Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA - 7/19/13

[Windeagle]

Back from "intermission" for Part 2:

We stood up through most of the intermission because you could catch a bit of a breeze that way. The audience was drenched, and so were the guys! Their shirts were damp and sticking to them by the end of Set 1 - except Don, who, Texas boy that he is, seemed to be handling the heat with grace. He even mentioned at some point in Set 2 that it was just like Texas here tonight. They all (except Don) changed their shirts during intermission. When they came back out, Glenn introduced Set 2 as "the Comcast Weight Loss Program."

One other cute intermission item - Otis wandered out again near the end of intermission and was messing with something on the floor at the edge of the stage. The house lights went down and he looked up like a deer in the headlights, and FLED backstage, green sneakers flying. He's such a cute kid.

Anyway, the energy level in Set 2 was entirely different than Set 1, perhaps because Joe could now be let loose. He was rather restrained during Set 1, with Bernie taking many of the leads. I'm not going to talk about every song, but overall the mood was more playful and energetic. Here are some highlights:

- Timothy did his two songs, ICTYW and LWKUA, to great applause. I thought his voice was a little thin and reedy on the highs, but having never seen him before surgery, I really can't compare with any reliability. I'll leave it to those who know his voice better to judge. He did a great job, I thought, though he didn't look like he was happy with his performance on ICTYW. He frowned slightly when it was finished.

- Glenn talked about wanting to change the arrangement of one of their songs to be more like the Beach Boys "Barbara Ann", and then they went into "Heartache Tonight." I was expecting a COMPLETELY different arrangement of the song, but it wasn't as far off the record as I expected. Maybe a little slower and starker than usual, but by no means a drastic change. Everyone was up on their feet and singing along. And Glenn did the "knife in heart" thing at the end.

- Ah...THOSE SHOES! This had to be the best song of the night. Smokin' hot!! There was so much going on that I had no idea where to look. Joe and Steuart on the double talk-boxes. Glenn and Don center-stage looking like total rock stars, going toe-to-toe with identical rhythm guitar riffs and grinning madly. Glenn and Timothy sharing a mike and a laugh. At one point during the song, the "warm smell of colitas" rose up in the air between me and the stage, and apparently Glenn noticed. He picked his head up and sniffed, then grinned knowingly and looked back down, stealing a smirk and a quick comment over at Timothy. And all the while, that relentless bass-bass drum combination (DA-DUM, DA-DUM) drove into your bones so deep that you could feel it trying to change your heart's rhythm to its own.

- If "Those Shoes" was the best song of the night, "In the City" was a close #2. I learned with this song why the Eagles are the Eagles. I've heard Joe do this song solo a couple of times now, and I've heard Don and Glenn do Eagles songs solo as well, but it's just not the same. 1+1+1+1=247, where the Eagles are concerned. They are all great on their own, but something snaps into place with a brilliant flash of sound when they play together. They explode! And that's what they did here. Joe played an extended solo that brought me to my knees (or would have had there been room to kneel), and it was made all the more brilliant with the rhythm and harmonies that the guys laid behind him. And when he finished, he just walked away with a look that said, "Yeah, I got this," like it was nothing. I <3 Joe!

- I think it was around here that they did intros. Scott Crago, hometown boy from Wayland, MA, got a standing ovation. Glenn introduced Timothy as "the pride of Sacramento". Tim then introduced Glenn as "the Maestro" and "our fearless leader" (accompanied by much self-preening from Glenn) and the usual comments about Detroit - to which Glenn replied that he wants to let his hometown know that "money isn't everything and bankruptcy can be a good thing. Maybe." or something like that. He then introduced Don, and Don introduced Joe as "the man who needs no introduction, being known to law enforcement and hotel maintenance workers worldwide."

- Mary already talked about "Life's Been Good," so I won't repeat it, except to say that Joe and Glenn were pretty playful with the last verse. Joe very sweetly replied "Who IIIISSS it?" to Glenn's doorbell harmonic, which made Glenn crack up, causing Joe to push further with "Come IIIIINNNNN!"

- Don talked a bit before "The Long Run" about how it had been a long run for them and they were happy to still be here and they're here because we, the fans, are still here. He then went on to talk about the Walden Woods Project, which has been running for 23 years now. He got a bit political here, talking about how the town of Concord, MA is refusing to sell a conservation easement and so on, and finished with a mention about global warming, but then he moved on and started the song. He was surprisingly playful, despite his soapbox-y introduction, laying his head on Joe's shoulder on the "debutantes" line, and looming over Joe like a hawk while he was playing the guitar solo.

- "Funk #49" and LITFL, back-to-back hard-rockers that left everyone drained and exhausted from dancing in the heat, closed out the set. At this point, I was out of water and very happy that the TBS group in front of us had left, because not only did I have a completely unobstructed view (YAY!!), I could lean on their seatbacks to hold myself up. I realized I was pretty dehydrated, but thought to myself that the only way I'd leave would be on a stretcher, so I decided that passing out from the heat just WASN'T going to happen. It just wasn't!

- My husband hates encores. He thinks it's a silly and manipulative tradition and should be done away with (he's not much of a concert-goer). I warned him on the way to the concert that there would be 2 encores, and that I expected him to suck it up and behave. He did. He loves me. Hotel California was the first encore and it was magnificent, as expected, though I think I would have been more into it if I hadn't been as heat-dazed as I was. At this point, I was feeding a bit off the energy of the guy next to me, who had apparently been waiting all night for HC and was singing along very enthusiastically.

- Second encore was TIE, RMW and Desperado, all of which were amazing. It was so great to see Bernie come out and play with them for these songs. I wondered at first why they broke the encores down that way (1 song for Encore #1, but 3 songs for Encore #2) and I'll bet that's it - to give Bernie a decent amount of time to shine. Pat took a couple of pictures during HC and Desperado, but we just have phone cameras and they're not as good as some others I've seen posted already.

So that was the show, and yes, "amazing" is the word that sticks in my mind. Pat enjoyed it, and he's not a music lover. He even said he'd go again. So would I, obviously, though I doubt I would get another VIP package. Not that it wasn't worth the money - it definitely was. I just can't afford to do it more than once. It was sweet though that Pat said it was worth $400/ticket to see my reaction to the show.

Oh, and one last story. Based on what people were saying here about T-shirts and such, I bought a shirt at the booth at the front gate on the way in, even though they didn't have the one I really wanted (the On The Border T-shirt). I got the Hotel California one instead, and wore it throughout the show.

In the crowd on the way out, we passed another booth that DID have the OTB shirt. Pat saw me look at it and asked if I wanted to stop. "No," I said, "I already bought one. I can't afford two." He immediately dragged me out of the crowd, marched me over to the booth and bought the shirt for me. He knows how much I love the design because I have a huge framed needlepoint version of it that I made back in college hanging on the wall in our computer room. He knows because he drew it for me. "You've waited 30 years. You have to have it," he said simply. I'm wearing it now.

[Troubadour]

I can't thank you enough for that superb, detailed review, WE! I was grinning at so many different parts. It really seems like the guys are having a great time with this new show and I am so excited by it all. I'm thrilled you had such a wonderful night, and I'm so glad that you got the shirt.

[Houston Baby]

Thank you again WE! What a wonderful review - I really felt like I was there! And what a sweet man - I love the OTB tshirt story!
What amazing memories you now have!

BTW - I would love to see a photo of your OTB needlepoint.

[Henley Honey]

That Pat is a KEEPER!!!! So happy he got it for you and I'm so happy you had such an extraordinary experience. I hope you get to do it again -- in an air-conditioned venue next time!!!

[Topkat]

Thanks for he wonderful review WE, & for all the details! Loved hearing about all the little things that made the show special for you! Glad you had such a wonderful time & got your OTB shirt too!

[NYC Fan]

WE-

Thank you for the wonderful review of the show! Such great details and so meaningful for you. My FIOS must hate me because I haven't been able to log on here for 2 days, but what a great review to come back to

So glad you had a wonderful time. Sounds fantastic.

Mary-

Just read the beginning of the thread and so glad you had so much fun too! What a great son to take you to the show. A very special night for both of you. Thanks for sharing! Loved reading how much fun you had.

[mustangkim11]

WE, thanks so much for the GREAT review! I almost felt like I was actually there.

[Tiffanny Twisted]

Very much enjoyed the show.u made me feel like I was there. Glad u had fun.