The Eagles at Madison Square Garden on Friday May 30, 2008
Based on the cover of the May 29, 2008 issue of “Rollingstone Magazine,” I was expecting to see the four men remaining in the Eagles on stage: Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmit and Joe Walsh. However the huge stage at the Garden was filled with many more musicians than I expected. The remaining Eagles were dressed in suits with white shirts and ties, the side musicians wore suits but with black shirts. The side musicians also had “assigned” spots off of the main stage. The show was very good with great moments and not so great moments. The music and singing were identical to the original recordings and that was very impressive. This was the perfect show to take my wife because it was a “well behaved” show, except for one person who did not stop talking from the moment she arrived at the show. As our friends who came with us stated, if you want to chat: stay home and play their records!!
For those of you who do not know, the Eagles have had a tumultuous career as a country-rock band. Frey and Henley are the lone two originals in the band. And for those of you who do know the story- these two originals remaining should come as no surprise. Now when bands like the Eagles play at an arena such as Madison Square Garden, they should know that the majority of the fans attending want to hear the classics. And if there is one thing you can say about the Eagles, they are smart. They played their new songs, from the “Long Road Out of Eden” at the beginning of each set (there was no opener and they played for nearly 3 hours). For me, those were the “not so great” moments. After an intermission, they came out with acoustic guitars and played five songs and I have to admit I was getting antsy.
But let me go back to the beginning, they started off with four songs from the new album and one that I liked the best was “Guilty of the Crime.” And that was the fourth song so I was getting warmed up and then there it was the opening chords to one of their best songs- “Hotel California”- Henley’s voice is spot on as he is drumming along to the song. Then it’s on to one of my personal favorites- “Peaceful Easy Feeling” and they perform the song perfectly. It was like I was back in my room as a teenager listening to the vinyl recording. Timothy B. Schmit takes the lead on the next song which I believe was his first hit with the group, “I Can’t Tell you Why.” Usually at concerts, bands shy away from the slower, softer songs but I guess that is one of the reasons why I liked the show- because these are the songs I wanted to hear. (there is a mellow side to me you know). The first set also contained the classics- “Witchy Woman” and “Lying Eyes.” Then the audience had a taste of what was to come a lot more in the second half- solo stuff from Henley and songs with Walsh on lead vocals and guitar. Henley did “Boys of Summer”- which I thought was good but Tina said it was too fast. Joe did “In the City”- off of The Long Run album. The first set ended with a rocking version of “The Long Run.”
As previously mentioned the second set started off a little slow. They did “Take it to Limit” differently from the original- probably because the lead singer of that song was Randy Meisner- who quit back in 1977. For me, the fun began again with “One of These Nights” and then I was blown away by the fact that Joe Walsh did some of his own material. “Life’s Been Good to Me” is one of my all-time favorite songs and I couldn’t believe Henley and Frey allowed Joe to do his own material. (you see they are getting soft). Anyhow there was a part of me that wanted them to rip off their ties and jam and get loud. Joe was the one to do this for me, he is the “class clown” of this band and he did what he does best- He had fun. Let me also say that the man can still shred. Henley followed up with “Dirty Laundry” and there was a cool video behind them that was showing crazy headlines, newspapers, magazines (they showed the aforementioned Rollingstone issue) and younger photos of the boys. Then it was onto “Funk 49” from the James Gang days with a full horn section to compliment the famous guitar riff in that song. “Heartache Tonight” was a great sing along song. “Life in the Fast Lane”- my uncle John’s favorite song- had me air guitaring and singing along. After that song, we had to leave because I was told the garage that I parked in was closing at 11:30 so our friends gave us the play by play after we were in our car. The show ended with “Rocky Mountain Way,” “All She Wants to Do Is Dance,” “Take It Easy” and my ultimate Eagles song “Desperado.” All in all a very good show and now I can tell my grand kids that I saw the Eagles!
Errols Weekly Music Update. 