Since releasing their self- titled debut 10 years ago, Little Big Town has been making its way through the country scene with its unmistakable 4 part harmonies. The group consists of Jimi Westbrook, Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, and Kimberly Schlapman, with both Westbrook and Sweet playing both acoustic and rhythm guitars; steel guitar played by Sweet on “Lookin’ for a Reason” and a mandolin played by Westbrook on “Pontoon.”
What is very impressive about the band, besides their harmonies, is the fact that even though they work in unison together, they also give each other equal amount of solo stage time. Both Schlapman and Fairchild took turns taking lead vocals with Sweet and Westbrook filling in the harmonies. I haven’t seen a band that played off each other so well in quite a long time.
Schlapman told the crowd that the day following the show that they were releasing their first single off of their upcoming album called “Pontoon.” For the track, “Bring it on Home,” which was one of the highlights of the night; Sweet started off the vocals with the others falling in. As mentioned before, Westbrook’s mandolin playing suited the song perfectly.
Little Big Town also liked to give some samples of what’s coming on the upcoming release by playing another new song titled “Front Porch Thing.” Their backing band came out and joined them for a stripped down version of “Wounded,” that included stand up bass and brushes that were used to play the snare drums.
Fairchild mentioned that at a recent meet and greet a fan asked them if it is possible that any song can be made into a country song? Fairchild then said “Sure!” The fan then asked “What about Lady Gaga?” The band then proceeded to go into “Born This Way.” They made it their own and it sounded so amazing, it put a unique spin on a song that everybody is familiar with. Westbrook took the lead vocals, without any guitar, on The Eagles classic “Heartache Tonight.” He showed he can also work up a crowd before the band left for their encore and returned to play their biggest hit to date, “Boondocks.”
The band is very vocally versatile and interacted with the crowd with Fairchild signing a fans shirt upon her request. She also took multiple flip cameras given to her and held them up and sang to them and took it on stage with her. It was one of the most pleasant surprise shows of the year so far for me personally and I can’t wait to see them again!
Setlist:
Little White Church
Runaway Train
Lookin’ for a Reason
Little More You
Bones
Why oh Why
Bring it on Home
Pontoon (new song)
The Reason Why
I’m With the Band
Can’t Have Everything
Front Porch Thing (new song)
Wounded
Born This Way (Lady Gaga cover)
All the Way Down
Good as Gone
Heartache Tonight (The Eagles cover)
Encore:
Boondocks
We would like to thank Tony Astran from the Seneca Niagara Casino for allowing BackstageAxxess to review the show.
