Lola, just back from Europe, played Darwin’s Saturday night and  proved herself in absolute top shape! She was not originally scheduled to play but the group who were to come could not make it and Lola stepped in. Not a soul was disappointed!  Any blues lover in the Atlanta area and beyond jumps at the opportunity to hear Lola any time. Just knowing she is going to be there means you know you are going to have a good time. And with an excellent guitarist and drummer backing her up and the irrepressable Jacob Holliday on bass, the music was outstanding, including one of the very best versions of “Purple Rain” I have ever heard among the soul and blues greats.

Lola is also a born entertainer and had the crowd laughing, clapping, as well as storming t o their feet to give her as tanding ovation fot more than one song.. Bantering with the audience, she said that she had a good time in Europe but it was good to be home where people understand what she’s saying. “I used some of my best stuff there and I got nothing,” she quipped. Well, this audience got it and they loved every word she said and note she played.

We’ve seen Lola play many times and it is amazing that she can just get better and better every time. And her ever-changing band, made up of talented friends and her “kids,” the musicians she has mentored like Jake Holliday, is always  amazingly good too.

We in Atlanta have known for years that Lola is beyond compare at soul and blues. It’s good that the world is learning that too, but we are so happy to have her home.