Charlotte, NC 1-14-09

[GlennLover]

I agree that Glenn should get much more recognition for his musical abilities. Sometimes I think that he is just taken for granted, that he is expected to be good (i.e., as good as he is on their albums) & he has been such a consistent performer over the years that his abilities aren't mentioned. If he gave a less than great performance we would probably hear about it. Just MHO.

As for his comic relief, he cracks me up too. I was really disapointed when he didn't do his plaintiff joke at the concert that I saw. I find myself chuckling outloud when I listen to his Foxsboro & Casino Rama concerts, and that is something that is unusual for me.

[sodascouts]

I don't know if this is a review per se but it has some interesting thoughts:

Flashbacks

At the beginning of a semester, I attended a staff development session about the different generations in America--ranging from the Veterans (my parents' generation) to Baby Boomers (me) then the Gen X-ers (my baby sister and my daughter) and the Milliennials (my younger son and my current students--at least the ones of traditional college age.) The sociologists may question the dividing lines and cut-off dates, but the descriptors intrigued me. The implications for faculty made up of about 3/4 Baby Boomers teaching Millenials were challenging, to say the least.

This past week, my husband and I went to Charlotte, NC, with another couple to see the Eagles in concert (not the Philadelphia football team). I had last seen them live in 1975, standing in my chair on the second row in Nashville, TN, for most of the show. While I was looking forward to the show, I was overwhelmed by the performance.

I'll admit, Glen Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy Smith, members from the seventies, looked older--no surprise--and wore black suits, white shirts, and black ties, almost an early Beatles look. The one thing that hadn't changed was the quality of their voices. They put on an almost-three-hour show and sang both their old songs from their Grammy-nominated (as they continued to remind us) album Long Way to Eden to their classics--"Peaceful, Easy Feeling," "Life in the Fast Lane," "Hotel California." The tight harmony and the instrumental versatility of the band showed them to be more than fluff.

Going into the arena, I accurately predicted the encore songs: "Desperado" and "Take It Easy." While the audience was packed with all age groups, we Boomers were in the majority. We knew all the words and got all the jokes. For those three hours, we were transported to our college days--"Lying Eyes," "Take It to the Limit," and "Witchy Woman."

In fact, the Eagles spent some time in my hometown back when I was in high school. At the time, the Muscle Shoals Sound drew all the great recording artists--the Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, Joe Cocker, and Kris Kristofferson, to name a few. My best friend Debbie somehow ran into the Eagles while they were in town and ended up driving them to buy socks. They gave her a set of drumsticks. Back then we were exposed to so many big musicians that we at least pretended not to be fazed by them.

I realized during the concert that we had such great lyricists writing "our music." I wonder how much the switch from albums to CDs has affected the literacy level of liner notes. Now that most people just download their music, I wonder if we'll lose that quirky little genre. If I were younger (i.e., my eyes were better), I might be able to peruse the CD liners notes more easily. Now I need a magnifying glass. I've noticed that many don't even print the lyrics of the songs, much less other clever text.

During the concert, I recalled the first year I taught high school when some of my students had the lyrics from an Eagle song --I think it was "Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?"--and were trying to trace the literary allusions. And it wasn't an English class assignment. I hope that urge hasn't disappeared. After all, our best songwriters are some of the poets of our day, letting us create our own music videos in our heads.

- http://discriminatingreader.blogspot.com/

[EagleLady]

They could've spelled Glenn's name right

[Peekaboo]

That was really interesting read. Thanks Soda. Sounds like this lady had a pretty great time at the concert. But the one thing that really caught my attention and made me re-read the sentence was when she mentioned her friend giving the Eagles a ride to go buy socks. What?!! To buy sock?!! Okay i'm not saying i wouldn't drive the guys anywhere they wanted to go but of all things, she drove them to buy socks. I just thought that was kinda funny.

[Freypower]

I agree that Glenn should get much more recognition for his musical abilities. Sometimes I think that he is just taken for granted, that he is expected to be good (i.e., as good as he is on their albums) & he has been such a consistent performer over the years that his abilities aren't mentioned. If he gave a less than great performance we would probably hear about it. Just MHO.

As for his comic relief, he cracks me up too. I was really disapointed when he didn't do his plaintiff joke at the concert that I saw. I find myself chuckling outloud when I listen to his Foxsboro & Casino Rama concerts, and that is something that is unusual for me.

He is far more spontaneous in solo shows than he is with the Eagles. He won't talk nearly as much with the Eagles as he does at solo shows.

[GlennLover]

It seems that even though he is the one that does most of the talking (as MC) in the Eagles concerts, he doesn't want to take attention away from the other members of the band & keeps the "chatter" (as he called it when I saw them) to a minimum. Glenn seems to go out of his way to give credit to the rest of the band, including Will, Scott, Steuart, etc.

I would die to see his solo show.

Also FP, I love your "Born With Charisma". That is sooooo true .

[Freypower]

Thanks. The phrase was actually coined by Bob Lefsetz several years ago. I 'adopted' it.

[DonFan]

Now THIS is a good review--from the Charleston City Paper:

The Eagles
Fri. Jan. 16
North Charleston Coliseum

White shirts, charcoal suits, and ties ... not quite a page from the Jake and Elwood Blues style book (no shades), but the Eagles looked dapper enough to get into any swank restaurant, thank you very much. They're not kids anymore — nor was much of their audience on Friday night — but they weren't afraid to show it. After 30 years and more than 100 million in album sales, like the man said, they have earned the right.

Of course, you don't hear blues or jazz musicians taken to task over their maturity. We assume that they just get better with some miles on them. No, this is what a classic FM rock band endures because rock is no sleek ride but a muscle car roaring with lead-footed excess.

The point isn't lost on the Eagles themselves. "We're the band that would not die," Glenn Frey quipped. And the sell-out crowd, many of them enjoying deja vu of summers long past, could not have been happier.
The Eagles gave them what they came for: songs from their catalog like "Witchy Woman," "Lyin' Eyes," and "Take it to the Limit," along with hits from their solo careers, Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer," and "Dirty Laundry," Joe Walsh's spirited "Life's Been Good." They played eight songs from the 2007 album Long Road Out of Eden, demonstrating that creativity really is a renewable resource.

The second half of the show opened with the band seated, jackets off, getting down to business with ringing harmonies. Behind them, an arched projection screen reminiscent of the Hollywood Bowl displayed mini-films. Far from distracting, these genuinely added to the evening's performance, giving us among other things home-movie like footage of the band that was both nostalgic and funny.

In the '70s, L.A.'s Laurel Canyon neighborhood spawned the likes of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Jackson Browne. Spending a Friday night with the Eagles, we got to see that youthful talent take wing.

[TimothyBFan]

Nice, short and to the point!!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

How refreshing - a reviewer that understands he doesn't have to find something negative to say!