IT’S five years since Joe Bonamassa played his first UK gig at Mr Kyps, a smaller, more intimate venue, along the Wessex Way in Poole.

That night, he said, there were just 60 people in the audience.

Yet here in this massive arena were 3,500 fans, giving the amiable 33-year-old New Yorker a rapturous reception.

Bonamassa’s new-found popularity owes much to word of mouth and the power of the internet.

It's also down to an amazing ability to play dazzling guitar, and sheer hard work – as the two-hour set developed, so did the sweat stains on the main man’s smart grey suit jacket.

A virtuoso acoustic interlude went down a storm, but practically every every single solo, power chord and pose for photos drew applause and whoops of approval.

I liked Sloe Gin, with its welcome changes of tempo, along with covers of Mose Allison’s Young Man Blues (made famous by The Who) and ZZ Top’s Just Got Paid.

It’s been five years of graft and great guitar, and Joe Bonamassa is five miles further on up the road.

It may not sound much, but he’s come such a long way in relatively short time.