The poster advertising this gig was somewhat perplexing…Graham Bonnet with Alcatrazz playing Rainbow’s “Down To Earth” and classics from Alcatrazz and Michael Schenker Group – talk about covering (almost) all bases!
Fact is Bonnet has had a very long career with his main claims to fame being his time in Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow (replacing the legendary Ronnie James Dio) and the Michael Schenker Group before forming his own band Alcatrazz who featured Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmesteen as guitarists. Not only that but he also has had previous success as a solo artist where he had a number one hit in Australia with “Warm Ride” also playing in Blackthorne and Japan’s Anthem. With a history like that he had a lot to cover in his first ever Melbourne gig.
Opening the show to a somewhat reserved crowd he ripped into “Eyes Of The World” from the aforementioned “Down To Earth” and then proceeded to play the entire album in no particular order. “All Night Long” followed and showcased what a strong and powerful voice Bonnet still has at 71 years of age. Of course if you’re gonna play songs that featured world class guitarists you’d better have a hot shot on board and as the guitar intro to “Love’s No Freind” demonstrated Joe Stump was more than up for the task not only playing the Blackmore solos to perfection but also throwing shapes like he’d grown up aping the man in black in his bedroom mirror.
“Lost in Hollywood” rounded out the Rainbow segment of the show by which time Bonnet had shed his tie and just like the crowd had warmed to the occasion. Next up he introduced his 1977 hit “Warm Ride” played alone on acoustic guitar, this was followed by a run through of his Marbles classic from 1968 “Only One Woman” and his other late 70’s solo hit “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue”. One thing I really liked about Bonnet was his self depreciating sense of humour openly admitting to using “cheat sheets” for lyrics, dying his hair, being a former alcoholic and just generally being an old bugger.
With Rainbow and the acoustic hit’s out of the way it was time for some Alcatrazz with “Too Young To Die, Too Drunk To Live”, :Hirosima Mon Amour” and “Jet To Jet” being rolled out in quick succession Stump playing the Malmsteen licks like he owned them. As Bonnet introduced “Island In The Sun” he spoke of Malmsteen as being a great guitarist but unfortunately “a bit of a c**t!” which got more than a few laughs from the crowd.
90 minutes in and we got our first MSG track in the form of the brilliant “Desert Song” from the “Assault Attack” album, this and the solo “Night Games” got a great reaction before “Rock You To The Ground” (MSG) and “Stand In Line” from the Impellitteri album got the audience really firing.
Blackthorne were represented in the set with the song “We Won’t Be Forgotten” a song I had never heard but was actually a highlight of the set. The night was rounded out by “Long Island Tea” (Graham Bonnet Band), “Assault Attack” (MSG) and “Into The Night” before it was announced that the last song was going to be “Goodnight And Goodbye”
All in all a fantastic night –2 and a quarter hours and 26 tracks of his finest songs from all eras – with a performance like this the Corner should’ve been packed to the rafters but those who did attend were treated to a world class performance by a guy who still seems like he’ll be doing this in 20 years time such is his stamina and vocal excellence. Of course the band were top notch as well and I doubt anyone left this gig being less than well impressed.
