Former Eagles guitarist Don Felder opened a three night stand at the beautiful Fallsview Casino this on Thursday night. Felder, who is getting ready to release his second solo album titled “Road to Forever” on Rocket Science Ventures Records on October 9th, was in fine form. It should be noted that Don put together a who’s who band of musicians which included Shem von Schroeck (German opera singer) on bass, Frank Simes on guitar (Elton John, The Who), Timothy Drury (Whitesnake, Stevie Nicks, The Eagles) on keyboards and Steve Di Stanislao (Loggins & Messina, Crosby Stills & Nash, Joe Walsh) on drums.
This band took the stage and owned it. Felder steered the ship through a set list that included mostly Eagles hits, a cover, and solo material including two new songs. Felder was all smiles as he brought out the famous white Gibson double neck guitar as he opened up with the Eagles classic “Hotel California.” Don played a few new songs and the first “Fall from Grace” definitely has that Eagle-esque sound to it. I guess that type of sound is in his blood. He thanked the crowd for listening to it and giving it a chance.
Don was very engaging as he told short stories before a few songs. Before “Tequila Sunrise,” he said in 1974, he went to the hotel bar after a show in Tucson, Arizona, like he did back in those days. Next thing he knew, it was 9:30am after spending a lot of time with Jose Cuervo. “This is the closest I have come to Tequila since then,” he said as he went into he song. Don added a little flamenco style of playing to it at the tail end of the song. He also said how the band started to do “Seven Bridges Road” before their shows in 1974 and then ended up recording the Steve Young song a few years later in 1976. The song was harmonized terrifically and the crowd even added their screams like the recorded version.
Felder and Simes both used vox boxes for “Those Shoes.” Simes did a great job all night playing multiple guitars and providing vocals when needed. Felder quipped how the song “The Long Run” reminded him how he played at fraternity houses in Gainesville, Florida before he got into The Eagles.
This is “One of These Nights” you can say of music that was a pleasant surprise. I didn’t know what to expect from Felder and his band and they totally blew me away. I’m already looking forward to the next time I see them!
Set List:
Hotel California (The Eagles cover)
Already Gone (The Eagles cover)
One of these Nights (The Eagles cover)
Pride & Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughn cover)
Victim of Love (The Eagles cover)
Fall from Grace (new song)
Peaceful Easy Feeling (The Eagles cover)
Tequila Sunrise (The Eagles cover)
Seven Bridges Road (Steve Young cover)
Those Shoes (The Eagles cover)
Heavy Metal
Wash Away (new song) The Long Run (The Eagles cover)
Witchy Woman (The Eagles cover)
Heartache Tonight (The Eagles cover)
Life in the Fast Lane (The Eagles cover)
Encore:
Take it Easy (The Eagles cover)
We would like to thank Jennifer Murphy from Fallsview Casino for allowing BackstageAxxess.com to review the show. Stay tuned for an exclusive onsite video interview with Don that was conducted before the show.
