Little Feat | Niagara Falls NY | 1.1.11

Filed in Little Feet on January 12, 2011 with View Comments

Photos & Review by Lewis J. Tezak Jr.

NIAGARA FALLS, NY – The New Year 2011 came in with a bang and that 1st day of the New Year seemed to follow in suite. The New Year always brings with it the great unknown. What lies ahead is always looked at with great anticipation. People are given another chance to prove themselves, atone for their mistakes and hopefully make right by those mistakes.

The first day of the New Year not only brought with it hope and excitement but great anticipation as Little Feat was in town. For the second year in a row Little Feat was in town for the 1st of the year to play at The Bear’s Den in the Seneca Niagara Casino, Niagara Falls NY. The Bear’s Den is an excellent venue for seeing any show. It is an extremely intimate setting that does not have a bad seat in the house, that includes the standing room only seats which are in great viewing distance of the stage.

Playing to a packed house of 443 people, Little Feat did not disappoint a soul in the place. The crowd, mostly composed of baby-boomers intermingled in with some younger souls still produced a wonderful atmosphere.

The older generation seemed to enjoy relaxing in their seats to the sounds of their youth while the younger generations was up and groovin’ in the back of the Bear’s Den. With their distinctive sound, the band came ready for the New Year’s Day Show.

The band is currently composed of Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett on guitars, Bill Payne the keyboardist, while Kenny Gradney jams away on the bass, and Sam Clayton adds in on the percuss ions.

Despite the fact the evening was filled with excitement, there was something missing. That was Richie Hayward, the former drummer and founding member of Little Feat who passed away from pneumonia and complications from lung disease on August 12, 2010. Loved by so many, he will be forever missed by the Feat Family.

Filling in since Hayward’s departure back in 2009 has been the capable drum technician Gabe Ford. Though, Hayward’s absence will always be felt that gap was filled in by Ford the new drummer. No easy shoes to fill to say the least but the band produced an outstanding performance.

The night’s music started off with Voodoo Jam>All That You do, Honest Man, Cat Fever, Down on the Farm, Roll um Easy>Willin’, 6 feet of Snow, Church Fallin’ Down, Spanish Moon, Something in Water and and never stopped from there till concluding with Dixie Chicken.

A night all there will remember for quite some time. A wonderful way to start off the New Year of 2011. Due to it’s intimacy, most of the dancing was occurring in the back of the Bear’s Den venue.

The band currently is touring the southern states before heading off to the 9th Annual Feat Camp in Negril Jamaica from March 3rd through 7th 2011 with special guest two-time Grammy winners Tott’s & The Maytal’s.

For a full list of tour dates head over to http://littlefeat.net

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About the Author

Lewis J. Tezak Jr. is a photographer, music lover, an contributor to Bands That Jam.com.