Las Vegas Weekly

March 1, 2009 · 12:50 AM

Celebrating harmony with Little Big Town

By Josh Bell

The best moment of Little Big Town's show at Sam's Town Live tonight came at the end of the sad acoustic ballad "Lost," written about the death of singer Kimberly Schlapman's husband; putting down their microphones, the four band members, harmonizing beautifully as always, tagged the song with an a cappella bit of Coldplay's "Fix You," adding a heartwrenching and clearly very personal coda to an already moving performance. In the intimate setting, it wasn't hard to hear them without amplification, and the raw sound of their voices gave the lyrics an extra punch.

The rest of the show was not nearly as heavy, but it likewise showcased the band's most distinctive quality, its lovely four-part harmonies. LBT's connection to the '70s rock of bands like the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac was acknowledged via effective covers of "Heartache Tonight" and "The Chain," which fit seamlessly around the original tunes in the 80-minute set. Backed by a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer, the band by necessity emphasized the rock side of their sound, but country twang was evident in songs like "Wounded" and the rousing main-set closer "Boondocks."

It was the stellar harmonizing, though, that was the focus of the performance and the consistent highlight; all four singers deftly handled lead vocals at different times, but the results were best when they worked in sync, demonstrating the ease that comes of 10 years of playing together. It was harmonious in all the right ways.

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