Little Feat – Highwire Act Live In St Louis – 2003
Picture: B-
Sound: B Extras: C- Concert: B-
Despite the loss of a key member or two, Little Feat has
managed to reunite a few times and are in great shape in their latest
configuration in Highwire Act Live In St. Louis – 2003, a well-recorded
and performed Rock/Blues concert that runs over two hours, keeping their
repertoire alive and well. Named after
a comment by the great Franz Zappa, the band has some of his quirky attitude,
but gets down to business quickly as soon as the set starts. The songs include:
1) Time
Loves A Hero
2) Day Or
Night
3) Cadillac
Hotel
4) Spanish
Moon
5) Skin It
Back
6) Voices
On The Wind
7) Cajun
Girl
8) Night On
The Town
9) I’d Be
Lyin’
10) The Blues Don’t Tell It All
11) Old Folks Boogie
12) Oh Atlanta
13) Dixie Chicken
14) Tripe Face Boogie
15) Fatman In The Bathtub
16) Let It Roll
17) Willin’
18) Feets Don’t Fail Me Now
19) Time Loves A Hero (redo)
The last three tracks are listed as an encore. Though I have not heard and/or cannot
remember the originals, some of them sounded vaguely familiar from a time when
radio was still worth listening to for music, when it was about music, not
advertising and hatemongering. The band
has not forgotten this and delivers a very respectable concert, even if it was
not always full of surprises for this listener. It is, however, distinct and enduring enough to more than justify
continuing to play their catalog. Many
current musicians could learn all kinds of things from them, like integrity.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image was taped in an
unidentified format, but odds are it might have been an earlier digital High
Definition format, but it is hard to tell on DVD. It looks good, without the cutting and editing being overdone. The sound is available in three versions,
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with some Pro Logic surround information, Dolby 5.1
and DTS 5.1, the DTS of which is especially impressive and really brings the
impact and quality of the music home in a way the other selections cannot. The great thing that happens in the case of
an older band that might be easily dismissed otherwise is that they deliver a
concert that is well recorded and shows that not just Progressive Rock bands
and the big name Rock names are the only ones who can fill a 5.1 mix. The only extra is a behind-the-scenes piece
that runs just over 11 minutes.
By the way, the box says this is 90 minutes, but the
concert clocked in at well over two hours.
Even though this did not make me a wild fan of the band, I certainly
have more of a perspective and respect for them and their music and
history. This Highwire Act Live In
St. Louis – 2003 may not convert you either, but you can be certain that if
you invest your time in checking it out, you will hear a real music
concert. At least they are for real,
and it comes across that way in the music.
- Nicholas Sheffo
