Something new from Herr Bonnet ...

[TBird1958]

 Yeah, but what can you do! 

[lowend1]

Well, tell us how it went!

Will do.
Joe has become an something of an unintended constant in life - not like we're buddies or anything - but geographically, our hometowns are literally minutes away from one another. I used to see him playing with local bands at the high school dances, I dated his cousin as a teenager, was a day late and a dollar short hearing about an opening for a bass player in his solo band, was working in a repair shop when he wandered in looking to get his car fixed. So naturally, the girl I married happened to be a big fan of his. As a result, I find myself at most of his local shows. Rainbow was almost an incidental thing - I never saw him live with either them or during his aborted DP stint.
So, last month I went to see Eric Martin from Mr Big, who happened to be doing an acoustic opening set for Trixter. Guess who shows up to jam?

[nofi]

turner and blackmore could be the start of an all wig band. throw in jeff beck and all you need is a drummer.

[Highlander]

I vote for Chris Slade, as in Frank Beard...

[lowend1]

OK, so a good set last night from JLT. Played about an hour or so. Song list was made up of Rainbow and Deep Purple stuff - no real surprises - with the exception of Malmsteen's "Rising Force" which I haven't ever seen him play live. Joe was in good voice and the band was tight for the most part. Steve Brown did a pretty decent job of covering the guitar parts, although I prefer someone with a more "organic" sound.

[Basvarken]

Graham Bonnet certainly has a very unique voice and a way of singing. I really like his singing on Assault Attack with Herr Schenker.
But I kinda feel sorry for him that he has to sing all that ultra high pitched stuff until the day he dies. No matter how many new albums he makes and how he wisely chooses to avoid those ridiculously high regions. His audience will always demand for the Rainbow/Alcatrazz/MSG repertoire

Last year he did a couple of guest appearances.
Painfull to watch.
Each time he needs to reach for the high notes he looks like he is cramping up. (maybe he holds his hand in his pocket for a purpose...)

[wellREDman]

I always wonder about that - shouldn't that give you more fretting hand strength and dexterity? When you think about it, especially as a pick player, using your "main hand" just for hitting the strings is kind of a waste.

 that is something that has always perplexed me too,

I think it is that we're focusing our attention on the fretting hand and letting the plucking hand act more intuitively and don't realise just how much of the feel of the note being played comes from the way the strings are hit.

[lowend1]

Painfull to watch.
Each time he needs to reach for the high notes he looks like he is cramping up. (maybe he holds his hand in his pocket for a purpose...)

I saw him with Alcatrazz in '84, IIRC - at the time, his hair was blonde, and his face was bright red for most of the set . Some of his idiosyncrasies might be due to the fact that he is an epileptic, although I doubt that has anything to do with his actual voice. There is certainly nobody else I can think of that constructs the melody to a song the way he does - he is unmistakable. He doesn't follow the conventional, time-tested patterns for rock vocals - and that would certainly impact the accessibility of his music over the years. I've found that in small doses, he is a joy to listen to, but wears you out rather quickly.

[nofi]

god, whadda' pile of horse shite. uwe should love it. this tired, outdated euro hard rock schtick just refuses to die.

[gweimer]

Did anyone happen to notice the sign at 00:15 in the original video link?   

[Alanko]

Just Wiki'd Bonnet. Turns out he is 68! That might explain why his voice is pretty terrible. 

[Basvarken]

I think he looks older...

[Alanko]

Has he had a drink problem in the past?

[Dave W]

Just Wiki'd Bonnet. Turns out he is 68! That might explain why his voice is pretty terrible. 

Age is no excuse. There are country singers still performing in their 80s whose voices are fine.

[Basvarken]

Yeah, well country singers usually don't venture into those high octane regions.
It's common knowledge that the human voice lowers with age.
Bonnet has been forcing himself to scream beyond his reach for years and years