Those Were the Days: Early Eagles Concert Remembrances

On July 7, 1974 the Eagles played a show (On The Border Tour) at the Memorial Coliseum in Ft. Wayne Indiana. And not just the Eagles.

The lineup:
The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band (J.D. Souther, Chris Hillman, Richie Furay in a great but short-lived country-rock 'supergroup')
Joe Walsh and Barnstorm
The Eagles

Average ticket price: $4.00

I don't know if this lineup played together at any other shows that year (none documented in known concert archives). Joe did play several other dates with the Eagles in '74, but none that indicate SHF Band also played.

Can you imagine seeing this lineup in concert and paying only $4?
But all throughout the '70's, ticket prices for rock concerts were rarely over $10.
Bands (and record companies and promoters) generally didn't make any money with concert tours (usually barely broke even or lost money), they were viewed as promotional expenses and tools for promoting album sales, which was where they made their money.
Totally the opposite of how things are today.

Just wanted to share this in these days of $1000 concert tickets and practically negligible physical album sales.

Feel free to share any other reminisces from these by-gone days of Eagles concerts and pre-exorbitant ticket prices.

Well - poor, poor, pitiful me - I never got to see the Eagles live in the 70's. My mom didn't allow me to go to concerts in the early 70's, and by the time I was on my own at the end of the decade, I couldn't afford those expensive tickets. To the best of my recollection, I only went to one concert during the entire decade. My mom allowed a date to take me to see Herman's Hermits. :roll:

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Originally Posted by Ive always been a dreamer

Well - poor, poor, pitiful me - I never got to see the Eagles live in the 70's. My mom didn't allow me to go to concerts in the early 70's, and by the time I was on my own at the end of the decade, I couldn't afford those expensive tickets. To the best of my recollection, I only went to one concert during the entire decade. My mom allowed a date to take me to see Herman's Hermits. :roll:

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Lol Dreamer !
Concerts were so cheap then. I was working and going to school so I never saw as many as I would have liked to. My parents would not let me go alone so I always went with a group of friends. the 70's were a great time for music fans. Our Border friend Dawn so an amazing list of concerts back than. The list of groups/people she saw is amazing.

Wow. That sounds amazing. That was a bit before I was born but dang.... $4.00 wouldn't even buy you parking at a concert now!

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Originally Posted by sodascouts

Wow. That sounds amazing. That was a bit before I was born but dang.... $4.00 wouldn't even buy you parking at a concert now!

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Not even a drink at some places!

Remember, though: Most of those venues were open seating. That meant the best seats went to those who were either there first or willing to fight for it.

I always said I wish I was born or grew up in the 70s. All of my favorite singers and groups were very popular in the 70s. The height of their career. I was born in the wrong decade or a year late.

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Originally Posted by CAinOH

Remember, though: Most of those venues were open seating. That meant the best seats went to those who were either there first or willing to fight for it.

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True. As much as I complain about Ticketmaster, services like that are what have allowed me to see shows all over the country. I couldn't wait in line anywhere.

Hello all. I've been away from The Border for many months, so forgive me if I bring up some older threads. Being a 70's person, this one caught my attention. I never went to a $4.00 concert but my 1975 Eagles concert was $5.50. I agree that that concerts were used as a promotional tool to sell albums. We teenagers were their target audience since we were the ones buying their albums. Ticket prices reflected this. Most teenagers could come up with $5.00 even with our low paying part time jobs waitressing, babysitting, etc. Audiences as a whole were very young, most being teenagers. Several old reviews from back then would even comment when there appeared to be people in their late twenties or (gasp!) even 30 in attendance.

Another aspect that kept concert prices low was that concerts were viewed very differently than they are now. Attending a concert wasn't a big deal or a once in a lifetime event. Sometimes it was just something for teenagers to get together and do. I always went to Eagles and Fogelberg concerts after I saw them in 1975, but many of the concerts I attended back then were one offs, just because it was something to do. The concert ads were on the same page of the Sunday paper as the movies were and they were browsed in the same way. The Indianapolis Star had ads for the following concerts in Indy for April of 1975- Eagles (which ended up being postponed until August), Golden Earring with James Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire with Chilites, Alice Cooper, America, Santana, Robin Trower, James Taylor, Kansas, and Kiss. That's a lot of big concerts in just one month and another reason the prices were low. They actually needed our teenage butts to fill their seats and then go out and buy their albums! Ahh, it was great to be needed and appreciated...

Some of the concerts I attended in the 70's were festival (open) seating and some were reserved seating. I didn't mind open seating. Usually open seating in Indy was at smaller venues like the Convention Center where I saw the Eagles in 1975. Market Square Arena with an 18,000 capacity was reserved seating. The concerts listed above were a mix of reserved and open seating from $5 - $7.50.

BTW- Frank Sinatra concert ads were also in the April 1975 Star for a May 3rd concert. Prices - $12.50, $10, $7.50, reserved. I don't think I was the target audience of that one!

Lucky you, MyMy! You that lived in cities were so lucky! I've always lived in the boondocks!

BBK, yes, those were the days!

