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DonFan
07-29-2008, 04:37 PM
This review is MUCH better!
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Eagles, taking the long road back, show they still know the way

By Sarah Rodman, Boston Globe Staff / July 29, 2008

They made jokes about assisted living and ex-wives, and a sense of wistfulness pervaded the evening both onstage and in the audience, but Eagles left no doubt last night at the TD Banknorth Garden that while life may have moved to a slower lane, they're still capable burning rubber.

Having strong new material to play from last year's multiplatinum "Long Road Out of Eden" has clearly sent an electric current through the core quartet. Backed by a group of gifted sidemen - including a horn section, a fiddler, a percussionist, and guitar ace Steuart Smith - Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit were in some ways even stronger last night, in the first of two shows at the venue, than they have been since hell froze over back in 1994 for their original rebooting.

Henley's righteous rage remains acidic, Frey's hound dog soul urgent, Schmit's as sensitive as ever, and Walsh's wild-man guitar heroics are still, well, wildly heroic. They looked pretty smart, too, in fighting shape, and natty black suits.

Over the course of three hours and 30 songs, the band played many of the songs that have become staples of classic rock radio playlists and a smattering of their individual solo hits, and the sold-out house played its part.

Not that any of the singers needed help, each offering his specialty - from Walsh's wobbly warble to Henley's high hoarse holler - with panache on everything from "Rocky Mountain Way" to "Witchy Woman."

But they also managed the nearly impossible task of introducing a good chunk of "Eden" without triggering rest room stampedes or a palpable sense of boredom. Considering that this is an audience that has been conditioned to expect pristine nostalgia fests over the last 13 years, that's not too shabby.

It helped that among the nine new songs they weaved into the hit parade were some of the better tracks, including the autumnal "Waiting in the Weeds," the near a cappella lament "No More Walks in the Wood" (a vision of layer cake harmonies), and the blistering title track, which allowed Henley to get his disgust on and Walsh to drop some liquid fire.

In fact, the night teetered on tedium only during a long stretch of well-sung but a little too peacefully easy ballads in the opening set. It's hard to quibble with songs like "I Can't Tell You Why" and "Lyin' Eyes," but the beginning of the evening could have used a little more bite in its sequencing.

In the second set, the new songs seemed to juice the band even further, helping kick up the home stretch of well-worn chesnuts several notches.

As deadline encroached, Walsh unleashed some fury on "Funk 49," the band wriggled through "Life in the Fast Lane," and Henley offered up the hip-swiveling pleasures of polit-rocker "All She Wants to Do is Dance."

They wound down the night with "Take it Easy" and "Desperado."

DonFan
07-29-2008, 04:50 PM
One more:
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Updated Eagles still managing to fly high

BY RICK MASSIMO, Journal Pop Music Writer 07/29/08

BOSTON — Touring behind their first record of new material in 13 years and only their second in the past 28, it would have been easy for last night’s Eagles concert at the TD Banknorth Garden to be a retrospective of past hits with a couple of head-for-the-beer-line nods to their present-day output.

It didn’t go like that. Playing to a sold-out crowd of 12,694 (and wearing black coats and ties — a good look, updated without being uptight), the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers — Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmit and Joe Walsh — started off with four songs off last year’s Long Road Out of Eden, eventually doing nine from the new record. And if, say, “I Don’t Want to Hear Anymore” didn’t hit the same way as something like “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” the same strengths (and limitations) were at play.

While the first single from Eden, “How Long,” stood alongside the best of the Eagles ouevre, “Busy Being Fabulous” felt like too much of a Big Statement song, the kind that was never the California legends’ strength. It’s difficult to write songs that use the well-chosen detail to make a larger point without sounding narcissistic, but the best Eagles songs, from “Lyin’ Eyes” to “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” managed that.

The smaller a canvas they work on, the more convincing they sound, and last night was no exception, as Walsh’s new “Guilty of the Crime” was a jaunty, almost off-handed, successor to the Eagles canon, while Frey’s “Somebody” sounded more like a Miami Vice leftover.

The new songs (and Henley solo songs such as “The Boys of Summer” and “All She Wants to Do Is Dance”) also benefited from the substitution of touring drummer (and Eden co-producer) Scott Crago for drummer and singer Henley, who wrote and sang some of the group’s best stuff and was in fine voice last night but has never been one of rock’s strongest pure drummers. Henley, of course, took over for the classic stuff.

Of which there was still plenty, even with the healthy helping of new stuff: from “Hotel California” to “Heartache Tonight” to “Witchy Woman” to “Life in the Fast Lane” — you know the drill, and if you don’t, spend an afternoon on classic-rock radio.

The show was divided into two acts, and while the set-list formula was roughly the same for each, the first half relied a bit more on the well-observed detail, and the nihilistic view of personal relations, in songs such as “Lyin’ Eyes” and “I Can’t Tell You Why.”

The later set began with more new stuff, mostly seated and mostly acoustic, including the lovely, nearly a cappella “No More Walks in the Wood” and Henley’s “Waiting in the Weeds.”

By the end, of course, it was more of a party, with Walsh taking over on songs such as “Life’s Been Good” and the James Gang standard “Funk 49.”

As usual, the performances were impeccable — the whole band, especially Henley, are legendary perfectionists.

They play again at the Garden tomorrow night.

rmassimo@projo.com
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Some of his comments were a little more pointed, but I love this: "Wearing black coats and ties — a good look, updated without being uptight." It describes my feelings about the suits perfectly.

Freypower
07-29-2008, 06:41 PM
Thank you for those DF.

The 'hound dog soul' comment intrigued me. I partly agree with it but I think it's a bit corny. As for Somebody sounding like a Miami Vice leftover I disagree, but there you go.

TimothyBFan
07-30-2008, 07:30 AM
FINALLY --reviews that weren't to harsh written by reviewers that seem to get it! Sounds like they both approve of the suits. Oh well! For the most part I actually agree with the reviewers for a change!! Yahoo!!!! :)

sodascouts
07-30-2008, 02:29 PM
The suits were pretty much universally panned by critics until Henley started the public declarations of suit-support, lol. Critics who are Eagle-friendly have obviously taken note that they need to rally to the cause. ;) After all, who wants to be lumped in with the critics who need to "get over it"?

Of course, they DO look good in them. I'd take 'em for half a set. Honestly, the suits are not THAT big of a deal, although we sure talk about them a lot. Their music rises above its incongruity with the suits.

These reviewers do seem to "get it" - there is little they didn't like. Refreshing!