Our weekend roundup of concerts/festivals starts with the iconic Little Feat’s musical feats of strength at Meijer Gardens, followed by a host of fan-pleasing shows. Browse the photos.
Still Jamming: Little Feat’s Fred Tackett and Scott Sharrard on stage Sunday at Meijer Gardens. (Photo/Steve Baran)
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One of the more eclectic acts of the classic rock era, Little Feat kept more than a few of its fans swaying to the band’s simmering smorgasbord of southern-fried licks during its two-hour show at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park on Sunday night.
“Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” is the title of the band’s fourth album, but that salutation could easily have been amended to “Hips Don’t Fail Me Now” as the group’s gumbo of New Orleans funk, jazz, country and R&B mixed with more than a dash of ol’ fashioned rock ‘n’ roll kept the faithful on their feet for much of the band’s two-set performance.
Long underappreciated despite its unparalleled brilliance at blending beat-driven boogie with swampy Delta-blues-infused rhythms, the band shares many elements with more famous musical groups, but actually sounds like no one else except Little Feat.
Formed in 1969 with encouragement from Frank Zappa, Little Feat is one of the classic rock era’s more enduring acts, stubbornly sticking to a quirky yet distinctive sound that has always valued musicianship over fads or fashion.
Over the decades, the band has lost key members but it has never lost its compass or its compositional fortitude – still sounding like only Little Feat can, even after the deaths of co-founders Lowell George in 1979 and Richie Hayward in 2010, along with long-time guitarist Paul Barrere in 2019.
Approving Crowd: The amphitheater scene. (Photo/Steve Baran)
These days, Little Feat is certainly no less of a formidable outfit, being led by keyboardist Bill Payne, a co-founder and an occasional member of the Doobie Brothers touring band. He is joined by guitarist Fred Tackett, whose association with George dates back to the group’s beginnings, as well as bassist Kenny Gradney and percussionist Sam Clayton, both of whom made their debuts after the band’s second album in 1972.
All four long-time members were in outstanding form during their latest stop on what is being billed as “The Last Farewell Tour” for the band. “It’s going to take a while to get to the dock, I hope,” Payne said before dedicating “Time Loves a Hero” to the band’s departed members, who, he added, “are in our hearts forever.”
Payne used the opportunity to acknowledge the band’s ties to the state. “I used to live in the U.P., and I worked with Bob Seger and a bunch of folks, and now we’ve got Scott Sharrard in the band, and he’s from these parts, too.”
Sharrard, who joined Little Feat in 2020 following Barrere’s death, was born in Ann Arbor and raised in Dearborn before moving to Milwaukee, where he studied jazz on his way to forming his own band and later joining the Gregg Allman Band.
If the band is looking for a worthy successor to carry its legacy forward, Sharrard could certainly shoulder that responsibility with ease, as both his guitar playing and vocals fit seamlessly into the band’s trademark sound.
Equally exceptional was drummer Tony Leone, who also joined Little Feat in 2020 after stints with Levon Helm, Phil Lesh and the Chris Robinson Brotherhood. More than just the heartbeat of the band, Leone was adept not only at laying down the rhythmic groove that drives so many of the band’s songs, but also at fitting nicely into the band’s four-part harmonies.
Of course, Little Feat has never been revered for its vocal prowess. The band’s strength has always been in its virtuosic playing and imaginative improvisation. Which is not to say the band takes itself too seriously, as titles such as “Fat Man in the Bathtub” and “Too High to Cut My Hair” attest.
There was no shortage of highlights in Sunday’s show, which included a five-song acoustic portion at the start of the second set, ending with fan favorite “Willin,” written by George while he was a member of the Mothers of Invention (and led to his eventual departure from the Zappa outfit to form Little Feat).
Other standouts included “Rocket in My Pocket,” “Red Streamliner, an extended “Spanish Moon,” a sensational smashup of “Dixie Chicken” and “Tripe Face Boogie,” and the confident closing number of “Let It Roll.”
Though no spring chickens at age 77 and 80, respectively, Payne and Tackett show no signs of slowing: The rocking chairs will have to wait. Payne, for one, never sat still, his toes tapping to the rhythm, whether he was sitting at the keyboard or standing as he was often wont to do.
When Little Feat is playing, it seems every song demands “feets” of strength. – By Mark Newman
PHOTO GALLERY: Little Feat at Meijer Gardens
Photos by Steve Baran
Set 1
Fat Man in the Bathtub
Walkin’ All Night
Oh Atlanta
Honest Man
Cajun Girl
Cold Cold Cold
Too High to Cut My Hair
Rocket in My Pocket
Shipwrecks
Red Streamliner
Time Loves a Hero
Set 2
Fool Yourself (acoustic)
Bluegrass Pines (acoustic)
Running Out of Time with the Blues
Apolitical Blues/Long Distance Call
Willin’
Feathers and a Smile
Spanish Moon
That’s Her, She’s Mine
Dixie Chicken / Tripe Face Boogie
Teenage Nervous Breakdown
Let It Roll
THE BEST OF THE REST
The late-week and weekend options for live music were more than plentiful across West Michigan:
• Country/Americana star Charley Crockett heated up Warner Vineyards in Paw Paw on Saturday, the day after the venue hosted a show by The Expendables and Caliko;
• Smiling Acres Music Festival in Trufant wrapped up Saturday and Sunday with sets by Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton and much more (view Day 1 coverage here)
• Pepper & The Movement, with Kashd Out, had folks dancing at Bell’s Brewery Beer Garden in Kalamazoo on Sunday night, in spite of a little rain;
Check out separate Local Spins coverage of the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival in Charlotte (where Billy Strings made several unannounced appearances), along with Smiling Acres Day 1 and Darius Rucker at Acrisure Amphitheater, as well as Electric Forest’s initial salvo (with more to come on Tuesday).
Browse all of the photo galleries below.
PHOTO GALLERY: Charley Crockett, Nat Myers at Warner Vineyards
Photos by Derek Ketchum
Photos by Chelsea Whitaker