My husband and I went to see the Eagles in 76 in St. Louis at the Checkerdome, which is where the St. Louis Blues played at the time. It held around 18,000 people. We lived 3 1/2 hours away from St. Louis and it just wasn't something we got to do. Too poor. We were both 20 and went with 4 other people in my cousins suburban. I'm pretty sure we paid about $20 each for our tickets, so they must have come from scalpers! All I knew was we were getting to see our favorite band and it was a dream come true! We were even in nosebleed, but my cousin and brother managed to get way down to the front! My husband and I weren't brave enough to even try that! The band looked like ants, but it didn't matter! We had all their albums and were so excited! JD Souther and Joe Walsh were with them too. And that's all I can remember other than the 'smoke' in the rafters was very thick! :lol:

Hi Brooke. Yes, they must have come from scalpers. I looked up the concert in the St. Louis Dispatch and the ticket prices were $7 and $8. The concert was on November 23 there and I had seen them the night before in Indy on the 22nd at Market Square Arena. The tickets were $7.50 and $8.50, a big price jump from the previous year at $5.50. Of course that one had been festival seating.

It was much easier to attend concerts living just 20 minutes away from several venues in Indy. I could take concerts much more for granted than someone who actually had to drive several hours to attend a concert.

I looked up a review for your concert and the reviewer had this to say about Raandy's performance of TITTL- "His voice soared and the background vocals helped him get there. It was really well performed and thecrowd reaction was instantaneous, long and loud--so long in fact, that he told the crowd it was embarrassing him, and he really looked as if it were."
Also this- "The group introduced 2 songs from its soon-to-be released Hotel California album, including the title track and Wasted Time. Perhaps on further listenings the songs will be impressive. But on the first time around they left something to be desired."

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Originally Posted by My My

I looked up a review for your concert and the reviewer had this to say about Raandy's performance of TITTL- "His voice soared and the background vocals helped him get there. It was really well performed and thecrowd reaction was instantaneous, long and loud--so long in fact, that he told the crowd it was embarrassing him, and he really looked as if it were."
Also this- "The group introduced 2 songs from its soon-to-be released Hotel California album, including the title track and Wasted Time. Perhaps on further listenings the songs will be impressive. But on the first time around they left something to be desired."

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Aw, what a sweet quote about Randy. Didn't Glenn call the response to Randy doing TITTL "mass hysteria" or something like that? I wish he hadn't been so embarrassed it!

But LOL at the review of the HC songs. Yes, they would indeed become impressive. ;)

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Originally Posted by My My

Hi Brooke. Yes, they must have come from scalpers. I looked up the concert in the St. Louis Dispatch and the ticket prices were $7 and $8. The concert was on November 23 there and I had seen them the night before in Indy on the 22nd at Market Square Arena. The tickets were $7.50 and $8.50, a big price jump from the previous year at $5.50. Of course that one had been festival seating.

It was much easier to attend concerts living just 20 minutes away from several venues in Indy. I could take concerts much more for granted than someone who actually had to drive several hours to attend a concert.

I looked up a review for your concert and the reviewer had this to say about Raandy's performance of TITTL- "His voice soared and the background vocals helped him get there. It was really well performed and thecrowd reaction was instantaneous, long and loud--so long in fact, that he told the crowd it was embarrassing him, and he really looked as if it were."
Also this- "The group introduced 2 songs from its soon-to-be released Hotel California album, including the title track and Wasted Time. Perhaps on further listenings the songs will be impressive. But on the first time around they left something to be desired."

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Lol, MM! I have a note from my journal that I kept for that night that they played a couple new songs that night and one was California Hotel! :laugh:

Well - y'all are just making me :jealous: !!!

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Originally Posted by My My

I looked up a review for your concert and the reviewer had this to say about Raandy's performance of TITTL- "His voice soared and the background vocals helped him get there. It was really well performed and thecrowd reaction was instantaneous, long and loud--so long in fact, that he told the crowd it was embarrassing him, and he really looked as if it were."
Also this- "The group introduced 2 songs from its soon-to-be released Hotel California album, including the title track and Wasted Time. Perhaps on further listenings the songs will be impressive. But on the first time around they left something to be desired."

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Thank you for finding this nugget and posting it, My My. That sounds just like sweet Randy. :inlove:

I wonder if the reviewer ever learned to love those two songs that “left something to be desired” :hmm:

And Brooke- “California Hotel” - love it, LOL.

A friend of mine found this yearbook recounting of an Eagles concert which took place on the campus of Louisiana State University, November 5, 1976. Somebody threw something at Randy (who would do that?!) and it hit him on the side of his face. He finished the song but was understandably upset and probably in pain. Poor Randy!

https://imgur.com/a/ZMSROVB

What a cracking find that is. Love little bits and pieces like that - sometimes they tell you a lot more than any interview or documentary ever can!

Great find!!! Love this kind of stuff!👍

Thanks NMB. Well - thank goodness for the good ole days - if Randy had reciprocated like that in this day and time, he probably would be sued.

Great find! As for someone throwing stuff... well, it was at LSU. Having attended football games with drunk LSU students, I can say... it's not that surprising. lol!

Throwing an object at Randy Meisner. What a manly thing to do. (I assume this idiot was a male. They tend to be.) Randy was a true pro to finish the song.

Poor Randy. That must have really hurt. The thought of him dropping his bass guitar on the floor makes me cringe a little.

Thanks for sharing!