Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA - 7/19/13

Ok, slept, re-hydrated and ready to review. This is going to be really long. Hope you all don't mind.

We arrived around 6:45 and man, was it hot! Well into the 90s with tropical humidity. JD and his band commented that we probably didn't need a "warm-up" band tonight and he was right. I was drenched and uncomfortable after only a few minutes in the seats. We were under the roof near the stage, which blocked the sun, but didn't allow for much of a breeze. No matter. (We were in Row Q, just left of center, by the way - great seats).

Between JD and the Eagles, I noticed Otis Frey wandering around trying to be helpful. The roadies kept politely directing him toward other roadies who might need help. I kind of felt bad for him. He seemed so eager. He was easy to spot because even though he was dressed in black roadie gear, he had these fluorescent green sneakers that caught the light wherever he went.

I also noticed a group of people in front of us who had official stickers indicating they were guests of the band. "TBS" was hand-written on theirs, and one guy to the left of us had one labeled "GF". I wondered who the people were. One of the TBS guys looked like he could be a relative (nephew, cousin, maybe). He had Timothy's dark, fine features and slight build, but he was a good 20 years younger.

Anyway, the show started. Don and Glenn came out and Glenn commented that it had been 19 years since they played this venue. Don asked if we were "toasty"... or maybe "toasted, unless that comes later." They played "Saturday Night" and explained how they first started in a studio that didn't even have chairs. They sat on amps and packing cases, like they did for these first songs. They also mentioned that SN was the only song written collaboratively by all 4 Eagles. Bernie came out to do "Train..." (with the banjo jokes that Mary mentioned), and then Tim came out for PEF. Finally, Joe joined them for "Witchy Woman," which made me smile, it being one of my favorites.

They changed the set then, with a video of Glenn explaining the making of Desperado in the background. Then they started with "Doolin Dalton".

Ok. I knew the song was coming because I've seen the setlist (it was identical to Louisville), but I didn't expect its effect on me. As Tim played harmonica and Don began singing, I started thinking how, as a teenager, I had sung this song with the record in my room late at night, dozens of times. It and the DDD Reprise were among my favorite Eagles songs. I remembered that I REALLY started loving the band after Eagles Live came out and was always a little sad that those songs weren't on it and that I would NEVER hear them done live. Even if I saw the Eagles in concert, why would they ever bring those songs back?

As Glenn started singing his part, I lost it. I bit my lip hard and the tears started streaming down my face. All I could say was "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God" under my breath. They were singing "Doolin Dalton". Live. With the backdrops. And the full production. And... oh man. I don't even have words. I started pulling myself back together during "Tequila Sunrise", but was once again reduced to tears when they DID play the Reprise. But at least I had the presence of mind to sing with it. And I sang my heart out, around the tears.

"Already Gone" was next. I thought the cross-country video of Glenn was a little silly and somewhat distracting, but it did give me a chance to recover from DDDR. I ignored the video and sang and danced while watching the band. This was the first song that got everyone up and dancing. Next was BOML, and it was perfection, as expected. (By the way, when Glenn talked about Bill Szymczyk (?) before this section and mentioned that he also produced the J Geils Band, the Boston crowd ROARED!)

"Lyin' Eyes" was another interesting one. Glenn wished Bernie a Happy Birthday before the song, and mentioned that even though the song was long, it was written very quickly over the course of 2 days. He added that they "did a lot of things quickly in 1975", which caused Joe to pop into Glenn's spotlight and make lewd faces behind him. Glenn did "Plaintiff" which made me groan, but Pat laugh (since he hasn't heard it a million times yet).

The neat thing about LE was that, even though it's never been one of my favorites, I found myself fascinated by this production of it. My eyes kept being drawn to Bernie, who was spot-on perfect playing that classic guitar of his (Austin, you can fill in what type of guitar that was!). It was seriously like being back in 1975 and nothing had ever changed between them.

OOTN was next and it was amazing, though I did have a hard time seeing Don singing from the drums because Glenn was directly in my line of vision. (I know some of you wouldn't find that to be a problem at all. ;) ). I had to keep watching Don on the screen to see him well.

TITTL was touching. Glenn talked about Randy and how they wished he could be with them, but he was "under the weather". He did say Randy's doing better now and they wish him well and dedicated this song to him. His comments seemed very heartfelt, especially when he asked everyone in the crowd to "sing along for Randy." And we all did.

