Guitar Safari - Albert Lee, Laurence Juber & Jerry Donahue / A Jam Session Between Old Friends

Show date: May 17, 2016 (first night of 2)

Venue: The Dakota is exactly where this show needed to be.

Audience: Of course guitar enthusiasts, middle age and older, came out intent on seeing the guitar legend - not a show people just happened to show up at.

Format: Albert Lee, Laurence Juber and Jerry Donahue all started out performing a few songs together including a Beatles cover. Next Juber performed a solo set showing off some pretty jaw dropping chops on a Martin Acoustic. The hightlight was the Pete Townsend penned Won't Get Fooled Again. I honestly had never given the plugged in version a serious enough listen to appreciate the full journey Juber brings to life. Donahue was up next with a full band set featuring a lot of what his best known for - string bending. After about a 20 minute intermission, Albert Lee performed a fantastic full set with a wide range of material. He also shared some good stories about his 56 years in the business including 26 years with the Everly Brothers. Lee's soloing is still packed full of blazing fast note packed runs and his vocal was solid. To close the show, he invited Juber and Donahue back up to join him for a few more tunes.

Text and Pictures by Patrick Dunn