The set was heavy on the Eagles catalog and the backing band were incredibly polished and professional.
He set the tone for the evening by opening with his most famous composition , "Hotel California" before launching into "Already Gone".
His band included keyboardist Timothy Drury from the Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" Tour. The band did an amazing job recreating the Eagles harmonies."Seven Bridges Road" was especially exhilarating .
Felder was fired somewhat unceremoniously from the Eagles in 2001
for basically not acceding full control of the band to Henley and Frey. Felder and those two men were the only remaining members part of the Eagles Ltd corporation. He was outnumbered on all decisions....(ie: royalty rates, etc..)
Part of his struggle has been to reclaim some of that legacy while reviving his solo career that had stalled in the 80's. He did apparently receive a hefty settlement from the Eagles to ease his pain....
It was a bit curious that his set included quite a few Eagles numbers that were recorded BEFORE he was a member; "Peaceful Easy Feeling","Tequila Sunrise","Witchy Woman" and "Take it Easy". While he no doubt, played these songs countless times live with the band during his tenure, one could debate the merits of him playing them on his own...
He did play 3 songs of his new cd that fit in nicely. He also was sure to play his biggest solo hit "Heavy Metal (Takin a Ride)" from the creepy animated movie "Heavy Metal". Felder humorously introduced the song by saying"was anyone NOT stoned when they saw that movie? I know I was". The talk-box guitar playing on "Those Shoes" (from the Long Run) was another peak in the set.
He did not play any selections from his first solo album 1983's "Airborne". He probably felt since is was not a big seller most would not be familiar with the material...
Post show , Don did take some time to meet some of the fans and sign a few autographs (he appeared to have a policy of signing 1 item per person. I saw a few fools brought entire album collections with them).
Overall an enjoyable evening from a very seasoned and polished band. Hopefully as time wears on Mr. Felder can lean a little less on the Eagles back catalog and include more of his own material.
(all photos by me)
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