Paul Barrere from Little Feat

Upon driving up to "McCabe's guitar shop" in Santa Monica, one would not automatically assume it was a concert venue... It really is not, the capacity is 155 people. But, in the back of the shop, amidst hundreds of beautiful guitars dangling on the walls is a stage with scattered Bose speakers hanging from the ceiling. Standing in line before the show, I chatted with a group of fans who had been coming here for shows since the early 70s, "I've seen Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt here" one told me with a big smile. "Of course"..she continued "That was early in their careers". The line started to move and we slowly were ushered through the "Main" part of the store into the back room where the show was going to take place. An employee of the store acted as Emcee and joked that if there was a fire in this kiosk, that we should "All grab a guitar and make for the Exit"!. The lights went down and down the stairs walked Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett from Little Feat. They greeted the crowd with huge smiles and opened the performance with "Ain't had enough fun" and followed up with:

Rocket in my pocket
Fat man
Bogart that joint
Rock and Roll Doctor
Fool yourself
Down on the farm

"I remember playing this for Lowell" Paul stated. "He listened and said, Wow, that is .........horrible" and they broke into "All that you dream" a beautiful, just beautiful rendition. Next was a "Sing a long"....which the crowd joyfully responded to, "Willin' " and the tune "That got me the gig"..."Sailin' shoes". The show came to a close with a short tribute to Levon Helm including "The Weight". When the two finished and the crowd stood and cheered, they just remained there on stage for a few minutes, Paul finally stepping up to the mic and saying" Thank you, we're beyond that leaving and returning stuff"....

Before the concert, I had walked in and caught the two of them doing their sound check and stood off to the side waiting for Paul to look over and see me. When he did, I gave him that "Got a minute"? look and he motioned me on over. "Hey my man"..I said extending my hand, "My name is Vince and earlier in the week I sent you a Facebook message about signing my guitar, I didn't want to get in the way of your sound-check"..."Hey" he answered. "Is your axe nearby"? He asked. "I can be back in two shakes of a cat's tail" I said. "Alright" came his reply, "Better sooner than later". I darted out the door and across the street to my car, retrieved the guitar and sprinted back into the shop. He saw me re-enter, stopped singing, and motioned me over once again. Signature complete, we shook hands and he asked if I was coming to the show, "Are you kidding, I'll be clapping the loudest"...

[Edited on 11/29/2014 by BIGV]