"The Rock 'n Roll Dance of the Decade"
starring;
The Straight 8's, The Dancehall Racketeers, Phil & Don the Everly Brothers tribute band, and special guests ALBERT LEE with Peter Baron (UK) and The Party Band. .... over 3 hours of great entertainment and dancing!
One of the most revered guitarists of all time, Albert Lee, will be returning to Australia in August for a brief ten day tour.
Best known as a lightning-fast country rock guitar virtuoso, Albert Lee is also a very fine piano player and singer, with a fifty year career (although he is only sixty six) that has covered just about every style of popular music.
Although his home is in Malibu, California, Albert is English born, and half gypsy. He first came to mainstream attention as lead guitar in Chris Farlowe's Thunderbirds, probably Britain's leading rhythm & blues band of the 'sixties. But his love of rockabilly and country guitar saw him head in a different direction, first through his cultish British band Head Hands & Feet, and then as a member of Buddy Holly's old band The Crickets, which he joined as a replacement for pianist Glen D. Hardin, who left to tour with Elvis Presley.
"I owe a lot to Elvis" says Lee. "He was responsible for two of my biggest breaks – replacing Glen in The Crickets and then replacing James Burton in The Hot Band."
Albert was lead guitar with the Hot Band at the peak of Emmylou Harris's career, joining other notable band members like Ricky Scaggs, Rodney Crowell and Hank DeVito. He was also the principal player on the memorable Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton album Trio, playing a range of instruments.
After The Hot Band there was a five year stint playing alongside Eric Clapton, who is reputed to have said that Albert is, in his opinion, "the greatest guitarist in the world." Albert however doubts the veracity of this: "Eric is smart enough to know that there is no one Greatest Guitarist In The World".
Clapton also said in his recent autobiography that he really enjoyed having Albert on the road in his band because all the other band members were American, with little sense of humour and a drug culture for relaxation, whereas he and Albert both loved British comedy and preferred alcohol!
Albert was largely responsible for the famous reunion of The Everly Brothers in 1983, and he then played with them regularly for twenty years.
But his music covers many styles and fields, and over the years he has played with a huge range of people, including all those mentioned above as well as Joe Cocker, Joan Armatrading, Nanci Griffith, Davy Spillane, Earl Scruggs, Chet Atkins and many many more.
At home you will usually find Albert listening to classical music, or playing some on his grand piano, and his favourite composer of all time is Percy Grainger. No trip to Australia is complete without a visit to the Grainger Museum at Melbourne University.
In recent years Albert has been a regular part of Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, along with Georgie Fame, Peter Frampton and Procul Harem's Gary Brooker, has shared stages with Clapton (notably on 2002's Concert For George at London's Albert Hall), Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Tommy Emmanuel and countless others, as well as touring constantly with his own band Albert Lee and Hogan's Heroes, who are currently in the middle of a lengthy tour taking in Britain, Europe and east coast USA. .
The band includes Hogan's Heroes drummer from the UK Peter Baron, Sydney's Michael Vidale on bass and Michel Rose on pedal steel, and Victorian Richard Tankard on keyboards.
After the Basement show most of the Australian band members head north to Gympie, while Albert Lee and Peter Baron return to Melbourne to headline 'The Rock 'n Roll Dance Of The Decade' at The Thornbury Theatre on Saturday August 28th.
"His sound is unmistakable – often emulated, never equalled. When St. Peter asks me to chronicle my time down here on earth I'll be able to say (with pride, if that's allowed) that for a while I played rhythm guitar in a band with Albert Lee." EMMYLOU HARRIS
"Albert Lee is in every sense of the word a genuine guitar wizard." EARL SCRUGGS
"I'd forgotten what a great singer you are!" ERIC CLAPTON, 2007
Reserved
Seating: $5 per seat (in addition to Show Only ticket
fee)
Group Bookings: Show Only bookings of 8 people includes free Reserved Seating
Please
note: Allocation of Reserved Seating will be prioritized
for Dinner & Show Bookings. Availability of Dinner &
Show and Reserved Seating is strictly limited to those who get
in early, advanced booking is highly recommended to avoid disappointment.
TIMES:
6.30 pm doors open for dinner
7.15 pm doors open reserved seating
7.30 pm doors open show
7.45 to 8.20pm - Phil & Don the Everly Brothers tribute band
8.30 to 9.15pm - Straight 8's
9.30 to 10.15pm - Dancehall Racketeers
11.30 pm curfew
Conditions
Admission 18+ only.
ID required for entry.
