Don Felder @ Batavia Downs Batavia, NY 7-9-21

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Don Felder graced the stage at Batavia Downs this past Friday night. Felder is mostly known for spending a good portion of his career with the Eagles. Coming out decked out in all white, Felder was all smiles as he laid into the opening chords of “Already Gone.” Accompanying Felder were: Lauren Gold on keyboards, David Myhre on guitar, Bruce Atkinson on bass and on Chris Wallace on drums.

An interesting cover that Felder decided to tackle was the Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble classic “Pride and Joy.” Obviously, very few if any can match the guitar virtuoso that Vaughan had but Felder made his mark on the song and did a commendable job I would have to say. Most of the tunes in the set of course were Eagle songs. Back in 2019, Felder released a solo album titled “American Rock & Roll.” The title track of that disc was played and it was one of the better songs he performed of the evening. The audience (mostly sitting due to the on and off again rain) was called mellow and peaceful before Felder went into the Jack Tempchin cover “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” Felder added a talk box on the song “New Shoes” and it sounded almost as good as the original. There was an equipment malfunction so Felder filled the time telling story on how he traded cherry bombs to a kid in his neighborhood for his first acoustic guitar. Even though Felder and Glen Frey had their differences, a touching moment in the show was when he dedicated “Tequila Sunrise” to him. My favorite song of the whole performance was when the band did the Steve Young cover “Seven Bridges.” The vocals were spot on and the song was just as I envisioned hearing it. It was truly wonderful. At the end, the famous white Gibson double neck guitar made its appearance for the classic Felder brought out the double neck for “Hotel California.”

Ryan Hasenauer (marketing manger for Batavia Downs) remarked after the show that this was one of the biggest shows they had there. It was a strong crowd for sure. Even with the unpredictable weather, the fans who braved through it were treated to a memorable performance by a true talent.

Setlist:

Already Gone (Jack Tempchin cover)

One of These Nights (Eagles song)

Pride & Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble cover)

Victim of Love (Eagles song)

American Rock & Roll

Peaceful Easy Feeling (Jack Tempchin cover)

Tequila Sunrise (Eagles song)

Seven Bridges Road (Steve Young cover)

Those Shoes (Eagles song)

Heavy Metal

Witchy Woman (Eagles song)