So I just got back from the Don Felder, Styx, and REO concert. I have a mostly positive review to give of Don's set. But I have a couple complaints as well, as a diehard Eagles and Felder fan. It wasn't 100% perfect. I've seen much worse.
Don came out at 7PM (central) and opened with Already Gone. What a great opener. Hearing Don play his leads/solos over this was a real treat. It's probably my 2nd favorite Eagles song at this point and my favorite song to play live. He played for about 45 minutes. He ended it with Hotel California, of course.
He did the typical Eagles songs set. The only solo song played was Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride). It got a great response, suprisingly a lot of people remember that song. No Road To Forever material. That's probably a good thing. RTF hasn't aged well, much like JW's Analog Man album. Originally loved them, now not so much.
I have to make a correction. I've long defended Felder's vocals as NOT being autotuned. That he was a great un-processed singer. That it was unthinkable.
I. Was. Wrong. He VERY MUCH uses Autotune on every single song. His band, the backup singers use it too, no lie. Very obvious on Seven Bridges Road. It sounded good because it was heavily processed and you could tell. Probably the song with the most Autotune of the night, by far. I wonder if I was the only one noticing.
Other than SBR, the Autotune didn't keep me from enjoying myself. SBR was good BUT it was like cheating and I think the vocals sounded robotic at times. DH's part was sang by the keyboard player. It was Autotuned less to my ear.
On HC, he brought out Tommy Shaw from Styx, Dave Amato from REO, and Bryan Hitt from REO. Don's drummer went backstage during this but Don's guitarist played on it still. It was really cool to see. I knew about this, but still.
All in all, good show but Don Felder would so much be better served with a new singer or two. And I have to eat my words on that he is a great singer with no help.... He's a good singer with Autotune. But Glenn and Don were right about him as a singer. It hurts me to say it, but it was wrong. It was hard to hear at times on the YouTube videos, but plain as day live. It got a little tiring at the end.
I don't want this to be a bashfest. I absolutely LOVED hearing Felder play guitar live. It was one of the best experiences ever. I just wish he had singers to compliment his great playing and the other great musicians in his solo band.