“For the first time in twelve years, the legendary American band is returning to Europe,” was the announcement a few months ago on the Jazz Blues EU website.
Little Feat’s “exclusive” performance in Utrecht is their only show in the Netherlands, and with the surprisingly enjoyable blues cover album ‘Sam’s Place’ released last year, the band, after a twelve-year hiatus, recently made a splash with brand new original material on ‘Strike Up The Band’.
Something to look forward to, then.
Well, some key players have passed away, and the loss of guitarist Paul Barrere in 2019 had to be filled by Scott Sharrard, but there’s still plenty of quality on stage to deliver an entertaining set of legendary material interspersed with interesting newer sounds.
Sharrard, always a big fan of Little Feat himself, even handled the musical direction during Gregg Allman’s recent tours, who was completely obsessed with his guitar playing.
Several of tonight’s attendees were there when Allman last appeared at Paradiso. He’s since carved out a significant role for Little Feat as a lyricist, guitarist, and vocalist.
Singer and keyboardist Bill Payne basks in the applause as he takes the stage in the packed, but not sold-out, Main Hall. He thinks he sees familiar faces up front, which proves he’s still very clear-headed, considering it’s been a while since his last time in the Netherlands.
The members of Tower of Power, who shone on that last album, were obviously not with him; no horn section even traveled to Europe, and the two Larkin Poe sisters featured on the title track won’t be back for a few months. More important, however, is the absence of Sam Clayton, the percussionist who also hails from the early days and who, according to the vague explanation, “wasn’t optimally prepared for the European tour.”
Little Feat’s lineup is quite stripped down, but in Tony Leone, Little Feat boasts an incredibly strong drummer who, with veteran bassist Kenny Gradney, forms a smooth rhythm tandem. And in Fred Tackett, they have a guitarist who has also been on the band’s payroll for almost forty years. Plenty of experience on stage, then, to guarantee quality.
It’s a shame, then, that their own sound engineer traveled along, transforming the band’s distinctive blend of musical sounds into a harsh, shrill soundscape that quickly irritates and even sends some audience members packing. The sound is especially damaging to the higher seats. A real shame, considering the band kicks off with a fantastic set.
It’s amusing to see longtime fans singing along to the lyrics of the opening track, “Fat Man In The Bathtub,” “Let me check your oil, all right,” the sex- and drug-laced song, written way back in 1973, chants.
Guitar enthusiasts revel in the intro to “Hate to Lose Your Lovin'” as it blasts through the audience, while Scott Sharrard’s screeching slide guitar sounds send several people screeching for earplugs.
Paul Barrere couldn’t have wished for a better replacement. Sharrard is a guitarist who gives his colleagues space and doesn’t wall off the sound with an excess of guitar antics.
“We started this journey in 1969 and had no idea where it would take us,” says Fred Tackett, who, although he joined the band much later, was also closely involved in Little Feat’s early development. “We think of the guys who are no longer with us, but we do everything we can to keep the sacred flame burning.”
It’s a beautiful introduction to ‘Time Loves a Hero,’ and tonight it’s perhaps for the best that those rousing and steaming horn sections once envisioned by Tower of Power are now omitted. The atmosphere on stage is good, there’s laughter, and the story behind the new ‘Too High To Cut My Hair’ even turns out to be based on a true story.
It was supposedly Tackett’s wife, very enthusiastically and under the influence, who threatened to use scissors to cut his hair, and perhaps even more. The funky “Spanish Moon” has a slightly different arrangement and, in this stripped-down version—without the brass section—sounds quite pleasant.
The keyboard work is superb, and Leone’s beat is driving, while the bassist glides his fingers smoothly over the frets and conjures up the lowest notes with concentration.
The band is incredibly well-rehearsed in this lineup, and absolutely no one loses track when they suddenly take a turn.
With Sharrard’s new song, “Midnight Flight,” sung and written by him, the band has gained a great addition to their setlist, one that performs particularly well live. It’s here that the guitarist demonstrates why he’s so well-suited to this band.
With adventurous solos that could even give Derek Trucks a run for his money, he stands confidently among these experienced musicians, as if he’s never done anything else. Payne’s sung “Bluegrass Pines,” which he wrote for the last album with Grateful Dead’s Robert Hunter, but which, according to him, “doesn’t have a single bluegrass note” despite Tackett’s mandolin, could also become a permanent fixture of the show.
These are “Willin,” which features a beautiful vocal contribution from the audience, and the extra-long jam epic “Dixie Chicken,” which have, of course, been around for years. The fans thoroughly enjoy hearing all the musicians sing separately for a while before culminating again as a tight, unified whole.
With a relaxed performance of “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now,” the regular set came to a beautiful close, and the sound finally seemed to have reached an acceptable level. However, by the time the band’s exuberant encore, “Teenage Nervous Breakdown,” several seats were already empty.
The band is reportedly returning to Europe, but tonight many fans have definitely dropped out, and unfortunately, this last time was hardly a memorable evening for them.
