Highwire Act Live In St. Louis 2003

Performer: Little Feat
Distributor: Redeye Music Distribution

Notes: Recording information: St. Louis, MO (2003). Essentially, this double-disc set is the soundtrack to the DVD of the same name. Sonically, it is sublime; the subtleties of a live performance are all left in. The interplay between guitarists Fred Tackett and Paul Barr�re is exceptional, as are the drop-dead-on-a-dime fills of keyboardist Bill Payne. The track selection leans a little more to the classic side of Little Feat's vast catalog, with many tracks from the 1970s in the set, including "Time Loves a Hero," "Skin It Back," "Old Folks Boogie," "Oh Atlanta," "Spanish Moon," "Dixie Chicken," "Tripe Face Boogie," "Fat Man in the Bathtub," "Willin'," and "Feats Don't Fail Me Now." The latter material is served well, too, particularly "I'd Be Lyin'," by new lead vocalist (though she has been with the band for a decade) Shaun Murphy, and Bill Payne's "Cadillac Hotel." And while it's fair to say that this is the band's best live outing since Waiting for Columbus, it in no way gets to the emotional and performance heights that classic slab did, even if the band does play "better" now. This set will not likely win the band any new fans, but if you're one of those who stuck it out after the passing of Lowell George, this collection might just be the thing you're looking for. ~ Thom Jurek

Los Angeles' Little Feat served up a polymorphic gumbo of New Orleans funk, southern boogie, and blues rock with the soulful slide guitar, worn voice, and tremendous country-tinged songwriting of leader Lowell George as its main ingredients. Founded by George and pianist Bill Payne in 1969, Little Feat released a couple of straighter blues rock albums before embracing an infectious, Meters-like groove in their rhythm section (Roy Estrada and Richie Hayward of the Mothers of Invention). Despite a run of critically acclaimed albums throughout the '70s--and George's continuing excellence as a songwriter--the band broke up in 1979 shortly after George died. Reformed versions of Little Feat continued to release records and tour in the ensuing decades.

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