The Casino File
It was a grand night for musical baby boomer nostalgia last Saturday as The Guess Who and Don Felder hit the Etess Arena at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. The sold-out crowd definitely got its money’s worth as the Canadian band—more precisely the two leaders of the unit that dominated the turn-of-the-1970s pop charts and five hired guns—and the one-time member of The Eagles served up what, in the words of The Guess Who’s Burton Cumming, were “finger-snapping, toe-tapping” renditions of a jukebox-worth of hits.
Currently touring as a team for the first time in more than 20 years thanks to an extended legal battle over ownership of the name “The Guess Who” that pitted them against two former members, guitarist Randy Bachman, 82, and lead-singer/multi-instrumentalist Cummings, 78, and their quintet of supporting players turned in a fiery, signature-filled set that served as a solid reminder that one is never too old to rock & roll.
While Bachman, who remained seated through the entire program, displayed impressive guitar chops, it was his partner who proved to be a revelation.
Cummings is one of those humans to whom aging appears to be just a theoretical concept. That goes for his vocals as well as his physical appearance. Suffice it to say his powerful, clarion singing was not that of a person a couple of years shy of 80, but of someone decades younger as he performed such Guess Who smash hits as “Undun,” “These Eyes” and “Laughing,” to name but three.
Cummings also proved to be a most agreeable and engaging front man, chatty and clearly delighted to not only be fronting the band again, but doing so for an audience whose high levels of enthusiasm and unabashed affection appeared to catch him off-guard.
Known more as a pop-leaning outfit thanks to their prodigious string of turn-of-the-70s smash hits, the unit as it is currently constituted held its own as a take-no-prisoners rock & roll band.
Metaphorically speaking, the unit wielded a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel through the overwhelming majority of the program. If there was anything missing, it was nuance; dynamics were generally in short supply as the group pounded out almost two hours’ worth of gritty, punch-in-the-mouth rock. But in the hands of the exceptionally cohesive band, that was certainly not a bad thing; to the contrary, it was downright exhilarating.
As for highlights, pretty much any of the band’s hits qualified, but our favorites included “Undun,” before which Cummings picked up a flute and admitted he was “No Ian Anderson,” a reference to Jethro Tull’s legendary leader, a deeply grooved “American Woman,” whose extended intro briefly quoted The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” and Bachman’s rousing rendition of Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet,” which received the evening’s first standing ovation (other BTO tunes included “Clap For the Wolfman” and the show-closing “Takin’ Care of Business,” part of a two-song encore that began with yet another Guess Who standard, “No Time”).
The Guess Who’s set would have certainly sent the audience home fully satisfied, but the bonus attraction was Felder, who played with The Eagles during their most successful period as a recording act: He co-wrote “Hotel California” and “Victim of Love,” both of which were satisfyingly rendered during his nine-song turn that was enhanced by a musically and vocally sharp trio of backing musicians.
Felder’s time onstage also included superb renditions of “Already Gone,” “One of These Nights,” “Heartbreak Tonight” and the lesser-known “Seven Bridges Road,” which gave the four musicians a chance to show off their formidable vocal-harmony talents.
In all, Felder was the perfect table-setter for what will unequivocally go down as one of 2026’s best casino concerts.
The Hook update
There’s nothing concrete to report yet, but it appears The Hook, the $36 million venue built exclusively to house the variety show of the same name will remain a part of the gambling den’s show biz operation after “The Hook” variety show ends its 39-month run on Sept. 6.
If this turns out to be the case, it’s great news for Our Town’s entertainment scene as the intimate, state-of-the-art venue is a gem of a performance space and it would be a shame to see it abandoned.
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
