At Paladino's, Tarzana, CA on September 24, 2004.
Review by Kazu,
Anthony, Enzo, Alan & Roger
Photos contributed by Tim Luce
| The gig was one of the most fantastic among the
other gigs that I have seen in the past several years. All the band members seemed to be
having fun and enjoying these LA gigs. Graham's wife Jo welcomed the regular comers like
me and Hiro with the warmest hospitality, and I even had a chance to take photos with
Graham's son at the venue. There were about a hundred people in the club. About 30 of them were right in front of the stage, and rest of the crowd were just enjoying the show with beer on hand, a little distant from the stage. The show began with "Eyes of the World", then "Too Young To Die", which blew away the whole audience. Graham said that he was not in the best shape physically that night, so he didn't smile or joke around as much as in the previous gigs. Yet he showed his great voice in the grooving tune "Bad Girl", and in "Suffer Me" which Howie said he took my request for that. They didn't play whole "Suffer Me", instead, in the middle of the tune did Howie's slow arpeggio suddenly turn into the wild riffing of "Assault Attack"! What a surprise! In the previous gigs, I always guessed what the next song would be, but "Assault Attack" was a great surprise. That moment Hiro and I were so touched with tears on our eyes to hear that song live for the very first time. Graham was just powerful on that song! Glenn's drumming was so powerful, too. I think his drumming makes the whole band really tight! The band started to play "All Night Long".....yeah as usual......actually right before the guitar solo, it flowed into "Since You've Been Gone", which was very fresh connection of a medley. No doubt Graham's voice was great! His wild voice on "Oh! Darling" was simply fantastic. To be honest I wasn't so eager to fly in this time because getting airline tickets to LA was difficult due to Japanese national holidays this season, but the gig was totally worth flying in. I even met another Japanese fan who drove way down to LA. She had driven to the previous LA gigs too. Graham and people around him...what a wonderful gig it was! Setlist In this day and age of the "music machine" and the "industry", it's nice to see a band of talented and famous musicians be allowed to practice their craft and just plain have fun onstage! Anyone who was there saw this first hand. Good songs and a loose atmosphere brought a great vibe to the show at Paladino's on the 24th. Once again all the fans from virtually all over the world came out to the show Friday night. The show had a few additions and it was great to hear songs that only the Europeans had been hearing. This time the band featured the drum work of Glenn Sobel and he gave the band a solid foundation for Howie, Tim, John and Graham to rock on! "Suffer Me/ Assault Attack" were added and were great additions as was the Rainbow classic "Bad Girl". Everyone knew they were in for a great show as soon as they heard the first notes of the show opener "Eyes of the World". The band played every song that night with ease and they did nothing but look and laugh! Everyone there could se they were having the time of their lives! Nothing can be said for watching guys having fun on stage. Overall a good time and definitely the song selection was the strongest yet! The setlist here was autographed by the guys who were still smiling after the gig was done! Special thanks to Graham for singing the setlist to my sister Stephanie who loves his singing! Here is the setlist from the evening! Definitely a great show and I'll be there yet again to check out his show! Thanks for a great show! Anthony I'm not one to write fan letters but I had to mention how much I
enjoyed the show last Friday night. I saw Graham perform the last couple of local shows in
L.A. but this was the best show since I saw the 'Dawn to Earth' Tour. Not only was Graham
in top form but the band did an excellent job. Howie was great and I was amazed when John
was playing keyboards and guitar simultaneously on 'Assault Attack'. I was standing up
front next to Hiro and re-assured him that he was not crazy to come all the way from Japan
for the show. My personal favorites were 'Eyes of the world', 'Bad Girl' (never thought I
would hear that one live), and 'Assault Attack'. Thanks for bringing the music to the real
fans. I look forward to the next show. Friday's show was really unbelievable!! Graham sounded great, I
know he was having some vocal difficulties due to an illness but his voice actually
sounded better as the night progressed. Opening with "Eyes Of The World" was
awesome, that is one of my favorite tracks off of Down To Earth. I couldn't believe the
rest of the set, the choice of songs couldn't of been better. After the show Graham signed
a couple items for me and then posed for a picture with my wife and I, as always he was
extremely gracious. The rest of the band was in top form. What I want to know is, why
isn't Howie Simon a household name?? You can put him against any guitarist today and
he could hold his own. He clearly is a very gifted guitarist, if you closed your eyes you
would swear it was either Blackmore, Malmsteen, Schenker or Vai there, the best is
definitely yet to come for him. I hope Graham will do a U.S. tour. Thanks again to
the greatest web site for keeping me informed on Graham Bonnet(I have religiously followed
his career since 1981). The show last night was killer! It was the first time I've seen
Graham since the Dangerous Games tour and although he was complaining of singing poorly
due to being sick 99% of the time you couldn't tell. His voice is incredible live and the
band was great also, the guitar player tore it up, I can't wait for more. The venue was
great and let you bring in cameras, Graham even came out after and I got my picture taken
with him. Thanks Graham it sure was fun hearing all those songs again even if you were too
under the weather to sing Hiroshima Mon Amour. It sure is nice with the internet and
getting e-mailed when your playing I won't lose track of you again. |
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