The Guess Who / Don Felder @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center, 7/14/2026
Written by chadfromalbany on July 19, 2026
By Chad from Albany.
After reacquiring the rights to the band name in 2024, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman have brought their “Takin’ It Back” tour to SPAC on one of the most humid nights in recent memory. Yes, the legendary Canadian act The Guess Who have returned for the first time since Sept. 3, 2001- a concert I remember vividly as being the last show I saw before the tragic events the following week. Eagles’ guitarist and singer Don Felder opened the show.
SPAC was sweltering. Temperatures were nearly 100 degrees, the humidity was brutal, and the crowd felt it. I bought a pair of tickets in the balcony for the same price as lawn, but after Felder’s set, I had to go back to the lawn. It was so much like a literal sauna in there that in the last row (where my tickets were), men were taking their shirts off while trying to relax.
The credit I give to these two veteran acts is immense for being able to not only perform in these conditions, but at a high level. You didn’t see a drop of exhaustion from the band, fronted by Cummings, 78, and Bachman, 82, as they tore through a hit-filled set of unmistakable classics of not only The Guess Who, but Bachman’s following band- Bachman-Turner Overdrive, whose songs can be heard on any classic rock station on any day of the week.
Starting their set with “Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon” from the 1972 live album “Live at the Paramount,” they set the stage for the unadulterated rock and roll show to follow. The sweat-laden crowd started to sing along at “Hand Me Down World,” but the next song, 1969’s “These Eyes,” made everyone forget the oven that we were baking in. When Cummings announced that Bachman would be playing BTO songs, Bachman lit into “Let It Ride.” His voice and guitar playing were flawless- performing with the vigor of someone 1/3 of his age.
Cummings’ voice was in great form, lacking only a little of the “ooomph” that he had decades prior. And for one of the most underrated and powerful voices in rock history, that is just fine. He and the rest of the band continued through all of the classics from “Laughing,” “Clap for the Wolfman,” “Undun,” and his solo hit “My Own Way to Rock,” after Bachman dipped back into his catalog with one of classic rock radio’s definitive tracks, “You AIn’t Seen Nothin’ Yet.” The end of the set gave us the quintessential hit “American Woman,” which went into the double show of “No Sugar Tonight/ New Mother Nature” which yielded the loudest crowd response from my perspective. 1969’s “No Time” brought the electric show to an end.
For the encore, they played “Share The Land”, a song that rings just as true today as it did in 1970 in the heart of the Vietnam War. To me, I remember that night they played at SPAC in 2001 like it was yesterday. They closed their show with that song, and I remember vividly putting up a peace sign and seeing Cummings and Bachman in the middle of the V-shape my fingers that I made. The last concert moment and memory that I had before all of our lives were changed the following week on September 11. That visual was one I felt the need to recreate.
Funny enough, being a Guess Who concert, they ended the night with Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s most well-known song- the iconic “Takin’ Care of Business.” And takin’ care of business is exactly what they did. And in this heat, they earned every penny. It was great seeing and hearing these Canadian legends play their rock and roll that was so hot that I almost want to blame them for the wildfires that rolled over the area the following day.
Returning as one of the best support acts of classic rock bands, Eagles’ guitarist Don Felder fronted a crack band full of hits of his Hall of Fame band, but it was his solo classic “Heavy Metal” from the animated cult classic film that was the star of the show in my eyes. Starting off with “Already Gone,” Felder proves how much of a secret weapon he was in the legendary country rock band. He took lead vocals and sounded as good as Don Henley ever did, and his masterful guitar playing proves that he should be ranked amongst the greats. “Heartache Tonight” and “Life in the Fast Lane” proved that, but it was when he brought out his signature white double neck and played his part of the solos, which he originally shared with Joe Walsh, perfectly. He was tremendous as always.
Their setlists can be found here:
The Guess Who:
Don Felder:
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