It’s almost that time of year, so what the Dickens could be better than a good ol’, nostalgic, riff-tastic RAWK OUT, in the “bad” company of singing legend Graham Bonnet? This is a cracker.
Bonnet’s latest live outing is blessed by curses, his expletives giving Love’s No Friend, for example, a whole new (Mistreated?) lease of life.
The passion, the volume, plus any necessary subtlety, are still present and correct along with the “ghosts” of previous incarnations of Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group and others for this bold, brash collection of pure nuggets, including Since You Been Gone, Night Games and the coruscating “title” track.
Forgive any ropy Christmas allusions (merry gentlemen, there are strictly no carols involved) and excuse lachrymose remembrances of spirits old. Get the message, tho – this is a brand-new album with one foot firmly in the past.
Classics are passionately, expertly and energetically delivered by the now 77-year-old fallen angel and his collective cohorts – guitarist Conrado Pesinato, bassist Beth-Ami Heavenstone, Alessandro Bertoni on keyboards and Francis Cassol on drums.
Kicking off with the bombastic, epic Eyes Of The World, it’s obvious from the get-go these guys are not messing around.
Bertoni’s keys are to the fore, often (one suspects) giving Graham a chance to catch breath. But, arguably, it’s Pesinato who has the biggest shoes to fill, especially on the Rainbow numbers (there are six, plus Deep Purple’s Lazy) and on MSG’s Assault Attack and Desert Song (16 tracks in all, if you count the keys and drum solos, the latter featuring a “soupcon” of Rainbow’s Stargazer).
Bonnet has, of course, collaborated not only with geetar meisters Blackmore and Schenker, but also the likes of Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen (both Alcatrazz).
The emphasis here, tho, is less on extended fretboard frippery and more on the ballsy and straight ahead, the drive and delivery, the electricity and energy. Conrado, you can be sure, lets no one down.
Bonnet, similarly, has never been one to shirk a challenge.
Rainbow-wise, taking over from Ronnie James Dio (in 1979), out there stage front, leading the genuinely unforgettable powerhouse that was that band, replacing RJD’s medieval leather and lace with “smart” box jackets and skinny jeans (as I remember it, WAAAY back then).
Any critics of GB’s “daft” shades and “James Dean” persona were soon blasted away by the hot chili that is Bonnet.
All in all, this is a very worthwhile live recording, from August 2024, at Whisky A Go Go, despite the fact two of my own Bonnet favourites are missing in action – MSG’s great Dancer (“Not ideally built for ballet!”) and his always emotional cover of Dylan’s It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.
Lost In Hollywood Again (Live) is out on Friday (December 12), from Frontiers Music Srl