Ben Light Gymnasium, Ithaca College
I had become a Little Feat fan in High School after learning about them from a friend's sister who was attending College at the time in Maryland, and really got into them after taping a replay of the classic 1974 Ultrasonic Recording Studios performance on WLIR. So I was very happy when I learned that the Feat were going to play on my own college campus during my first semester at school.
What really surprised me is what I saw when I walked down from my dorm on the hill to my first class that day - lots of fans camping out in front of the gym early in the morning, to get the best seats inside for the show that night.
Before the show started, the fire marshals spent lots of time clearing the aisles, insisting that the show wouldn't start until the aisles were completely clear and everyone was in a seat.
When the band took the stage, Lowell George immediately said something to this effect: "You don't need to listen to them, feel free to come on up closer to the stage." For a moment, nobody moved. Lowell then repeated himself, saying, "hey, I'm serious, just come on up if ya want to." At that point, tons of fans all at once broke free of their seats, raced up toward the stage, and filled the aisles, and much to the chagrin of the marshals the show started - Little Feat on what would be considered a classic 1978 tour, burning through another hot performance.
During this show, Paul Barrere was wearing a NY Yankees jersey bearing the number 9 - as worn by Graig Nettles that year. I got a chance to meet Paul at the Jamaica Little Feat excursion in 2016, and I mentioned this recollection to him. He proceeded to tell me what a huge Baseball fan he is (he’s a SF Giants fan) and told me how a friend of his brother had gotten the jerseys. (The 1978 world series had taken place just a few weeks before the show, NY sports fans were still thrilled by the Yankees' performance in the series, including several amazing defensive plays by Nettles that perhaps saved many runs and made the difference in the Yankees' triumph over their rivals, the LA Dodgers.)
Sadly, Lowell George passed away only a short time later, at only 34 years old.
Below: 1979 Relix magazine article about the 1978 tour.
