Hi from MN

[whitcap]

Welcome to the Border

[sodascouts]

Mike, did this happen at your concert? I swear I remember this....yet it doesn't seem like something they'd do. It seems as vivid to me as anything else I remember about that concert. I swear they had HC albums at the concert and they told us that if we bought the album there they would sign it, and I didn't have any extra money. I was a little bummed, but not smart enough then to know what I was missing, and we just left. I would give one of my body parts for that experience now.

How cool would that have been??? Dang!

I envy you guys who got to see the Eagles in the 70s.

[MikeA]

Judy,

I can't remember them offering to sign albums at the show. For Cryin' Out Loud, I don't even remember the concessions!

We were at a small round college basketball stadium and the back part (behind the stage) was closed off. They didn't have the fancy lighting or multimedia presentations back then. They just came out on stage. Meisner on the left, then Glenn, then Don when he wasn't back with his kit, Don Felder and on a stool over on the far right was this longhaired dude, unpretentuously hunched over a guitar and playing the hell out of it.

Glenn introduced the band and when he got to Joe, he said something like "This is a special concert for us because this is the first tour that this Wichita Native has been with us. Ladies and Gentlemen: Mr Joe Walsh!" Henry Levitt Arena just about imploded at that time and Joe "woke up".

They played a lot of their better known songs from the Earlier Albums and took a break. When they came back, they played songs from "Hotel California" and I don't recall any on the album they didn't play. It was undoubtedly the best concert (Eagles or otherwise) that I've ever attended. I just wish I had a boot of that performance because after almost 40 years (35 anyway) my memory fades. But I seriously doubt anyone got a boot of it...even if they had had the technology, They would have most likely burned it to destroy incriminating evidence!

I had no extra money either back then and I already had the album and had burned it to cassette so I wouldn't wear the grooves out on the vinyl. Anyway, I didn't have money for tee-shirts or anything else...I just paid for the tickets and found my seat and proceeded to get blown away.

[Judy]

I don't remember concession stands, either. I wasn't smart enough to think of it back then. They announced the album signing thing when they were playing. Now that you mention the other HC songs, I really liked Wasted Time. I don't remember if they played Last Resort. I like the HFO version better than the original, though. Honestly, I can't be sure if it was Joe or Bernie there. Do you remember what date your concert was?

[Judy]

I envy you guys who got to see the Eagles in the 70s.

I feel blessed to have grown up with the Eagles. If I'm ever uptight or need calming down or beng stuck in traffic is driving me crazy, I just throw on some Eagles or Don and everything is all right.

[MikeA]

I don't remember concession stands, either. I wasn't smart enough to think of it back then. They announced the album signing thing when they were playing. Now that you mention the other HC songs, I really liked Wasted Time. I don't remember if they played Last Resort. I like the HFO version better than the original, though. Honestly, I can't be sure if it was Joe or Bernie there. Do you remember what date your concert was?

I'm pretty sure it was either October, November or December of 1976. For some reason, I'm thinking it was October. I was going through a really tough time back then and had just moved to Wichita. I think my ex-wife was with me and I know I was wishing that I wasn't there with her. That would have made it in October but that sounds too early in the year. I think I looked it up once and Wichita was only the 3rd or 4th stop on the Hotel California tour. I know they'd been in St Louis and Maybe Kansas City before Wichita.



That doesn't JIVE with what I see in Wikipedia though:

The album wasn't released until December of '76 but they were playing cuts off of it before that! That's my story and I'm stickin' with it!

"The Eagles embarked on a world tour in March 1977 that began with a month in the U.S., followed by a month in Europe and the Far East, then returned to the U.S. in May for stadium dates. At the end of the tour in September, Randy Meisner left the band; he was replaced by Timothy B. Schmit (born in Sacramento, CA, November 20, 1947), formerly of Poco, in which he also had replaced Meisner. "

I know that isn't the complete story because if I'd seen them in '77, it would have been with my wife of 34 years and we got married in 1977! They must have done a series of concerts before going on that World Tour. Maybe someone else here can straighten out that schedule.

Bernie wasn't there <sob>. I never saw Bernie when he was with them. Randy was though. And I've seen Timothy much more recently of course. But to have seen Randy and Don Felder with them before they resigned, got fired or were run off <LOL> was something I treasure.

[sodascouts]

They were indeed playing tracks from Hotel California just before its release. In the Houston 1976 bootleg I have which was recorded on November 6, they played Hotel California and Wasted Time.

According to this site, they played Wichita on November 15, 1976. Sounds like that was your show. Guess your memory's not too shabby!

[Judy]

Well then, I guess it was Joe and I missed Bernie, too. I don't seem to remember the curly hair. Except on Don, of course.

Good find, by the way. It amazes me how you find all this stuff.

[MikeA]

They were indeed playing tracks from Hotel California just before its release. In the Houston 1976 bootleg I have which was recorded on November 6, they played Hotel California and Wasted Time.

According to this site, they played Wichita on November 15, 1976. Sounds like that was your show. Guess your memory's not too shabby!

Had to be it Nancy. Verna and I were "together" by the end of the year and since the Eagles were one of her favorite groups, we always regretted that she and I didn't make that concert together. We made up for it when they started touring in 2001 though. Traveled all over the country attending concerts.

But there wouldn't ever be anything like the Hotel California tour again. The album was released in December and within a week was Platinum. The guys knew they had something really special with that one!

Oh, Judy, Joe replaced Bernie in '75. It took them a while to get Hotel California ready for release. And took even longer to release "The Long Run."

[Judy]

But there wouldn't ever be anything like the Hotel California tour again. The album was released in December and within a week was Platinum. The guys knew they had something really special with that one!

Now I'm more convinced than ever that it was real. They said it wasn't out in the stores yet and they were selling it there (HC). Was that legal? That wouldn't be legal now, right? Just like a store, they couldn't sell before street date?