I know many people who are just turned off by the words "Heavy Metal" or
"Hard Rock" and think "There's no melody" or "There's only
screaming and shouting and loud guitars!". But they'll soon find that they're wrong
when they get to know him. With his powerful, emotional singing voice,
lots of them will find themselves enchanted . You know who I'm talking about? Yes, Graham
Bonnet was back in Paladino's L.A. again with a great band.
The show started off with "Too Young To Die, Too Drunk To Live"
then went into "God Blessed Video" and "Stand In
Line". Just those three songs made me feel it was worth coming from Japan
not just because I was able to make sure Graham's still one of the most powerful rock
vocalists you can get but also because I was able to experience the guitar mastery of Howie
Simon, who can stand proud amongst the guitarists like Yngwie, Steve Vie, Chris
Impellitteri. If you're looking for a new guitar hero, you have to check him out!
Then Graham's usual "dinosaurs" comment led to Ritchie's song "Love's
No Friend". The bass guitarist, Tim Luce, added something
bluesy to the song. He's so indispensable to the band.
As for Graham, he sang exactly like he did 23 years ago in Budokan, Tokyo. He hasn't aged
at all in terms of his voice. It's a miracle. He's a real singer. I know some rock
vocalists wish to sing like Graham and try to imitate him. It puts countless Generation X,
Y and Z band vocalists to shame. Some may still mock his hairdo, who cares? Just listen to
his voice.
Next was "Island In The Sun". I thought Graham had a little
trouble hitting the high notes in a few parts, however, considering the fact he was
suffering from jet lag ( from the Fundraising Concert in the U.K.) it was still a solid
display of his overwhelming vocals.
Next on the set list was the fast tune "Spiked" from The Day I
Went Mad album written by John Thomas. His guitar playing really pierced
me literally. How can he be so versatile to play the guitar and the keyboard so well? Then
they went into "Will You Be Home Tonight?" (one of the Graham's
favorite songs I believe), in which they made a small slip at the end ( :) ).
The highlights of the gig came next. "Only One Woman", "Walls
Fell Down" and "I'm A Lover" an unplugged medley
from Marbles era and Line-Up album.
It was impossible for me to hold back tears any more, especially when Graham was
emotionally singing "I'm A Lover" down on his knees, I thought
I could see Cozy Powell smiling behind Graham. Was that my imagination or an illusion due
to tears...? During the banter before the acoustic medley, Graham's voice was rather
hoarse and husky, but once he started singing the songs, the voice that came out of his
throat was intense, far beyond the range of average rock singers. The transition boggled
my mind and left me wondering what magic or mechanics must exist within Graham's vocal
cords to create such impressive changes.
The band members also seemed to be enjoying this acoustic section. What's it like to
accompany the world's greatest singer? Their happy faces through the show told everything,
right? I wished this acoustic section had been 10 or 15 minutes longer, including songs
like "Stay With Me Baby", "Whisper In The Night", "Danny"
and so on. I wouldn't mind a whole acoustic live show sometime in the future. Well, it's
just my soliloquy.
After the acoustic songs came "Night Games", "Desert
Song" and into the last song "All Night Long",
where the audience rocked the house along with Graham as usual. Just three minutes of
trying to sing like him left my throat bleeding, giving me, and the audience, an intense
appreciation of how impossible it is for the average man to sing like Graham....
They performed "Since You Been Gone" and "Lost In
Hollywood" for the encores as usual.
All in all it was a fantastic gig, although there seemed to have been some sound
monitoring system troubles in the first half, which were not their fault. For me it was a
10 hour flight into LAX with a lot of expectations followed by an 11 hour return trip with
tons of satisfaction to Tokyo. The concert certainly exceeded my expectations.
So, Mr. Bonnet! I still remember when you came Japan as a singer of Anthem you said that
you'd come back. I hope you still remember that. The economy here is still unstable but
three years seems to be way too long for Japanese fans waiting for you. Do you still love
us?
In the music market in Japan, a "tie-up" deal between record companies and
manufacturing firms is the norm. Finding a song in the local Top 20 that is not linked to
some advertising campaign of manufacturing firms is very rare. They're missing the point
that "Music comes first, not products and profits." As proof of this, we need
you now. Who else can do that?
Set list again
1. Too Young To Die, Too Drunk To Live
2. God Blessed Video
3. Stand In Line
4. Love's No Friend
5. Samurai
6. Island In The Sun
7. Spiked
8. Will You Be Home Tonight?
9. Only One Woman / Walls Fell Down / I'm A Lover (acoustic medley)
10. Night Games
11. Desert Song
12. All Night Long
13. Since You Been Gone
14. Lost In Hollywood
Cheers,
Hiro
Howie Simon
John Thomas & Tim Luce
Stefan Svensson
(C) All photos by Hiro & Masaya
