Credit: Jason PowelllStyx‘s five-date Las Vegas engagement with ex-Eagles guitarist Don Felder gets underway Friday, January 6, at The Venetian theater. The shows, aptly titled Renegades in the Fast Lane, also are scheduled for January 7, 11, 13 and 14.
Founding Styx guitarist James “JY” Young tells ABC Radio that people who come to the performances “are gonna hear a pile of great Styx songs and a number of great Eagles songs, all jammed into two hours.”
Young says the shows offer “a unique pairing and packaging that [showcases the music of] arguably the two biggest touring bands of 1981, 35 years later.”
The 67-year-old rocker, whose band has toured with Felder a number of times recently, says Don “is like a long-lost brother. He’s very easygoing and not as intense as some of his former band mates…And he’s a great guy, [and] he’s a unique and wonderful, lyrical lead guitar player.”
When Styx toured with Felder previously, including on the 2014 Soundtrack of Summer trek that also featured Foreigner, some onstage collaborations took place, and Young tells ABC Radio that fans can expect to see two or maybe three joint performances during the Vegas gigs.
Meanwhile, Young says an aspect of the residency to which he’s looking forward is not having to travel long distances between gigs.
“The worst part of…being in a touring rock band is travel has become profoundly difficult, with TSA and all these rules and regulations, and the airplanes,” he maintains. “I’m six-foot-two and I don’t fit in a lot of these planes comfortably, and to have to get in one every day is hell. So to be able to stay in one place and do this is joyful.”
Tickets for the Renegades in the Fast Lane shows are still available. Visit Venetian.com/StyxFelder for more information.
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