Young and old came together when a rising bluegrass star joined forces with longtime touring rock legends to descend on the quiet, unassuming canal town of Fairport. Summer concerts kicked off Saturday, May 30, when Little Feat brought The Last Farewell Tour to the Perinton Amphitheater with special guest Molly Tuttle.
Framed by green trees and open park fields, the Perinton Amphitheater is a hidden gem built into the hillside behind the Perinton Town Hall and Rec Center. It’s a surprisingly serene setting, even to some living just a few miles away from the city of Rochester. You’d never know that business was conducted in the town buildings behind the assemblage just yesterday. Tonight, Little Feat and special guest Molly Tuttle were about to hold court.
With an early enough arrival, entry was easy and accommodating; the venue allowed camping chairs to encourage comfort, keeping money flowing to vendors and letting patrons keep money for libations. Later on, however, comments from the gates indicated they had never seen a line like this at this venue. Music was delayed by ten minutes to shuffle late arrivals into the viewing area – a testament to the desire to see the opening band, Molly Tuttle.
With five Grammy nominations and consecutive Best Bluegrass Album Grammy wins, Molly Tuttle is not your average warmup act. With an upright bass and fiddle intro, the country slanted “Rosalee” gave Tuttle and Mary “Mair” Meyer a chance to trade guitar and fiddle licks. The light and bouncy “The Highway Knows” followed, showcasing her songwriting versatility with pop-and-country crossover appeal.
Tuttle and her band continued with a light, airy version of the Rolling Stones’ “She’s A Rainbow” that did the original justice with plenty of hesitation and pep alternating throughout. It featured nimble bluegrass-style picking by Molly, mandolin, and steel guitar, before picking up the pace further to get the Party Pit moving their feet. “Over the Line” from her award-winning album Crooked Tree highlighted the banjo, fiddle, upright bass, and bluegrass flatpicking that brought her to acclaim.
Currently touring with Tuttle is her band: Mary “Mair” Meyer (fiddle, mandolin, keys), Karl Smakula (banjo, steel guitar), Vanessa McGowan (upright/electric bass), and Megan Jane (drums, percussion). “Dooley’s Farm” featured an extended jam with dueling banjo, fiddle, and guitar solos. It adeptly segued into a verse and chorus of “Ohio” by CSNY before returning to the original “Dooley’s” with a similar chord progression.
Songs about self-love and acceptance ended the set. From her 2023 award-winning album, the title track “Crooked Tree” sings a message of embracing the imperfections that allow you to thrive while standing out from the crowd. “Old Me (New Wig)” bared her soul and her bald head to close her set with the title track from Molly Tuttle’s latest album, the 2026 Grammy-nominated So Long Little Miss Sunshine, to loud cheers of approval from the gathering.
After a West Coast swing as part of Chris Stapleton’s All-American Road Show, a September 9 stop at Albany’s Palace Theater, co-headlining mini-tour with Lukas Nelson, will be your next chance to catch the critically-acclaimed flatpicking sensation in New York.
Setlist: Rosalee, The Highway Knows, She’s A Rainbow, Over the Line, Big Yellow Tax, Everything Burns, Dooley’s Farm, San Joaquin, Crooked Tree, Old Me
While the crowd was enthusiastic for Tuttle, it soon became apparent that the majority of attendees anxiously anticipated the headliner, clapping hands, bobbing their heads, and shaking their booties to the piped-in music as the band was announced. With an average age of 60, a relative handful of younger admirers gathered to see Little Feat, knowing this would likely be their last chance to see this legendary rock band in this neck of the woods.
Little Feat snatched the attention of the crowd from the abrupt opening note. They stepped on stage with pedal to the floor and went from zero to 60 in an instant, chugging down Highway 95 with their classic hit “Let It Roll”. Sole original member Bill Payne wasted no time announcing his presence, taking the lead on keys, turning the tune into a jam vehicle that set a celebration in motion, marked by an eclectic fusion of genres, incorporating elements of rock, blues, jazz, country, and funk.
Classic-era Little Feat members Sam Clayton (congas, percussion, vocals) and Kenny Gladney (bass) formed the foundation of the band, which has evolved greatly since its inception in 1969, alongside stalwart Payne (keys, vocals). The current iteration of Little Feat now includes Scott Sharrard (lead guitar, vocals), Fred Tackett (guitar, trumpet, mandolin, vocals) and Tony Leone (drums, vocals).
By the time they finished “Rock and Roll Doctor”, Little Feat had pulsed energy through the crowd and cured what had been ailing fans, who came craving another shot in the arm. Sharrard showed off his baritone vocal twang from his roots in the Gregg Allman Band and Little Feat’s southern rock foundation.
With a catalog spanning thirty album releases and almost sixty years, it’s tough to satisfy the diehard faithful while keeping the musical performance fresh. Strike Up the Band, the 2025 album, gave the band ammo for the latter with “Midflight Flight” and the humorous warning of wielding sharp objects while under the groovy influence, “Too High To Cut My Hair.”
Molly Tuttle wasn’t just the opening act – she served as a featured performer throughout the entire night from start to middle to finish. Nobody passed her the memo to chill as she sat in acoustic guitar on “Mellow Down Easy” featuring classic-era member Sam Clayton with his howlin’, raspy vocals on the Little Walter blues standard. Co-written by Payne and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, Tuttle stayed to harmonize on the live version of “Bluegrass Pines” (and 2025 SUTB recording) that gave off Dead vibes as they jammed.
If this was goodbye to Western New York, Little Feat went out swinging for the fences with a murderer’s row of classic hits. Sometimes a change of pace song makes for an opportunity for concertgoers to empty their bladders and recharge their batteries, but not tonight. Slow and reserved, “Willin’” featured acoustic guitar by Sherrard and mandolin by Tackett, which had the mesmerized onlookers swaying slowly from side to side with camera phones in the air, serving as cigarette lighters of old. It perfectly encapsulated their evolution from decades of journeys across the country and their need to slow down in this final go-round.
From there, Little Feat finished with a flurry of favorites, starting with a funked-up booty-shaking bassline by classic era member Kenny Gradney on Spanish Moon that made way to “Skin It Back” with drummer Tony Leone on vocals within the blink of an eye. Not to be outdone, “Fat Man in the Bathtub” followed with its signature New Orleans swamp boogie “Juanita, my sweet chiquita, what are you up to?” sing-a-long chorus.
Reading between the lines, this won’t be your last chance to see Little Feat perform on stage. However, they seem likely to be done coming to you, so you might have to go meet them on their turf if you long for a next time. If this is the final tour, it’s not for lack of skill or because the act is tired. The band is still in top form, but is simply tired of life on the road before the grind takes another victim. After nearly six full decades, going out still in party mode is no small achievement.
Finishing off the night with Molly Tuttle in focus only made sense, as if to pass the torch to the new generation. A trumpet solo by the talented multi-instrumentalist, Fred Tackett, led Tuttle and the boys for a celebratory classic “Dixie Chicken” that morphed into “Tennessee Jed” and back again. “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” closed the night, sans Tuttle, as if to say that this long winding The Last Farewell Tour by Little Feat that ends in six months (maybe longer?) is only just getting started.
In saying so long, Little Feat cemented their lasting influence in American rock music and rode off into the sunset, and announced to attendees at the Perinton Amphitheater that Molly Tuttle’s time in the spotlight is now.
Setlist: Let It Roll, Oh Atlanta, Hate to Lose Your Lovin’, Rock and Roll Doctor, Time Loves a Hero, Midnight Flight, Too High to Cut My Hair, Mellow Down Easy*, Bluegrass Pines*, Willin’, Spanish Moon > Skin It Back, Fat Man in the Bathtub, Dixie Chicken > Tennessee Jed > Dixie Chicken*, Feats Don’t Fail Me Now
*With Molly Tuttle
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