Barnstormin' Live: Volume 2

Album Review

The second installment of Little Feat's fan-targeted live albums chronicling their recent tours, Barnstormin' Live, Vol. 2 is both a continuation and complement to the first volume, which appeared five months prior to this. Where that set focused on largely unfamiliar material, this has a good chunk of Feat standards, opening with "Down on the Farm" and then running through "Sailin' Shoes," "A Apolitical Blues" (here billed as "A Political Blues"), and the extended fusion jam "Day at the Dog Races." There are a couple of good surprises here — "Fool Yourself" and "Six Feet of Snow" are both hauled out for nice versions — and then there's a good dose of recent songs. The band is in good form — relaxed and funky, stretching the material enough to delve into some pretty free-form jams, but never losing track of the songs. Since the material and form is a little familiar, it's not quite as interesting as the first Barnstormin' Live, but anybody who liked that record will surely enjoy this very likeable set.