surprises like No Business, from 1991’s Luck of the Draw, and Back Around, from 2002’s Silver Lining album. And then comes Just Like That.
The title-track from the new album is probably the best song Bonnie has ever written. She introduces it by saying that she was determined to honour her great friend, John Prine, by telling a story in just a few words. The tale of the woman whose infant son is killed in a car accident and who, many lonely years later, is visited by the man who has her son’s heart, keeping him alive, is sung so beautifully, so passionately that I doubt that I’m the only one shedding a tear. Wonderful.
The run-in is spectacular – Something To Talk About into George Marinelli’s Stones guitar-battle, Livin’ For The Ones, (I did cheer when Bonnie gave George a nice name-check,) then Need You Tonight and Have A Heart, all before the world stops turning for Angel From Montgomery. Bonnie tells us that she has sung it every night since the first time she heard John Prine sing it but, as ever, she sings it like it’s the first time. It’s a heartbreak of a song and Prine’s gift to the world.
The encores start with Bonnie sitting centre-stage for Mike Reid’s I Can’t Make You Love Me, the song she is most famous for. The band support her beautifully, tenderly holding the mood in their hands, while Glenn Patscha plays the piano like his life depends on it. As the final chord fades there is an audible gasp from the audience – a true goose-bump moment.
B.B King’s hit, Never Make Your Move Too Soon rips the roof off the old theatre and brings a magical night to a close. Bonnie doesn’t seem to want to leave the stage as the audience roars and claps their approval for her, and her band.
The audience:
Albert Lee, Tommy Emmanuel, Joan Armatrading and a theatre full of lovers of great music and a special voice.
It made me think..
I’ve seen Bonnie many times. D’you know what? I think her voice is getting better and better. The Queen of the Blues was in town. Long may she reign.
@niallb thanks for the wonderful review. I am seeing her next Thursday in Brum and then at the weekend at Black Deer. It doesn’t sound like 2 dates in three days will be too much judging by your review.