Extraordinary
Albert Lee finger-picking a guitar fret-board is what fibre
optics is to broadband: the speed and clarity of his playing last night at the
Exmouth Pavilions was superfast, and sensational.
Playing with long-time English band Hogan’s Heroes, Lee’s Country
rock riffs prompted a rather genteel and
sporadically geriatric crowd to a standing ovation by the end, even if there
was little whopping and hollering during the performance, or indeed much movement
at all amongst many rigid watchers. As we all left buzzed by Lee and the band's encore, Exmouth Pavilion’s taped default tea-dance music was as anathema as it
was apt.
Playing much from their latest album Frettening Behaviour as well as a selection from a distinguished playing
career – a significant sampling from Buddy Holly, and the Everly Brothers with
whom he played – the ballads were often sweet and pretty, but it was the rockabilly
and Country rock numbers with Lee’s lightening playing that truly delighted.
Hogan’s Heroes as a band of expert musicians played their
part, Peter Baron on drums providing self-penned songs and vocals, Gerry Hogan on pedal
steel solidly supporting, and Gavin Povey on keyboards also contributing his
own material as well as playing some stonking piano riffs.
The set began with what is also the first track on their
latest album, Green Day’s Good Riddance
[Time of Your Life] and it is a likeable cover. The album is in many ways
just that: likeable. It is only in such a live performance that much of that
album’s ordinariness gets energised by the dynamics of the volume and rawer
immediacy of the playing, but also, and obviously, it is Lee’s guitar breaks
that galvanise. He is also an effective vocalist live, a quality somewhat
sanitised on record.
The two-part set ended on Country Boy and up to this point it
seemed implausible that Lee could play any faster or finer riffs, but this
career stand-out hit took his guitar work to yet another level [version here to
get a taste of that pace]. For an encore he and the band played two songs, an
affectionate cover of Glen Campbell’s emotive swan song A Better Place, and another blistering number in Lee’s other [of
many] famous songs Tear It Up, and
you can see a great version here.
When considering the depth and breadth of Lee’s playing and
performing career – with s many of the greatest, and recognised by these as a
greatest himself – it is extraordinary that he will play a gig like Exmouth,
and extraordinary to have attended.
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