Guess Who/Don Felder 

The Takin' it Back Tour

Beyond the nostalgic setlists of the Guess Who and Don Felder, there are two stories of legal troubles in and out of court that will put this concert into perspective. You see, for these two talents, they are taking back what they've briefly lost. I will cover the concert, but I'd like to discuss the reason for the tour at this point in time. It's more a celebration than a reunion. It's a continuation after an interruption. Let me explain.

In the case of Don Felder, co-guitarist of the Eagles, he was fired from the band in 2001 and went into legal litagation with Don Henley and Glen Frey for unlawful termination. The disagreements were settled and the suits were dropped. Since departing the Eagles, Felder has been releasing solo albums and working on charity projects. 

The Guess Who mainly consisted of Burton Cummings on lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, flute, and harmonica, Randy Bachman on lead and rhythm guitar, and backing vocals, Jim Kale on bass, and backing vocals, and Garry Peterson on drums, and backing vocals. They put out three popular albums, "Wheatfield Soul", "Canned Wheat", and "American Woman". Then in 1971, Randy Bachman left the band, and later formed the hit-making group, Bachman-Turner-Overdrive. Jim Kale left in 1972 to form the Jim Kale Band. 

With Bachman's song-writing skills to complement Cummings' talents, and Jim Kale's Rock bass work, the Guess Who songs began to lose momentum with the tops of the hits charts and began to lean toward Jazz. Burton Cummings was displeased with the direction of the Guess Who sound and disbanded the group in 1975. 

In 1977, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) invited the Guess Who to reform the band for an event for broadcasting. Cummings and Bachman turned down the offer, but Kale and drummer Garry Peterson accepted. Kale obtained permission from Cummings and Bachman to use the band name and to play its songs, and Kale's ex-bandmates agreed. However, after the CBC event, Kale continued to use the band name for future concerts and on several albums without Cummings or Bachman's consent. 

Then Jim Kale took matters one step further. In 1986, he registered the band name, "Guess Who", with The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Kale continued to tour as the Guess Who and even leased the name to cover bands who wanted to do a Guess Who Tribute concert. 

When Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman began doing joint concerts in 2004, they began to disparage Kale's Guess Who as "fake" and "bullshit shows". In 2023 they filed suit against Kale because many of his leasers were advertising the Guess Who Tribute shows as legitimate shows featuring Cummings and Bachman, who were featured in the advertisements. In 2024, they settled the case out of court and regained control of the band name. 

In 2026, The Takin' it Back Tour addresses how Don Felder has taken back his songs and independence from the Eagles, and how the Guess Who has taken its name back from the "fake" Guess Who. Both bands played their songs with the confidence of defiance that they won their respective cases out of court and achieved what they were after. And this concert was a celebration of the victory. 

Don Felder played:  

Already Gone
One of These Nights
Victim of Love
Seven Bridges Road
I Like the Things You Do
Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride) From the movie, Heavy Metal (1981)
Heartache Tonight
Life in the Fast Lane
Hotel California

Guess Who played:

Runnin' Back to Saskatoon
Proper Stranger
Hand Me Down World
These Eyes
Albert Flasher
Let It Ride (Bachman-Turner-Overdrive)
Clap for the Wolfman
Laughing
Undun
Star Baby
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet (Bachman-Turner-Overdrive)
My Own Way to Rock (Burton Cummings Solo Song)
Bus Rider
Roadhouse Blues / American Woman
No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature
No Time

Encore:
Share the Land
Takin' Care of Business (Bachman-Turner-Overdrive)

With these setlists, the songs were more than just a nod to nostalgia, they were a celebration with music as its cry of victory. The concert on the whole was fun for the crowd because the performers were having fun, telling stories, jamming up the songs with new gusto. I really think that Don Felder should be touring as an headliner, playing full sets. His guitar work and Hard Rock versions of his Eagles songs were something new that the crowd really got into. The show was not a look back at what was, but a look forward at what these musicians are still capable of accomplishing now that their legal troubles are behind them.