POP MUSIC REVIEW : Little Feat Band in Top Form, Contemporary

“This is one of those old tunes--we’re a bunch of old guys,” keyboard player Bill Payne said Friday at the Pacific Amphitheatre, just before Little Feat launched into “Oh Atlanta.”

True, the song is 14 years old, and the core of the band formed longer ago than that. But neither the tune nor guys in question seemed the least bit over the hill.

In fact, while there were frequent dips into the Feat catalogue, Friday’s show didn’t operate as a nod to nostalgia, an unsteady trip down memory lane. This was a revamped band, sounding close to the height of its powers and making its songs--and itself--sound wholly contemporary. Drawing sharp new material from its just-released “Let it Roll” LP didn’t hurt the effort.

It might be hard for longtime fans to imagine Little Feat taking the stage-- much less excelling--without the late Lowell George, the group’s founder-singer-songwriter-guitarist. But those people would’ve changed their minds minutes into the Pacific show.

For one thing, new recruit Craig Fuller’s grainy, leathery vocals often bore an eerie resemblance to George’s. More significantly, though, he proved to be an excellent singer in his own right. Similarly, the other new recruit, veteran guitarist Fred Tackett, fit in so neatly, so compatibly, you’d think he had been part of the previous lineup.

Those who actually were back from the old days--Payne, bassist Kenny Gradney, drummer Richie Hayward, guitarist Paul Barrere and percussionist Sam Clayton--attacked the songs like young, hungry musicians who had something to prove.

Maybe they did. Returning after nearly a decade’s hiatus without the key member but still with a reputation as one of the premier American rock bands of the ‘70s (especially live) sets up a concert situation where there’s a lot more to be lost than gained.

If they were dogged by that kind of pressure on stage Friday, it sure didn’t show. Whether reaching back to such early classics as “Dixie Chicken” or leaping forward to the present, this “bunch of old guys” was inspired and inspiring. Smart money says that, somewhere, Lowell George was smiling.

Jimmy Buffett, who not only introduced Little Feat but joined them for a few numbers, closed the show with a set pretty much like those he’s been doing for the last zillion summers.

There were a few new wrinkles, most notably in his Coral Reefer Band, which featured ace guitarist Steve Cropper as well as guest stints by guitarist Robert Cray and singer Rita Coolidge. But otherwise, the Buffett performance was less a journey to Margaritaville than to Dullsville.