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February 9, 2020

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Former Eagle and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist, Don Felder brought his American Rock & Roll tour to Jergle's Rhythm Grill just outside of Pittsburgh on Friday night.

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Felder and his crack backing band opened the show with one of the Eagles more upbeat tunes, "Already Gone" and quickly followed that up with "One Of These Nights."

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A surprise came early in the set when Felder noted that he wanted to pay tribute to one of his favorite Blues guitarists, Stevie Ray Vaughan and launched into "Pride and Joy."

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Throughout the show, Felder would sometimes tell short anecdotes a the origins of some of the songs.  For instance, he said that "Victim Of Love" was the B-side to "Hotel California" and that it was the only song that the band ever recorded together live in the studio.

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Before playing the title track to American Rock and Roll, Felder said that the song was inspired by his attendance of Woodstock, which led him to want to play this type of music. 

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Many other Eagles hits dominated the set such as, "Tequila Sunrise," "Witchy Woman" and "The Long Run."  He even broke out the talk box for a great rendition of "Those Shoes."

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Two other solo tunes, "Rock You" and "Heavy Metal" were played in the middle of the set.

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Felder proved time and again why his former band mates gave him the nickname "fingers."  He plays the guitar with such ease, it looks almost effortless.  

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Of course, the former guitar teacher of Tom Petty has had some help along the way.  Being from Florida, he said that he learned to play the slide guitar from Duane  Allman and often hung out with the guys from Lynyrd Skynyrd.  Not to mention that the first band he was in also included Steven Stills.

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And oh yeah, he was also in the Eagles with Joe Walsh.

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That's some pretty good company, and all of them ended up being Hall of Fame guitarists.

 

However, Felder's voice while good, may have had some help electronically.

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The show came to a close with the song that everyone came to hear, and the one that Felder wrote the music for, "Hotel California."   

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He brought out his iconic white double neck Gibson guitar and went on to play the song note for note.​

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It was a fun night hearing some great classic rock.

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Review and photos by Greg Drugan

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