Concert Review: The Eagles
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ERO-5w8dMU...dOutOfEden.jpgThe Eagles
Alltel Arena
North Little Rock, AR
9/16/2008
The legendary California country-rock band, which still features Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit, came rolling back into town for the first time in years on the strength of a recently released the double-album, Long Road Out of Eden, the first album of new material since 1979's The Long Run. Do they still have it? Well, the faces look a bit older, the hair is thinner and they dress a bit more like they're going to the old folks home to pick up dates but musically and vocally... it's the same as it ever was.
People come to an Eagles show to hear classics, and they want to hear them played like they remember them. The Eagles know that and that's what they deliver, with the occasional offshoot into the current CD. A little something old, a little something new... makes for a nice 3-hour night of music.
It's a bit odd for me to look around and notice that I'm probably one of the younger people in the crowd for a change. I'm used to being at shows like Korn or some other equally loud and obnoxious metal band and I've sort of become used to being the NARC guy, or in the oldest range. This time it's a much older crowd for sure, but there still are quite a few younger fans as well. I actually sat next to a young lady in her late 20s who was there with her mother and her mother's mother. They all 3 sang along to the majority of the hits. How cool is that? That's the Eagles I guess, they've touched many generations. Also as a note... there wasn't any moshing or crowd surfing. Probably be a lot of backs thrown out if that did happen to break out.
8:16 PM... The lights go down and out comes the band in suits and ties with white shirts, while the back-up band (which consisted of anywhere from 4-8 guys at times) was dressed the same except they had on black shirts. Seemed a bit odd at first to see the 4 old guys in the same outfits, sort of like N'Sync might look at the nursing home, but they did look sharp at least. The stage is large with a huge screen behind it in a circular shape and 2 wide screens to the sides.
As the spotlights hit center stage and the 4 members of the Eagles are standing there, all with guitars in their hands, they start the set with How Long, from the new CD. The vocals sound fantastic and the harmonies are amazingly clear and beautiful. It's really a perfect song to start with for these reasons plus the guys take turns on lead vocals, so it's a pretty good starter all around. They didn't just start the set with 1 song from the new CD though, they played 4 right in a row.
* How Long
* Busy Being Fabulous (lead vocals Don)
* Don't Want To Hear Anymore (lead vocals Timothy)
* Guilty of the Crime (lead vocals Joe)
The songs were well received as each guy took his turn on the mic and the crowd was warmed up and ready for some Eagles classics by this point, and they begin to deliver. The opening chords of Hotel California hit and the place goes wild as the cover to the album lights up the big screen behind the stage. Don Henley is now sitting at the drum kit, not missing a beat as he does spot on vocals to the first classic of the night.
* Hotel California
* Peaceful Easy Feeling
* I Can't Tell You Why
* Already Gone
* Witchy Woman
* Lyin' Eyes
* The Boys of Summer (Don's solo work)
* In The City
* The Long Run
At this point they take an intermission for about 20 minutes. They come back out to the opening music for No More Walks In The Woods, from the new CD. It's another song that has a lot of great harmonies, and at this point the 4 members are sitting in chairs playing acoustic guitars. They do a short all-acoustic set that include new stuff and some great sing-a-longs.
* No More Walks In The Woods
* Waiting in the Weeds
* No More Cloudy Days
* Love Will Keep Us Alive
* Take It To the Limit
Take It To The Limit easily gets the biggest, loudest sing-a-long of the night going as it seemed the entire arena of 15,000+ was singing right along with them. By this point as they're playing songs the video screens to the sides are of course showing the band from many angles. The video screen behind them is showing clips of all sorts of stuff in relation to whatever song they're playing. It's a pretty good show all around with all this going on in addition to just the great music.
The chairs are removed and guitars plugged back in and they play a long version of the political Long Road Out Of Eden song while showing lots of imagery on the screen. They're starting to pick up the pace a bit and the place is beginning to jump.
* Long Road Out of Eden
* Somebody
* Walk Away (James Gang)
* One of These Nights
* Life's Been Good (Joe's solo work)
* Dirty Laundry (Don's solo work)
* Funk #49 (James Gang)
* Heartache Tonight
Oddly, the James Gang song Walk Away probably got the crowd fired up more than any. When Joe hit that opening riff it was like somebody spiked the Geritol as people we dancing in the aisles and their seats. Most of the guys in the band are very competent musicians still, but Joe Walsh seems a notch above with his still very solid guitar skills. Throughout the night he rips into some great solo and plays with a lot of heart. He still can rock, which surprised me a bit. During a great version of Life's Been Good, he dons a hat-cam and shows the audience from his point of view on the big screen and has some fun.
After a short break, as the crowd was going bananas for an encore, they finally rewarded us as they returned with the high energy crowd pleaser Life In the Fast Lane before finally having Don stand center stage, back in full suit and jacket, and do a heartfelt version of Desperado that had ever single person in there singing along enough to make Elaine Benes proud.
* Life In The Fast Lane
* Desperado
11:26 PM.... 3 hours and 10 minutes after we first saw them take stage.
Helluva great show from some old dudes who can still really entertain a crowd and have a great catalog to choose from. There's not a lot of banter with the audience, it's pretty much just one song after another. They do introduce the band and make a few quips here and there, but it's minimal.
Maybe I missed a few songs here there, hell I don't know and I don't have a photographic memory. I do know they didn't play New Kid In Town or Tequila Sunrise, both which I'd loved to have heard. But that's just being greedy now. Hell we got 2 James Gang songs, a Joe Walsh solo track, 2 of Henley's solo tracks and 8 tracks off the new CD in addition to all the classics. That's enough to fill the 3 hour 15 minute set easily.
