In 2024, Graham Bonnet and his band took to the stage at the legendary Whiskey A Go Go in Los Angeles. On this night, the intimate venue saw the veteran performer plough through a sixteen song set that celebrated many of the highlights of his long career.
The audio from the Graham Bonnet Band’s 2025 live release ‘Lost In Hollywood Again’ might not sound quite as vital as 2017’s unexpected Alcatrazz reunion in Japan (released for posterity on ‘Parole Denied’), but it’s clear that Bonnet – a man well into his seventies at the time of this show – still loves what he does, and is more than capable of summoning a huge amount of volume at a time of life when some of his peers sound like a shadow of their former selves.
Like most Graham Bonnet live shows, the listener shouldn’t expect perfection here. This recording sounds very live in places. This is clear from the off when the intro from ‘Eyes of The World’ – supplied by a taped recording – is swamped by hollering from a select crowd, and once everything punches in with the live band, Ami-Beth Heavenstone’s bass dominates the opening bars. Graham’s voice is huge, but notably wobbly in places, particularly when reaching for a few higher notes, but there’s a raw power here that’ll thrill most of his dyed in the wool fans. Naturally, guitarist Conrado Pesinato doesn’t quite match the mastery of Ritchie Blackmore when its time for a lengthy solo, but he plays with passion, and his broad tones give the Bonnet Band a really tough sound.
A succession of Rainbow numbers are used effectively to fill the first part of the set. ‘All Night Long’ comes with a chunky guitar sound and some surprisingly smooth backing vocals, helping this to sound more impressive than Rainbow’s own, rather trebly, studio recording in places. Graham attacks the familiar lyric with a gruff edge, but his natural tones really suit the track on this occasion, absolutely stomping over the Blackthorn live recordings from thirty years previously. Nestled between the hits, the slower ‘Love’s No Friend’ allows Bonnet to tease with a bluesier voice while Conrado ventures into darker guitar tones, resulting in a surprisingly powerful take on the now forty five year old album cut. It’s clear, from about a minute in, that this has the potential to be a set highlight, but between keysman Alessandro Bertoni dropping in huge blankets of Hammond organ and Conrado putting his own heavier mark on a great riff, it shows off the Bonnet Band somewhere near the top of their game. ‘Makin’ Love’ fares less well at first, but that’s more to do with the set’s sequencing than the actual performance. After the lengthy and rather slow ‘Love’s No Friend’, something really upbeat was needed to rouse the crowd. Instead, this mid tempo workout shows off the band in a semi-reflective mood. Nevertheless, everyone sounds very strong, and this number really finds its feet once drummer Francis Cassol punches through during the middle eight, before Conrado shares another well played lead break. Perhaps having reached inside himself for a superb performance on the previous couple of tracks, Graham’s the weak link here: there are moments where he clearly struggles a little with some of the more melodic aspects that are required, but a few rough edges are always preferable to being fobbed off with a live album that’s full of overdubs (with Thin Lizzy’s ‘Live & Dangerous’ being the exception).
A surprisingly early outing for the legendary ‘Since You Been Gone’ is blighted by a couple of vocal wobbles, but as with ‘Eyes’ and ‘Loves No Friend’ any slack is more than picked up by Conrado, sharing a fat tone that gives this AOR standard a chunky melodic metal makeover that really works. Yes, Blackthorn did something similar back in the 90s, but its clear these musicians are superior: there’s not a hint of musical one-upmanship, which removes any unnecessary bombast. Also, much like the performance of ‘All Night Long’, some confident harmony vocals really help this much-loved tune to shine.
Unfortunately, after a very promising start, things take a massive nosedive. A six minute keyboard solo is neither melodic or interesting, and this leads into a six minute instrumental version of Deep Purple’s ‘Lazy’ which, obviously, has nothing to do with Graham’s past. Although both Conrado and Alessandro are obviously relishing their moment in the spotlight – and on such a long night, Graham’s vocal chords need to rest if he’s going to make it through to a rousing encore with any dignity – none of this is very interesting for those who weren’t there in person.
