Black Country Communion Rocks Indianapolis

Posted in Entertainment by sceneandheardblog on June 22, 2011

Black Country Communion

When Black Country Communion was announced to visit The Murat Theater in Indianapolis, I am sure the building engineers began securing the roof of this beautiful venue for some of the heaviest high decibel rock and roll to ever play there.

BCC are blues based heavy rockers consisting of some of the biggest names in their genre. Led by guitar legend, Joe Bonamassa , former Deep Purple/Trapeze lead singer and bassist Glenn Hughes, drummer Jason Bonham, son of late Led Zeppelin drummer John, and former Dream Theater keyboardist, Derek Sherinian.

BCC just released their second album, BCC2 last week and the excellent new material was scattered throughout the set along with the powerful staples from their first release. “Outsider” from the latest album was a standout of the show.

From the opening song “Black Country” it was evident this was a journey back to the late seventies heavy metal shows with BCC displaying the energy of Led Zeppelin, the power of Deep Purple and a tinge of early Aerosmith.

While three time blues guitar player of the year, Joe Bonamassa seemed to be content to stay out of the limelight he ripped through heavy chords and continually stunned the audience with searing solos the entire evening. The biggest crowd reaction of the set was when Bonamassa shared vocals with Hughes and delivered a blistering solo on “Song of Yesterday” and a song from his solo career, “The Ballad of John Henry”.

Glenn Hughes has rock and roll’s perfect voice, with a strong unbelievable range. His stage presence and energy was incredible to watch. Hughes is also a excellent bassist who at times overtook the music with its thundering beat. Many times through the night, the thought of Rush’s Geddy Lee entered my mind.

Jason Bonham filled in for his father on the one night Led Zeppelin reunion, a few years ago. Bonham is a great drummer in his own right. He led the band through each hard driving song with passion and precision. It was evident from the way Bonamassa and Hughes constantly drifted back to jam with him that he was the source of power for the band.

Derek Sherinian was set up of to stage left of the other members but made himself known by splitting time and solos on many keyboards and the Hammond B3 organ playing beautifully in the style of classic rock keyboardists such a Jon Lord of Deep Purple.

As BCC ended their night with an encore of “Deep Purple’s classic “Burn”, it was very clear these guys are having fun playing music the way heavy metal was meant to be heard. They are talented musicians who have a purpose to bring back the golden age of rock and roll. If you long for the early days of loud, hard rock and roll concerts. I suggest catch one of their shows. You won’t find a better band to rock with.