Albert Lee - 7/3/2017

Albert Lee is well into his 70s but looks and plays a lot younger. His trademark style, fast and precise pickin' is absolutely still there and he hides behind no second guitarists nor messes with changing guitars or tuning between tracks. He just stands up names the songwriter for his next song and then lets loose. The band for this show was a relatively new band in that it has been going a couple of years featuring J T Thomas on keyboards and Will McGregor on bass with a young stand-in drummer for the UK tour. J T Thomas had a great style - sometimes veering towards Chris Stainton and other times more Billy Preston. He complimented Albert's guitar superbly. Albert came on precisely at 7:30pm and was finished by 9:30 after a little over 90 minutes of solid fast-paced music. His singing was also strong and good and the gig really bounced along. He started with an old classic 'I'm Ready' and a couple of bars in threw in a little perfectly timed slide that for me set the tone for the set. The next track was a piece of Americana - 'Two Step Too' and then he upped the tempo with a Carl Perkins song 'Restless' and then the first of two Gram Parsons covers - 'Wheels'. A little later in the set he also covered 'Luxury Liner' and that was simply magnificent -mesmeric flowing guitar on a classic song cover. Other highlights for me were a Jimmy Webb song ' Highwayman' which Albert played on keyboards as he did for a few songs and 'Tear Stained Letter' (Richard Thompson). This last song was perfect for Albert's style, fast-paced and rhythmic which style, of course, Richard Thompson also does from time to time. He finished the main set of course with 'Country Boy' - always a joy to hear live. The encore was a slower paced, keyboard cover of a Glen Cambell song 'A Better Place. and then to finish we had 'Tear It Up' back to rock and roll to finish. This was the first time I had seen Albert Lee fronting his own band and the first time for several decades I had heard him live. I am still marvelling at how good it was - an uplifting experience.