My favourite song ever is “Mama Let Him Play,” so I didn’t want to miss Jerry Doucette at Average Joes, Oct. 30 despite everyone else and his dog having a gig on Friday. However, the Vancouver guitarist proved there was a lot more to him than his big late ’70s hit. He is  also a really top notch bluesman, who ripped off some super tasteful leads but wasn’t aftraid to step back and let his band take centre stage.  I arrived in the middle of a  jumping version of “Wine Spodi odi” which  showed the Couce was loose to rock for the enthusiastic audience. He was backed by local guitarist Paul Kype who he was happy to trade leads with. The Douce  let Kype take the lead on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy.”
Of course he ended the show with “Mama Let Him Play,” which absolutely smoked and had everyone singing along.
They wouldn’t let him leave so he returned for an encore of one of his originals, “Sweet Maggie.”
Having Paul Kype  among his crack band really reinforced  Doucette’s sound. Fantastic.

— by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor