Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 96

Thread: Niagara Falls 08-24-11

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Where Faulkner collides with Elvis
    Posts
    33,663

    Default Niagara Falls 08-24-11

    This sucker is long so I decided to give it its own thread. Here we go!

    Could this night be better than last night, we all wondered? Well, we were about to find out. In my humble opinion, the answer is YES!

    My seat was 3rd row center, next to Dreamer, PLS, and FP. GA was at the far end. GL and her husband were eighth row center; HH and her husband were at the front. HH did us proud, by the way, representin’ for the Border up in the front row and rockin’ out!

    As before, I'll let other folks tell you about their "special moments" themselves - don't want to steal anyone's thunder.

    The security seemed to be cracking down a bit on cameras, but I saw a guy in front of me surreptitiously filming at least part of the time. Perhaps it will show up on YouTube. One hopes!

    Glenn was dressed more casually, wearing black jeans and a brown coat with a shirt unbuttoned at the neck, no tie. He seemed very energetic and cheerful, smiling from the outset. As he came to the microphone, I realized that I was DEAD center in front of him and I couldn’t wipe the huge smile off my face. When he grinned back, I started laughing sheepishly because I felt a bit foolish, I was grinning so widely. I simply could not stop smiling. I was just so happy to be there!

    Even though it was the second night, it still felt fresh – especially since I had a different seat and a different perspective. The seats the first night had been great, but the view was sometimes a bit obstructed by the piano. Not so this night, especially as at the beginning the people in the second row in front of us did not arrive until the third song. Talk about a great view!

    There were some changes to the order of the setlist and the songs. Shockingly, he didn’t play his biggest solo hit “The Heat Is On.” I think that was probably going to be an encore that never materialized due to time constraints or whatever, since he played it as an encore last night and people ate it up. “Some Kind of Blue” and “Take It Easy” were added. I don’t know if he planned to do those last night and forgot/ran out of time (apparently they were quite rushed the first night; he said they didn’t even have time to rehearse the encore) or he just decided he missed the songs and wanted to add them back! Anyway, I liked the order much better this time. “Lyin’ Eyes” is a fabulous song everyone loves, but I think it’s better earlier in the set rather than as the last song.

    The fact that the setlist was a bit different was a special treat for people who were there both nights! Kept us guessing!

    The audience this night was also more energetic and into it. Lots of chair dancing and the occasional standing ovation – plus a stage rush at the end! Woot! Just like running up at the end of a Stevie Nicks show for “Edge of Seventeen”! To the women who started that stage rush – I salute you!

    Here’s the rundown:

    Glenn came out to thunderous applause and went right into Peaceful Easy Feeling. He sounded magnificent from the get-go. After the song, he said that he was a having a great time. “I probably should just move here and play 20 nights in a row,” he joked. I was thinking “I would have to move here, too, then.” lol He then said he had an “eclectic set” and that those of us who had been to the show the night before would notice there were some differences. At that point, he asked how many people had been there the night before. When so many of us on Row 3 (all ladies) raised our hands, he joked there were “six women” who had come both nights. Someone – HH? – yelled “Seven” and he laughed and said “Yes, seven women.”

    Then, he transitioned into the next song by saying he was going to play some songs from his “checkered past” and then his “not too bright future” which garnered a big “AW” from the audience. Yeah, I get it, self-deprecating humor… but my reaction was still along the lines of “Not too bright future? WhatEVER!”

    The next moment I was swept away into the awesomeness that is Take It to the Limit, however! He sung it with a lot of spirit. I know I’ve said it a million times but I love this song so much! I've never yet been to a show where this song hasn't been terrifically performed and everyone was loving it.

    After that, he went over to the piano and sat down. As he prepared to play, he said, “My mother insisted I take piano lessons.” That got cheers as obviously those lessons garnered impressive results! The mention of his mom apparently inspired him to quickly tell the “I’m from Detroit where mother is half a word” joke. At that point, he sniffled a bit and said, “I’m either allergic to money or someone in the first two rows has some bad cocaine. I have the sniffles.” That got laughs, of course. He then said, “Here’s a song we didn’t do last night. This is from an album I did called Soul Searchin’. This song is called ‘Some Kind of Blue.’” It was perfection! After the song, he said “I’m sure you’re all going to want to buy my Soul Searchin’ album now.” He paused as folks cheered, then said wryly, “It’s out of print.”

    Next, Al Garth started up that familiar sax line for The One You Love. People started clapping immediately. Glenn sang it very soulfully. He sounded amazing. He had sung well the night prior, but his voice was even stronger this night and he seemed more confident, too.

    Then, it was off of the piano again as the strains of Silent Spring played (our lone Strange Weather representative, if you can count it), and he grabbed the guitar to begin Tequila Sunrise. It was lovely as always.

    After that song, he began talking about the Eagles would be doing for their 40th anniversary. Now, he had actually mentioned some of this the first night, but he had prefaced it with “Don’t go tell people in an internet chatroom that Glenn said the Eagles would be doing this.” I heard that and I’m going “What’s up with that? Does he mean the message board? And if he doesn’t want the info shared why is he saying it in front of 1500 people?” I was majorly confused, so I figured I’d play it safe and not mention it in the review. However, last night, he didn’t say anything about chatrooms, and I think I figured out what he meant the first night. I think he was worried that we would say that the Eagles were definitely doing this, when it was just a possibility. Therefore, let me make clear that Glenn did not say the Eagles WOULD be doing it… just that they MIGHT be doing it.

    So, without further ado, here is what he said:

    “Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the first year of the Eagles getting a record out.” He paused. “It turned out pretty good for me, actually,” he smiled. “So we’re trying to figure out what to do for the 40th anniversary of the Eagles besides just…” at this point someone yelled “TOUR!” And he said, “Yes, tour! You must know the other guys in the band.” We all laughed. “Anyway, we’re working on a DVD – The History of the Eagles – which we will hopefully put out next year. It will clear up a lot of misconceptions and lies that have been spread all around about us over the years… about feuds… all that kind of stuff. So actually, it has a lot of interviews, biography type stuff, should be an interesting project. So I said to the guys in band, ‘Well, maybe we should record some songs that were done by the guys that came before us, the bands that we really admire… the Byrds, the Beach Boys…' so we started talking about it and I’m not sure we’re gonna do it, but I hope we do.”

    So that’s the Eagles news! However, in the context of the show, all of that was the preface to his introduction of the next song. He continued that the band was still discussing it, but “in the meantime, I said, ‘Well, heck, let’s at least see what a couple of these things sound like.' So, we recorded a song just about a week ago and we’re gonna do it for you now. The song is written by Neil Young. Neil Young is one of my favorite Canadians, along with Martin Short, Leonard Cohen,” he paused. “Those are the only people I can think of right now. But… anyway… we decided to record it. The story goes that Neil Young wrote it, they recorded it, and then he quit the band – Buffalo Springfield was only together for about a year and a half – so Richie Furay had to sing the song ‘cause Neil wasn’t around. So we’re going to do it for you now. This is called ‘On the Way Home.’” Now, the first night was the first time I had ever heard this song, so I was like “Hmm, what’s this?” at that point. I was so surprised that I didn’t really have a chance to listen carefully, although I enjoyed it! Well, this second night, I did listen carefully and I liked it even more!

    After this song was where Dreamer, PLS, and I got our shout-out!
    “Nice to see everybody in Row 3 tonight,” he said, then looked at us and smiled. “Girls,” he nodded at us. We squealed with delight, lol. He continued, for the benefit of the audience, “Those are three girls I met at Pebble Beach when I was playing in the Pebble Beach pro-am. On a rainy, rainy 50-degree day, there’s three girls following me and Craig Stadler around and God, they’re getting soaking wet! I’m thinking, ‘What is going on?’” He was grinning widely and we were just dying!!! We didn’t expect that but we were lovin’ it, as you can imagine! He added there were “also a couple of other ladies here tonight that we saw all over Europe this summer” – I think those might have been the ladies next to me. They knew all the words to the songs and were obviously total hardcores just like we were!

    Then he started playing You Are Not Alone. This song is so lovely, and I had a bit of a flashback to when I heard it the first time in Niagara Falls in 2007. I’ll never forget that night!

    At this point, he started talking about his new album that he had been working on for the last year and a half with “some of the guys up here and other musicians in L.A.” He said, “I hesitate to call it a standards album, but it’s an album that explores a lot of songs and singers that I loved from the 1920s to the early 1960s. Stuff like Dinah Washington, who is my favorite female singer of that era, and Nat King Cole, Burt Bacharach, stuff like that. We’ve had a lot of fun recording it. It’s called After Hours and we’re going to share a couple of these songs with you now.” Realizing that most of the audience wasn’t expecting to hear songs like that, he said “We appreciate your indulgence and then we’ll get back to the cowboy dream crap.” He said the latter with a twinkle in his eye and everybody laughed.

    And thus it was time for Route 66. Very jazzy! He did his dancing again tonight and this time I could see Glenn getting down and getting funky full-on as opposed to an obstructed side view! Nice! He cried out “jitterbug!” at one point. I don’t know if that’s what he was trying to do but whatever it was, it was really cute. I was certainly chair-dancing! This is another song I appreciated even more tonight than last night. He got a standing ovation from a few of us for it. He probably wondered whether we were giving him an ovation for his singing or for the way he was shakin’ it – on my part, at least, it was a combination of the two!

    The next song was Shadow of Your Smile. I was eager to hear it again because the first night it was very hot, and It was even hotter this night! The way he sang “A teardrop kissed your lips… and so did I…” holy crap, it was sexy. We gave him a standing ovation for this one, too. Now, I didn’t want to be that person who gives a standing ovation for every song because that kind of cheapens the idea of the standing ovation, and we had just given him one…. but dang, this song was so smokin’ I couldn’t help but get to my feet again! I actually fanned myself and I don’t know if Glenn saw it or not, but he did look pleased by the audience reaction.

    Then it was time for Caroline No. He introduced it with, “I’m going to do a song now… I didn’t just do songs from the 50s and early 60s. I did a couple songs that are a little more recent, too. I’m going to do two of them for you right now. First is a song recorded by the Beach Boys.” Such a wistful song! I love the way he sings “You break my heart… I want to go and cry…” It’s interesting to compare it with the way Tim does it – Tim’s voice on this is very sweet and pure, which gives his version a sense of “innocence lost.” With Glenn, it’s more of a vibe of impassioned, anguished grief. Interesting how the tone of the vocal can give the lyrics a different nuance. I’ve never heard the original so I don’t know which is closer to Wilson’s interpretation, but I enjoy both Tim’s and Glenn’s versions in different ways.

    He introduced The Look of Love by saying he had always been a big Burt Bacharach fan and he named some Bacharach songs he liked such as “Say a Little Prayer,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “Town Without Pity,” and “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” (I’ve always loved that last one)! He sang it with a smooth, mellow vibe.

    Just when some of the men in the audience were starting to get antsy with all the love songs, he made ‘em happy by pulling out Lyin’ Eyes to great applause. This one is a hit every time! He was so cute mouthing “much” after “she won’t have to worry.” Love it!

    After this song, some random dude who is apparently very confident in his masculinity yelled out “PLAY IT BABY!” Glenn heard it and said to the band, “Play it loud for that guy back there!”

    Smuggler’s Blues
    was the slow version again. OK, I have a confession to make. As much as I have complained about it in the past, I found myself getting into it this time. It does have a bit of a funky groove that pulls you in. Still, it’s better as a rocker, IMHO!

    Then, he started introducing the wrong song! He starting talking about Jack Tempchin and Bobby Whitlock writing the next song and he was naming several songs Tempchin wrote or co-wrote when suddenly he stopped and said “Oh, no, I’m wrong! Wrong story! Sorry! This next song is actually by Eddie Hinton…” as everyone chuckled, he said with a smile, “Hey, at least I won’t have to introduce the song after this!” It was I’ll Come Runnin’ Back to You. You can tell Glenn has a lot of fun with this song!

    Now it was time for the song he’d originally been introducing before, Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed. He said, “Now, THIS song was written by Jack Tempchin and Bobby Whitlock… but of course you already knew that!” The song was great – the crowd was really getting into it, especially some of the guys in front of me who perhaps could relate. lol Glenn’s growly vocal was hot, and he also played a guitar solo on it. I love it when he does that!

    He went back over to the piano to play You Belong to the City. Introducing it, he said that now he was coming to what he called the “throat killer” portion of the show. “These are songs that I sang perfectly the day we recorded them, but I was a lot younger. Anyway…” With such an intro, I figured he must be nervous about hitting all the notes , and I wondered if he would fall back on the falsetto. Sure enough he did, but it was only for the bridge, and the song still rocks! (Personally, I think he should talk the bridge until he gets to “You still don’t know where you’re going.” I’ve heard him do that before and it works.) Regardless, the song always gets a huge response. It has such a sense of drama to it; the way it builds, the way Glenn ‘tells’ the story as he sings, the amazing interplay between Danny Grenier on guitar and Al Garth on sax… I love intense songs like that.

    Afterwards, he commented, “It’s nice when there’s other guys singing lead every now and then!” and smiled wryly. Then, he grabbed a lemon section from where he keeps his water and stuff. He showed it to the audience and explained, “Salt on a lemon. I don’t recommend it, but I saw the Beatles do it on Let It Be. It’s supposed to open your voice up.” He held it up to his mouth, paused, and said with mock seriousness, “This is ugly. I don’t want you to look.” He turned his back and sucked on the lemon, then wheeled around to face us with his mouth all puckered up! Everybody was cracking up. He laughed and said, “It’s probably not gonna work worth a darn.”

    Well, he might have been a bit hesitant to let loose on “You Belong to the City,” but that lemon must have given him what he needed, because he held nothing back for Heartache Tonight. He hit this one out of the park! He got a standing ovation after this, and as he walked out, people were hooting and hollering for more.

    Before the encore, there was a stage rush! Sweet! I got a position behind a couple rows of people at the stage. Several other Borderers got closer to the middle but I was the last out of the row and too slow, lol. Still, I could easily see Glenn up close – I can’t complain!

    I tried to listen extra carefully for the bass player’s name during the band intros and it sounded like “Wade Berry.” Still, it was hard to make out, so I did a little web research and found out the guy is named Wade Biery. His blog is here if you want to check him out: http://www.stillmusic.com/wordpress/ and he has an entry specific to Glenn here: http://www.stillmusic.com/wordpress/?p=242

    Glenn shot into Take It Easy and I have to admit I was glad it was back! Yeah, it’s been played a gazillion times, but it’s such a freaking awesome song and it’s undeniably a signature song for Glenn. It's also a nice nod to "how it all started." It only felt right to have it in the set.

    After the cheers for that crowd-pleaser died down, he introduced the next song with “This song was originally recorded by Smiley Lewis. They stole his publishing and he wasn’t smiling anymore.” Ouch! “I learned this from Dave Edmunds,” he continued as the band kicked into gear. It is, of course, I Hear You Knockin’! Folks were rocking out to it. Great for an encore!

    Now, he’d done two encores the night before and he hadn’t yet played The Heat Is On, so I figured surely he’d be back. Sadly, that was not to be. After several minutes of the crowd begging for more, the lights came up and that was that. I guess he ran out of time.

    Well, it was an incredible show and I loved every minute of it. If Glenn does this again, I’ll be there… but of course, you already knew that, didn’t you?

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

  2. #2
    Stuck on the Border WalshFan88's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    11,238

    Default Re: Niagara Falls 08-24-11

    VERY cool Soda!!!! Great review!

    I'm excited about that DVD tour and the tour. I'll be there if they come to Chicago again.
    -Austin-
    Resident Guitar Slinger
    Fan of the Eagles from 1972-2016 #NOGLENNNOEAGLES

    RIP Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner

    "So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key..."


  3. #3
    Stuck on the Border luvthelighthouse's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    1,617

    Default Re: Niagara Falls 08-24-11

    Seriously, an awesome recap of what was clearly an amazing night! I know that Glenn telling the entire room how he came to meet you ladies at Pebble Beach is a tatoo on your memory of life. Wow!

    I love that he did so much talking! Love more, that you remembered it all. As for the Eagles stuff... I hope it's true. That DVD would be fantastic!

    Thanks for the details! Did you ladies get any pics together?

  4. #4
    Border Rebel Windeagle's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    New England
    Posts
    666

    Default Re: Niagara Falls 08-24-11

    Thank you so much for such detailed reviews. I recently read the Pebble Beach thread so I knew the story. You all must've been floored! Wow!

    What an awesome trip!

  5. #5
    Border Desperado
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Gaston,Indiana
    Posts
    178

    Default Re: Niagara Falls 08-24-11

    Sounds like a great time. I love reading your reviews. It gives me something to enjoy while doing rehab for my new knee. I will be purchasing Glenn's new cd when it is available. Intrigued about the Dvd of the history of the Eagles. Having Glenn give all of you a shout out it fantastic. Wish he could do a show closer to Indiana; would be great for me.

  6. #6
    Stuck on the Border Koala's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    9,204

    Default Re: Niagara Falls 08-24-11

    Thank's so much for your detailed terrific review, Soda! I have enjoyed again very much to read them!
    WOW! These two nights have to be really unforgettable all those special moments for you all!
    "For the record, we never broke up, we just took a 14-year vacation!"
    (Glenn Frey)


  7. #7
    Border Troubadour Annabel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Sunset Grill South Coast, England
    Posts
    1,159

    Default Re: Niagara Falls 08-24-11

    Well another amazing night for you by the sounds of it. Pleased it all went well and great mention for the 3 of you. Wow. Looking forward to hearing from the others too. Great news about a dvd snd here's to the UK being in any tour.
    Melanie



  8. #8
    Administrator sodascouts's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Where Faulkner collides with Elvis
    Posts
    33,663

    Default Re: Niagara Falls 08-24-11

    Quote Originally Posted by luvthelighthouse View Post
    Did you ladies get any pics together?
    We did, but I told everybody - no posting any photos of me unless I see them first!

    Quote Originally Posted by EaglesKiwi
    So, on to the big question: you said he was having fun, but - was he flirting??
    Hey, when Glenn Frey turns on the charm, he becomes an irresistible force! He had everybody eating out of the palm of his hand! Even the guys get charmed - moreso by his humor than any flirting, though, lol. Oh, and BTW, it helps that he's awesomely talented. lol

    Always in our hearts, Never forgotten

  9. #9
    Stuck on the Border GlennLover's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    New Brunswick, Canada
    Posts
    5,912

    Default Re: Niagara Falls 08-24-11

    Quote Originally Posted by sodascouts View Post
    We did, but I told everybody - no posting any photos of me unless I see them first!


    Hey, when Glenn Frey turns on the charm, he becomes an irresistible force! He had everybody eating out of the palm of his hand! Even the guys get charmed - moreso by his humor than any flirting, though, lol.
    He wasn't half way through the 1st song when Harold leaned over to me & said emphatically - "fantastic". That surprised me. He liked Glenn but, he now has a real appreciation of his great talent!

  10. #10
    Moderator Brooke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Down some endless road just south of nowhere (Missouri)
    Posts
    21,495

    Default Re: Niagara Falls 08-24-11

    Guess what? I checked out my Buffalo Springfield cd and it has On The Way Home on it!! I'm listening to it right now! Great song! I can just hear Glenn singing it!

    And yes, surely you all will share a group pic of you! It's a historic happening for The Border! An international meeting! Proof you all were really there!
    https://i.imgur.com/CuSdAQM.jpg
    "They will never forget you 'till somebody new comes along"
    1948-2016 Gone but not forgotten

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •