Chicago, IL 9-24-08, 9-25-08

[DonFan]

At last--a favorable review by the Chicago SouthTown Star:

BY STEVE METSCH, Staff Writer
The Eagles is "the band that would not die," Glenn Frey jokingly told their United Center audience Wednesday night.

In fact, they are not only alive and well, but in fine form, too, knocking out 30 songs over the course of their three-hour concert. Frey and his bandmates - Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit and the irrepressible Joe Walsh cruised through songs from their 2007 release, the two-CD "Long Road Out of Eden," and dug into their 1970s catalog for huge hits, before turning their second set into an episode of "Joe Gone Wild."

The four core Eagles members were joined by nine backup musicians, including a four-man brass section that brought new sounds to familiar songs. The band opened with their big "How Long" and three other new songs, giving each a chance to tackle the lead vocal slot. An attempt to soothe egos in a band famed for its fighting? Who cares? They all sounded terrific.
Besides, time heals.

Frey, 60, called Henley "my friend since 1971," and talked in glowing terms of how they wrote "Lyin' Eyes" in two days. "Now," Frey said, "that would probably take two years."

Noting how the band began 37 years ago, Henley introduced "The Long Run" as "our theme song" and invited fans to sing along. The first set was heavy on ballads, including "I Can't Tell You Why" and "I Don't Want to Hear Any More," both featuring Schmit's beautiful vocals. Yes, Schmidt, 60, still effortlessly hits high notes. And, yes, he still has his trademark flowing locks.

The first set offered hints of what was to come when Walsh grabbed the spotlight with a fun new song, "Guilty of the Crime," and a rollicking version of "In the City" that had him playing solos off the bold brass section.

After a lengthy break - maybe the band was watching the White Sox and Cubs games as many fans were in the concourse - the Eagles returned--with the lovely harmonies of "No More Walks in the Woods." These guys may disagree, but they sure sing well together.

A few songs later, it was time for Walsh to steal the spotlight with sizzling solos on "Long Walk Out of Eden," Henley's biting political criticism of the war in Iraq. Then it was time to unleash Walsh. As always, the life of the party was up to the task.

The band went way back into Walsh's musical history with "Walk Away," a 1971 release from his James Gang days. Frey tried to match Walsh, 60, note for note at the start of "Funk #49," another James Gang song, before playfully tossing up his hands and conceding.

Among the night's many highlights was "Life's Been Good," Walsh's solo hit from 1978. The amusing indictment of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle was made even more enjoyable with video clips of the band through the years, and with his "the helmet cam," a videocamera mounted atop a hard hat that took shots of the audience that were beamed to three video screens.
Walsh's enthusiasm and superb playing seemed to inspire the entire band to rock a bit harder. "One of These Nights" never sounded better.--The same goes for "Heartache Tonight."

Henley took the spotlight with a dead-on takes of "The Boys of Summer" and "Hotel California," and his poke at the media, "Dirty Laundry." The Eagles had fun with that song, showing real tabloid headines along with phony magazine covers featuring stories like, "Monkey Sues Joe Walsh" and "Don Henley Solves Global Warming."

Frey handled most of the banter, telling fans--"Lyin' Eyes" was "about my first wife, 'Plaintiff,'" leading the horn section through some funky dance steps, and calling "Take It to the Limit" the band's "credit card song." He sounded best on "Peaceful Easy Feeling." You could almost feel the warm California breeze.

After finishing with a hard-rockin' "Life in the Fast Lane," the band returned for its first encore: Walsh's Chicago classic rock radio staple "Rocky Mountain Way," and Henley's "All She Wants to Do is Dance," complete with a dazzling light show. The second encore was all-Eagles: the timeless "Take it Easy," with Frey on the lead, and "Desperado," powered by Henley.

My only beef?
I know bands have to sell new product, but it would've been nice to hear them rock out on "Already Gone." The good news is tickets are available for tonight's concert in what Frey jokingly called "the Eagles' Assisted Living Tour."

[DonFan]

Glad you had a great time at the show last night, Soda!

[sodascouts]

Looks like the meet'n'greet is not happening for me tonight, due to a misunderstanding and some lost e-mails.

I'm so upset, I don't even know if I'll go to the second show. i guess it depends on if I can get good seats or not. Something in the first three rows would go a long way towards making me smile again.

Scooby - to answer your question - I go alone to all my shows pretty much, unless I've gotten together with people beforehand so we can travel together. Almost always, there are fans who can meet up and have dinner or drinks with you. That's lots of fun! Totally worth it. PLUS, a single person has a better chance of getting good seats.

Waiting 'til the last minute is very scary though!

And MikeA - welcome! Good to see you 'round these parts!

[Prettymaid]

Well, I'm home from my first ever Eagles concert! I didn't take notes, so I'll just wing it.

Before the show
------------------
Soda, TBF and her hubby, my hubby and I met and had a quick dinner before the show. It was wonderful meeting you guys. It felt like I already knew you! Not knowing if I would see them again we said our goodbyes and headed for the concert. At this point it was going on 7:00 and Soda did not have a ticket for the show.

We arrived at the United Center and excitedly went to find our seats in row 20. We had speculated for weeks as to how close of a view we would have. We were pleasantly surprised that the stage appeared closer than we were expecting. I looked toward Sec.112 and saw TBF and her hubby. Looked like they had good seats, too.

About this time we saw Soda being shown to her seat. Yea! She got a ticket! We watched as she was shown to a Row 10 center aisle seat. Unbelievable, Soda! I'm still amazed at your good fortune.

Hubby and I visited more with Soda and with Maleah, who hadn't been able to have dinner with us, but was there in Row 5 wearing an awesome Eagles shirt she created herself. Maleah, it was very nice to meet you.

As it got closer to showtime we went back to our seats and chatted with our 'neighbors'. Thanks to The Border I felt like the 'Eagles expert' on the block!

To be continued...

[sodascouts]

It was great meeting up with you, your husband, Wille, her husband, and Maleah, I must say! You guys are fun people. I only wish we could have hung out longer - especially with Maleah, who I only got to talk to very briefly. So glad to meet you all though!

[Prettymaid]

Part 2 - The Show
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Soda has done a great job sharing some of the highlights with you. I may be repeating some, but here goes. Instead of breaking it down by song I will break it down by Eagle.

Glenn
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After welcoming Chicago to the Assisted Living Tour, he proceeded to tell us that we were welcome to take as many still photos as we wanted.(Darn, didn't bring the camera in with us. Maybe it was because of that little line on our tickets that read 'No Cameras Or Recorders'.
He also said "Please don't film us. We don't go to your jobs and film you while you're doing paperwork or pounding nails."

He introduced PEF as a good 'ole California country song.

I love what he does to the vocal on Somebody.

As you already know by now, we got 2 encores! I was thrilled and Glenn must have been, too 'cuz all he did was dance during ASWTDID! (I thought of you, Brooke!)

To be continued...

[Brooke]

Soda, I'm so sorry about the meet & greet. That just totally sucks!

Man, you have nerves of steel to not have had a ticket until after 7 last night. Very cool you came up with such a good one. Go ahead and go tonight. It'll make you feel much better.

PM, it is cool that you were known as resident Eagle Expert! I was the same way in StL! Knowing which songs will be played and encore songs and just little tid-bits here and there is fun! I told one of my seat neighbors that I was a bit obsessed.

Wonderful that you guys got 2 encores, too. And you got to see Glenn dance!

To anyone going tonight-ROCK ON!

[Prettymaid]

Part 3
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Don
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When it was Don's turn to say hello, he said, "How about those Cubbies!" to a chorus of cheers and boos. He jokingly said, "...and goodnight everybody...", as I'm sure he could tell that he'd offended some. But I enjoyed his good natured humor.

I loved Don's vocals on WW AND OOTN. It was awesome to hear those strong falsettos live. Just as good now as when he recorded them!

Toward the end of the 2nd set, I think during a Glenn lead song, perhaps Heartache Tonight, I looked at Don and he was smiling. It was just a captured moment when I saw that he was having a really good time.

Timothy
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On his first song, IDWTHA, I thought Timothy's live voice sounded different from his recorded voice, maybe a little strained. Hubby thought maybe he had a cold.

ICTYW AND LWKUA were both stronger, with LWKUA being the best, IMO.

Just a note - LWKUA has one of my favorite Eagles guitar solos in it but for some reason Steuart has changed it. (My memory is failing me today... it was either LWKUA or ICTYW, they both have great guitar work. He should have left it alone.)

You can really feel Timothy's love. He makes everyone in that audience feel appreciated.

To be continued...

[Molly]

Glad you had a good time, ladies!

Two encores...<Sigh>...I don't think I'm going to get that lucky in Green Bay.

I'm glad you got such great seats, Nancy. I've learned my lesson, and next time I'm going to try to have the nerves of steel needed and do the last minute thing. I could kick myself for jumping at tickets too quickly in Milwaukee.

Good luck with tonight's ticket prospects.

[Prettymaid]

Part 4
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Joe
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Joe being my favorite Eagle, I watched him the most. From the very first song, How Long, I was surprised at what a stoic look he kept on his face. I 'felt' like he was in a bad mood.

Guilty of the Crime went over well with the crowd, however I would have rather heard Last Good Time in Town.

I guess it goes without being said, but hearing the guitar work live throughout HC , particularly at the end, was like dying and going to heaven.

In The City - The crowd thought Boys Of Summer, played prior to this song, was a waker upper, they hadn't seen nothin' yet! ( Sorry Don fans!)

Walk Away - Finally Joe smiled (even showed some teeth!) during my all time favorite Joe song. Yes, I guess I can finally tip my hand since it was voted off of Survivor while I was enjoying it live. Oh, the humanity!

I read a previous post answering perhaps why Joe put his jacket back on late in the show. I knew Don would - he does for Desperado. But I was surprised when Joe did.

Rick, buddy, I thought of you when they came out for their first encore and did RMW. Why did they give us two encores? We'll probably never know. I guess Joe was feeling the love.

Summary
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I really don't like the suits. I think they actually take away from a perfect concert experience. I also wish they looked like they were having more fun. Maybe from Soda's and Maleah's perspective it was different. That being said, it was a great concert. They do an amazing job of recreating the warm fuzzy feelings their songs gave us throughout our lives, the harmonies washing over you like a warm summer breeze. It was a night to remember.