Little Feat's Last Farewell Tour stops at the Virginia Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 15

The band's slow goodbye reaches Champaign a week from tonight, the day after Chicago, in a room that opened in 1921.

A week from tonight, a band that has been playing since the early '70s walks onto a stage that has been hosting shows since 1921. Little Feat play the Virginia Theatre on Sunday, Nov. 15, with the show at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are through the Virginia's own box office.

This is a stop on The Last Farewell Tour, which the band announced last November as the start of a gradual retirement from full-scale touring — or, as they put it, a last run "while we still can." It opened April 10 in Orlando, grew with 19 summer dates, and is billed to keep going around the world for at least two years. So this isn't the very last chance, but it is the last time Little Feat plan to come through like this, and Champaign is on the list. As far as our records go, it's also the band's first Champaign–Urbana show.

The fall routing tells you how tight the run is. This week the band plays Akron–Canton on Monday, Cincinnati on Tuesday, Indianapolis on Wednesday, Fort Wayne on Friday and Chicago on Saturday, then lands in Champaign on Sunday before heading to St. Louis on the 17th.

Not the very last chance, but the last time Little Feat plan to come through like this.

The lineup is Bill Payne, Kenny Gradney, Sam Clayton, Fred Tackett, Scott Sharrard and Tony Leone. And this isn't a band coasting on its catalog: 2024's *Sam's Place* earned a Grammy nomination, and 2025's *Strike Up the Band* was its first album of original material in 13 years. When the farewell tour was announced, the band also released "Feathers and a Smile," a previously unreleased song written by founder Lowell George — a reminder of where all of this started.

The Virginia is a fitting room for a goodbye. It opened on Dec. 28, 1921, with a touring production of *The Bat*, built by local contractor A.W. Stoolman and named for his daughter, Elizabeth Virginia Stoolman. It has been a vaudeville stage, a legitimate theater, a concert hall and a movie house. The Champaign Park District bought it in 2000 and restored it in phases, starting with the marquee and facade, and it's on the National Register of Historic Places. The Wurlitzer organ from the 1921 opening is still played before shows. With 1,463 seats, it's large enough for a band of this stature and small enough to feel like an evening rather than an event.

Practical notes: it's a Sunday, so the 7:30 start means a school-night finish. Get downtown early enough to see the theater itself before the lights go down.

Some bands announce a farewell and keep coming back. Little Feat have said this one is gradual. Either way, a Sunday night at the Virginia with them is the kind of show people mention for years.

Sources: Little Feat – The Virginia Theatre box office (thevirginia.showare.com); Little Feat Announce 2026 "The Last Farewell Tour," Reveal "Feathers and a Smile" – Consequence (consequence.net); Iconic '70s Rock Band Announces Final Tour 'While we still can' – AOL (aol.com); Little Feat extends The Last Farewell Tour – Rural Radio / ABC News (ruralradio.com); Legendary band announces farewell tour – Blues Rock Review (bluesrockreview.com); Little Feat 2026 tour schedule – Ultimate Classic Rock (ultimateclassicrock.com); Little Feat announce The Last Farewell Tour & release new single – Grateful Web (gratefulweb.com); History – The Virginia Theatre (thevirginia.org); Virginia Theatre (Champaign) – Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); Editorial: Happy 100th birthday to the Virginia Theatre – News-Gazette (news-gazette.com); Restored Virginia Theatre, 91 years old, holds Champaign's memories – CU-CitizenAccess (cu-citizenaccess.org); Virginia Theatre – EverGreene (evergreene.com)