Waiting for Columbus - again

Let’s start with a quiz. Have you ever been disappointed by a show at St George’s? The correct answer is surely not. A small venue created from an early 19th century church, it has perfect acoustics (Radio 3 record some of their classical broadcasts for later transmission here) and an intimate atmosphere which compensates for the regimented seating and slightly clinical air. You will not see people ripping up seats and dancing in the aisles here. But you will be sucked into an involving experience that will leave you in a better place than when you arrived. And it has a great little bar downstairs in the crypt.
So tonight we have Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett, described as the acoustic guitars from Little Feat. And that’s what you get (with a mandolin thrown in). However, this does not do them justice. If you are familiar with Little Feat then you will know that they were a fantastic band started in the very late 60s when Lowell George played Willin’ to his then employer Frank Zappa who told him it was nice and maybe he should form his own band. Now, also famous about Little Feat was that Lowell George was the leader who wiped himself out from cocaine use and abuse (it killed him and the band in ’79) and, when the band decided to reconvene nine years later the lead was increasingly taken by keyboard player Bill Payne. Good but not the real deal.
Now along come these two playing a selection of tunes that you know and love but giving them an acoustic twist and sending them off in a whole new direction. These guys also know the tunes and, what I personally love, an ability to present a song, take it somewhere completely different and either bring it back or end up in another song entirely. This they performed early on with a short foray going from Two Trains to Rocket in my Pocket and then, shortly afterwards, usiing Willin’ as a launch point and then through Don’t Bogart that Joint, Long Black Veil and the Weight (not previously in the Feat canon) and then back into Willin’. If there had been any doubt that this was going to be an impressive evening then those doubts were well gone by now. Paul Barrere is a consummate slide guitarist – and being able to hear his playing outside of a big electric band boosted him up my ratings. Ghost of Lowell George suitably exorcised (appropriately for the venue). And Fred Tackett is no slouch either with some fantastic mandolin playing on Dixie Chicken and elsewhere that more than surpassed the piano work of memory. They played two sets covering much of the original phase of Little Feat’s life with stuff from the Band, Alison Krauss and some other odds and ends and they were just stunningly excellent. If you know Little Feat then you should certainly see this. If you like acoustic guitars playing folk, blues, gospel, rock n roll then you should go and see them. The onstage banter is pretty good too.
You see, another fine show at St George’s. Case closed.