ENGLEWOOD, N.J. - Don Felder, former lead guitarist for the Eagles appeared at the BergenPAC in Englewood on Thursday night. The fourteen time Grammy-nominated and four-time Grammy Award Winner, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and New York Times bestselling author with his tell-all autobiography Heaven and Hell, continued his tour, "An Evening At Hotel California", in front of a local crowd filled with some serious fans.

(Photos by Eleanor Reiche.)

Felder started the show with his tour title and perhaps most well-known Eagles hit, "Hotel California". Playing his trademark double-necked guitar in this classic song, the crowd made up of mostly people in their 40's and 50's errupted in applause as the first few notes of the song began. When the first hit ended, and after a switch of guitars, another familiar Eagles classic, "Already Gone", began. The audience enthusiastically responded, and you could see this was the start of a great show.

"One of These Nights" confirmed that Felder still could rock the house. The band that backed him was tight, and vocals were impressive. Felder and his band - Shem Von Schreock on bass, Timothy Drury on keyboard, Stevie D on drums, and Frank Simes on guitar - gave the audience what they came for and more.

Felder and Simes changed guitars as many times as Cher changes outfits during a show, but the sound was great and you could see they were having a blast performing for their fans. The setlist was made up of the classic and more popular tunes, so you saw people rocking and singing along in every direction you looked.

"Pride & Joy" prompted Felder to say he always likes to "tip his hat to the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughn", one of his personal favorite guitarists, prior to playing a notable tribute. Some other songs on the setlist included "Victim of Love", "Peaceful, Easy Feeling", "Tequila Sunrise", and "Those Shoes".

The always smiling Felder gave a shout out to Tiger Woods before starting "Witchy Woman", clearly one of his cornier jokes of the evening, but then "Heartache Tonight" got the crowd clapping above their heads and up on their feet dancing. Felder kept them dancing as they wrapped up the show with "Life In The Fast Lane", following it up with an encore of "Take It Easy".

There may be better known Eagles - Glenn Frey and Don Henley immediately come to mind - but they would have difficulty holding a candle in terms of genuineness in their musical performance to Don Felder.

Photos by Eleanor Reiche - click any image for larger image: