Joe Bonamassa is one fantastic guitar player. He plays like he was born with a guitar in his hands. He brought his band to San Diego on December 14, and even with some severe restrictions on photography, it was a really fun show to listen to and photograph. In the past, the Joe Bonamassa management used to use a rights grab release which I am very happy to say was not used here in San Diego. That wasn’t to say everything was roses, it wasn’t.
Here is what the photographers (there were 8 approved to shoot the show) received at the will call office.
Photographers
You will be able to shoot photographs from the side of the theater. You will not be allowed to shoot from the pit or front of house at all. You must stay 15 feet from the stage. You will able to shoot the last 2 songs of the Acoustic Set. There will then be a 15 minute intermission. You can then shoot the first 2 songs of the Electric Set and that is all. Please see the attached highlighted set list for the approved songs.
Sincerely
Tour Management.
So with those restrictions, I chose to stay on stage right.
It would have been a lot more fun had I been able to get a better angle on the drummer or anyone over on stage left.
One of the really fun parts of the shoot was photographing Derek Sherinian on keys. I had photographed him when he was out with Billy Idol and he really is a joy to photograph.
All images shot with a Nikon D4 and a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens and captured on Sony XQD cards.
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