Gig review: Little Feat

Published on Wednesday 13 May 2009 18:57

LITTLE FEAT **** ABC, GLASGOW

THE missing link between The Band and Steely Dan, after 40 years of boogie chillin', Little Feat show no signs of slipping their collective feet into a pair of slippers quite yet. The last time they took care of business in Glasgow, it was 1976 and they were, in Keith Moon's very own words, blowing The Who off the stage at Celtic Park.

Feat's main man Lowell George, "the Orson Welles of rock", may have departed for the great gig in the sky since then, but his band have retained his eccentric style, splicing together thick chunks of country-blues-funk gumbo that sticks firmly to your teeth.

Their de facto leader is Paul Barrere, and these days Little Feat sound so much looser and more urgent than they did on their George-produced records. Much of this stems from Barrere's sonic (slide-guitar) sculptures, Bill Payne's stratospheric keyboard sounds, and Kenny Gradney's bubbling bass. Former Bob Dylan axe-man Fred Tackett's funk-guitar playing could give Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante a few goose bumps, while congas player Sam Clayton, adopted his super-sexy "Big Willie Johnson" persona during Spanish Moon. As for drummer Richie Hayward, his drumming isn't in the pocket – it's nailed shut.

Fan favourite Red Streamliner is more of a red-hot bullet-train these days, Dixie Chicken a char-grilled rooster. Keeping Up With The Joneses proved the sextet still care about their standard of living in relation to their societal peers, whereas Let It Roll shows no signs of gathering any moss.

By the time they finished up with a rousing version of Payne's Oh Atlanta, Glasgow was begging for more. A wonderful end to Little Feat's 40th anniversary tour.