New Orleans Suspects & Everyone’s Dead – January 19th – Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom

Photos by Tim Dwenger

Last Saturday, Cervantes’ was alive with the sounds of two of the best bands to come out of the 60’s (in my humble opinion).  Little Feat and The Grateful Dead.  To kick of the night, The New Orleans Suspects took the stage to serve up some Little Feat and man did they do Lowell George justice with a smokin’ set that highlighted some of the best tunes in the Feat catalog.  Early on they welcomed keyboard hero CR Gruver’s buddy Tori Pater to the stage to sing lead on hits such as “Fat Man in the Bathtub,” the seminal “Dixie Chicken,” and a personal favorite “Spanish Moon.”  The band was firing on all cylinders as “Mean” Willie Green strutted his stuff on the drums while Jeff Watkins blew the hell out of the sax.  As the set went on Pater stepped aside and guitarist Jake Eckert took the lead on “Skin It Back” and “Sailing Shoes” before the one and only Billy Paine (a founding member of Little Feat) slipped behind the keys with Gruver and proceeded to wow the crowd as the band tore through a monster “Sneaking Sally Through The Alley” to close out a memorable opening slot.

Next up was the offshoot of Matt Butler’s Everyone Orchestra “Everyone’s Dead.”  Featuring Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth), Bill Payne (Little Feat), George Gekas (Revivalists), Rob Eaton (Dark Star Orchestra), Megan Letts (Mama Magnolia), with Mr. Butler himself on the drums this was one hell of a line-up and they dropped into their set with “They Love Each Other” which put a huge grin on my face.  From their they gave us “Samson & Delilah” before tearing into an extended “West L.A. Fadeaway” that feature Carbone on lead vocals with solos passed around the horn.  The set went on with “Althea,” a take on “Cold Rain and Snow” that featured Letts on lead vocals, and finally a set closing “All Along The Watchtower” that left everyone with a spring in a their step going into setbreak.  Unfortunately it was then that we had to bow out as we had a sitter waiting at home.  All in all another great night of music at Cervantes’!