(Going to take my own little intermission now, both to get lunch and post this before I lose the whole thing. Back with Set 2 later.)

I'm so happy for you, WE, I'm busting!!! What a great experience (and review). Can't wait for Part 2.

Awwww, me too! Brought tears to my eyes imagining you crying, We! Sounds awesome so far!:thumbsup:

What a fantastic, emotional review, WE. :hug: I can't wait to read the next part. I can imagine exactly how you felt. Even watching the videos this morning, I was a bit of a wreck! Seeing it live must just be incredible...

Aw, WE - What a wonderful heartfelt review! Your details are making it so real for all of us. Thank you so much!! Can't wait for part 2!

Back from "intermission" for Part 2:

We stood up through most of the intermission because you could catch a bit of a breeze that way. The audience was drenched, and so were the guys! Their shirts were damp and sticking to them by the end of Set 1 - except Don, who, Texas boy that he is, seemed to be handling the heat with grace. He even mentioned at some point in Set 2 that it was just like Texas here tonight. They all (except Don) changed their shirts during intermission. When they came back out, Glenn introduced Set 2 as "the Comcast Weight Loss Program."

One other cute intermission item - Otis wandered out again near the end of intermission and was messing with something on the floor at the edge of the stage. The house lights went down and he looked up like a deer in the headlights, and FLED backstage, green sneakers flying. He's such a cute kid.

Anyway, the energy level in Set 2 was entirely different than Set 1, perhaps because Joe could now be let loose. He was rather restrained during Set 1, with Bernie taking many of the leads. I'm not going to talk about every song, but overall the mood was more playful and energetic. Here are some highlights:

- Timothy did his two songs, ICTYW and LWKUA, to great applause. I thought his voice was a little thin and reedy on the highs, but having never seen him before surgery, I really can't compare with any reliability. I'll leave it to those who know his voice better to judge. He did a great job, I thought, though he didn't look like he was happy with his performance on ICTYW. He frowned slightly when it was finished.

- Glenn talked about wanting to change the arrangement of one of their songs to be more like the Beach Boys "Barbara Ann", and then they went into "Heartache Tonight." I was expecting a COMPLETELY different arrangement of the song, but it wasn't as far off the record as I expected. Maybe a little slower and starker than usual, but by no means a drastic change. Everyone was up on their feet and singing along. And Glenn did the "knife in heart" thing at the end.

- Ah...THOSE SHOES! This had to be the best song of the night. Smokin' hot!! There was so much going on that I had no idea where to look. Joe and Steuart on the double talk-boxes. Glenn and Don center-stage looking like total rock stars, going toe-to-toe with identical rhythm guitar riffs and grinning madly. Glenn and Timothy sharing a mike and a laugh. At one point during the song, the "warm smell of colitas" rose up in the air between me and the stage, and apparently Glenn noticed. He picked his head up and sniffed, then grinned knowingly and looked back down, stealing a smirk and a quick comment over at Timothy. And all the while, that relentless bass-bass drum combination (DA-DUM, DA-DUM) drove into your bones so deep that you could feel it trying to change your heart's rhythm to its own.

- If "Those Shoes" was the best song of the night, "In the City" was a close #2. I learned with this song why the Eagles are the Eagles. I've heard Joe do this song solo a couple of times now, and I've heard Don and Glenn do Eagles songs solo as well, but it's just not the same. 1+1+1+1=247, where the Eagles are concerned. They are all great on their own, but something snaps into place with a brilliant flash of sound when they play together. They explode! And that's what they did here. Joe played an extended solo that brought me to my knees (or would have had there been room to kneel), and it was made all the more brilliant with the rhythm and harmonies that the guys laid behind him. And when he finished, he just walked away with a look that said, "Yeah, I got this," like it was nothing. I <3 Joe!

- I think it was around here that they did intros. Scott Crago, hometown boy from Wayland, MA, got a standing ovation. Glenn introduced Timothy as "the pride of Sacramento". Tim then introduced Glenn as "the Maestro" and "our fearless leader" (accompanied by much self-preening from Glenn) and the usual comments about Detroit - to which Glenn replied that he wants to let his hometown know that "money isn't everything and bankruptcy can be a good thing. Maybe." or something like that. He then introduced Don, and Don introduced Joe as "the man who needs no introduction, being known to law enforcement and hotel maintenance workers worldwide."

