Clearwater isn’t necessarily Nerdville, but that doesn’t mean that Joe Bonamassa doesn’t excel when he makes an appearance here.

Last weekend, the 44-year-old modern blues icon staged a two-night stint at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall, a venue he described as “his home away from home for so many years.” He once admitted that his ties to Florida are mainly due to the fact that his longtime manager Roy Weisman is based in Boca Raton, so a year from now, don’t be too surprised if JoeBo is gearing up for another mini-residency at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Last year’s socially-distanced power trio show at the Hall was the first time in years that he did not have a residency of some sort going during his time in Tampa Bay, so if Friday and Saturday night’s dual-shows weren’t a sign of a return to normalcy, I don’t know what is.

On Friday night, the lights went down at 8 p.m. sharp—as the ticket stub promised—and appropriately, the theme song to “Welcome Back, Kotter“ (which I know you’re humming in your head right now.) blared through the sold-out Hall. Donning a glitter-dusted suit, black-and-white polka dot button-down, and of course, his trademark sunglasses, JoeBo, his four-piece band, and two backup singers entered the stage in utter silence and darkness, and kicked things off with “Evil Mama,” while holding a red Gibson SG Standard. If you didn’t know, JoeBo is a massive guitar collector. He’s not sentimental about models that he grew up with, having traded most of them in for models older than him.

He trusts himself enough to take some of his favorite collectables and gems on the road. Whether it was a Gibson ES-330 electric on the lonesome “Dust Bowl,” or a Springsteen-mirrored Telecaster on “The Heart That Never Waits,” Bonamassa almost always swapped guitars in between songs. Perhaps his most used model was a standard Gibson Les Paul, because sometimes, no guitar wails better than a Les Paul. Just ask Slash.

Bonamassa made some jokes about the annoyance (not the unimportance) of social distancing and COVID-19 protocols. “Some dude spraying you with hand sanitizer every time you sip your beer through a fuckin’ mask,” he said. He also mentioned that he’s been nominated for a Grammy and an Emmy this year, but he’s going to need a new place to put them besides his already-full mantle.

“There’s not a lot of things that’s gonna be able to make me take down that framed copy of TV Guide signed by Willard Scott.” That one fell a little bit flat, but not in an embarrassing way. “I thought you guys would get that joke, we worked on that shit backstage!” he yelled.

It kind of goes without saying, but JoeBo’s legendary solos are what keep him on the road. Every single song on the list saw him rip up his strings in some way, each time clocking in at between three and five minutes sessions. Doing the math, that makes approximately eight-and-a-half minutes per song in the two-hour set. On a Fender Strat, he opened “Pain And Sorrow” with a slow-going solo that sounded just like one you would hear from Trevor Rabin during his time with Yes. Within five-or-so minutes, JoeBo executed another mid-song solo, this time featuring some more of his standard, yet breathtaking moves: Tapping the fretboard Eddie Van Halen-style, picking at the 21st and highest fret of the high E-string, and pedaling away to cause even more effects. Just when you think they’d wrapped up when the sound began to fade, boom! Blues rock crescendo.

His lyrical structure and melodies are nice and all, but if his fanbase got treated to a show of just instrumentals—or even a covers-only show—applause levels would be through the roof.

His backing band is more or less back to its full capacity since 2021. Unfortunately, Anton Fig—who famously played in David Letterman’s band—no longer tours with Joe, but the other two power trio members—Australian powerhouse vocalist Jade MacRae, and Pulp bassist Steve Mackey—are still present. Not to mention that current drummer Lemar Carter was going at it so hard, his setlist went flying behind him near the end of the set. Back in the band from the pandemic is guitarist Josh Smith, and former Double Trouble keyboardist Reese Wynans, who sat on a backless swivel chair all night in the middle of his elaborate rig, often times pounding his feet as if he were pedaling a grand piano. And when he teamed his organ sounds up with Bonamassa’s licks? Man, you just had to be there.

A rambunctious, acoustic encore of “Woke Up Dreaming” was given by only a sweat-drenched Bonamassa, followed by “Mountain Time,” which saw the band’s return to the stage. But no show farewell is complete without a little bit of banter. In this case, it related to the song’s co-writer Will Jennings—who also penned “My Heart Will Go On” for Titanic—and his success.

“I was 23, young, and full of piss and vinegar,” Bonamassa began. “And that was the very first time in my life where I witnessed a person become fuck-you rich, right before my very eyes.”

Not that there’s much room to complain all these years later.