Thankfully, the bulk of the second half of the show lives up to its early promise. Returning to the stage, Graham delivers a grand performance throughout ‘Imposter’, the track’s chorus really showing off a tone that’s familiar to everyone. Proving that this is a hundred percent live, no attempt has been made to disguise the fact that he comes in far too early on the second verse, wrongfooting everyone for a moment, or that there are a couple of really wobbly notes during the middle eight. For those with more of an interest in Graham’s assembled band, this track is home to a great keyboard solo and one of Conrado’s most interesting lead breaks, capturing a near perfect melodic metal tone.
Venturing back into the past, the Russ Ballard penned ‘S.O.S.’ is a vocal highlight, and bristles with life throughout. The recording puts the keys rather high in the mix, and when shared at volume, the morse code vocals are funnier than ever, but the whole band are on fire. The night’s first Alcatrazz number ‘Desert Song’ shows off a superb retro sound throughout, placing a bit more of a spotlight on a solid rhythm section whilst Bonnet takes the opportunity to curl his huge voice around one of the night’s moodier melodies. There are a couple of moments where he obviously overstretches himself, but if you’ve made it this far into a Graham Bonnet live album, this won’t be a surprise. What might catch you a little more off guard is the tonal oddness during the intro for ‘Night Games’. Instead of taking a twin lead sound and and sharing something that sounds like it would appeal to the 80s AOR crowd, something feels melodically off, almost as if someone’s arrived in slightly the wrong key – but again, this is completely live, and definitely adds to the experience. Things don’t really improve once the verse hits: a loud bass and grubby guitar make the melody sound a little lumpy, and it takes a while to get used to a less “breezy” approach. Regardless, there are good moments within: Bonnet’s vocal on one of the later verses is spot on; the featured guitar solo is very smart, and calling upon more assured backing vocals, the chorus has a decent amount of punch.
Providing one of this shows lesser moments, ‘Into The Night’ (from 2016’s ‘The Book’) shows off a band who are more than capable of hammering out really tight Euro tinged melodic metal, before a tribute to Graham’s brief tenure with Michael Schenker comes in the shape of a really hard edged ‘Assault Attack’. Despite being a regular fixture at Bonnet’s live shows over the decades, it isn’t approached half heartedly. There’s no sense of him going through the motions here; no safety net as per Journey merely trotting out their hits for another payday; if anything, the force in which he delivers parts of the chorus come with more volume than ever before. This might have something to do with not wanting to being upstaged by Conrado’s heavier tones, but it results in something that’s often enjoyable. If it weren’t for a five minute drum solo breaking up the momentum (what is this, 1986?), the second half of this show would’ve eclipsed the run of Rainbow numbers that kicked everything off – and for most, they would’ve been the bigger draw.
A two song encore presents a solid ‘Too Young To Die, Too Drunk To Live’ that’s potentially blighted by some oversinging but rescued by some fantastic soaring guitar tones, and a thunderous ‘Lost In Hollywood’ bringing everything back to Graham’s Rainbow legacy, with a performance driven by some great drumming and with everyone else absolutely bristling with an electricity that sounds fit for something that would’ve opened a show. This far into a long night, you’d think the band’s energy levels might have dropped…but everyone attacks the number with vigour, and Bonnet sounds especially spirited.
The Graham Bonnet Band released three good to great studio albums between 2016 and 2022 with ‘The Book’, ‘Meanwhile…Back In The Garage’ and ‘Day Out In Nowhere’, and it’s a shame that these barely get a look in here. It’s only ‘Imposter’ and ‘Into The Night’ that give a cursory nod to Bonnet’s latter day works. A seasoned performer, he of course knows what most of his paying crowd wants – and ‘Lost In Hollywood Again’ delivers hit after hit. It doesn’t always do so in the most refined manner, but most fans who’ve stuck with Graham this far into his career certainly won’t object to this recording’s rougher edges. With the man himself in surprisingly better shape than he was back in the 90s, this is definitely worth checking out.
[The accompanying DVD has a no-frills quality, visually speaking. However, for the UK fans who almost certainly weren’t at the gig, it’s a welcome enough momento. Audio-wise, it sounds a little rawer than the CD, somehow, but fans aren’t likely to consider this an issue.]
Buy the CD/DVD set here: https://amzn.to/48YWBv4
October 2025