- Mary already talked about "Life's Been Good," so I won't repeat it, except to say that Joe and Glenn were pretty playful with the last verse. Joe very sweetly replied "Who IIIISSS it?" to Glenn's doorbell harmonic, which made Glenn crack up, causing Joe to push further with "Come IIIIINNNNN!"

- Don talked a bit before "The Long Run" about how it had been a long run for them and they were happy to still be here and they're here because we, the fans, are still here. He then went on to talk about the Walden Woods Project, which has been running for 23 years now. He got a bit political here, talking about how the town of Concord, MA is refusing to sell a conservation easement and so on, and finished with a mention about global warming, but then he moved on and started the song. He was surprisingly playful, despite his soapbox-y introduction, laying his head on Joe's shoulder on the "debutantes" line, and looming over Joe like a hawk while he was playing the guitar solo.

- "Funk #49" and LITFL, back-to-back hard-rockers that left everyone drained and exhausted from dancing in the heat, closed out the set. At this point, I was out of water and very happy that the TBS group in front of us had left, because not only did I have a completely unobstructed view (YAY!!), I could lean on their seatbacks to hold myself up. I realized I was pretty dehydrated, but thought to myself that the only way I'd leave would be on a stretcher, so I decided that passing out from the heat just WASN'T going to happen. It just wasn't!

- My husband hates encores. He thinks it's a silly and manipulative tradition and should be done away with (he's not much of a concert-goer). I warned him on the way to the concert that there would be 2 encores, and that I expected him to suck it up and behave. He did. He loves me. :) Hotel California was the first encore and it was magnificent, as expected, though I think I would have been more into it if I hadn't been as heat-dazed as I was. At this point, I was feeding a bit off the energy of the guy next to me, who had apparently been waiting all night for HC and was singing along very enthusiastically.

- Second encore was TIE, RMW and Desperado, all of which were amazing. It was so great to see Bernie come out and play with them for these songs. I wondered at first why they broke the encores down that way (1 song for Encore #1, but 3 songs for Encore #2) and I'll bet that's it - to give Bernie a decent amount of time to shine. Pat took a couple of pictures during HC and Desperado, but we just have phone cameras and they're not as good as some others I've seen posted already.

So that was the show, and yes, "amazing" is the word that sticks in my mind. Pat enjoyed it, and he's not a music lover. He even said he'd go again. So would I, obviously, though I doubt I would get another VIP package. Not that it wasn't worth the money - it definitely was. I just can't afford to do it more than once. It was sweet though that Pat said it was worth $400/ticket to see my reaction to the show.

Oh, and one last story. Based on what people were saying here about T-shirts and such, I bought a shirt at the booth at the front gate on the way in, even though they didn't have the one I really wanted (the On The Border T-shirt). I got the Hotel California one instead, and wore it throughout the show.

In the crowd on the way out, we passed another booth that DID have the OTB shirt. Pat saw me look at it and asked if I wanted to stop. "No," I said, "I already bought one. I can't afford two." He immediately dragged me out of the crowd, marched me over to the booth and bought the shirt for me. He knows how much I love the design because I have a huge framed needlepoint version of it that I made back in college hanging on the wall in our computer room. He knows because he drew it for me. "You've waited 30 years. You have to have it," he said simply. I'm wearing it now. :)

I can't thank you enough for that superb, detailed review, WE! I was grinning at so many different parts. It really seems like the guys are having a great time with this new show and I am so excited by it all. I'm thrilled you had such a wonderful night, and I'm so glad that you got the shirt. :thumbsup:

Thank you again WE! What a wonderful review - I really felt like I was there! And what a sweet man - I love the OTB tshirt story!
What amazing memories you now have!

BTW - I would love to see a photo of your OTB needlepoint.

That Pat is a KEEPER!!!! So happy he got it for you and I'm so happy you had such an extraordinary experience. I hope you get to do it again -- in an air-conditioned venue next time!!!

Thanks for he wonderful review WE, & for all the details! Loved hearing about all the little things that made the show special for you! Glad you had such a wonderful time & got your OTB shirt too!:thumbsup: