Re: Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA - 7/19/13
Ok, slept, re-hydrated and ready to review. This is going to be really long. Hope you all don't mind.
We arrived around 6:45 and man, was it hot! Well into the 90s with tropical humidity. JD and his band commented that we probably didn't need a "warm-up" band tonight and he was right. I was drenched and uncomfortable after only a few minutes in the seats. We were under the roof near the stage, which blocked the sun, but didn't allow for much of a breeze. No matter. (We were in Row Q, just left of center, by the way - great seats).
Between JD and the Eagles, I noticed Otis Frey wandering around trying to be helpful. The roadies kept politely directing him toward other roadies who might need help. I kind of felt bad for him. He seemed so eager. He was easy to spot because even though he was dressed in black roadie gear, he had these fluorescent green sneakers that caught the light wherever he went.
I also noticed a group of people in front of us who had official stickers indicating they were guests of the band. "TBS" was hand-written on theirs, and one guy to the left of us had one labeled "GF". I wondered who the people were. One of the TBS guys looked like he could be a relative (nephew, cousin, maybe). He had Timothy's dark, fine features and slight build, but he was a good 20 years younger.
Anyway, the show started. Don and Glenn came out and Glenn commented that it had been 19 years since they played this venue. Don asked if we were "toasty"... or maybe "toasted, unless that comes later." They played "Saturday Night" and explained how they first started in a studio that didn't even have chairs. They sat on amps and packing cases, like they did for these first songs. They also mentioned that SN was the only song written collaboratively by all 4 Eagles. Bernie came out to do "Train..." (with the banjo jokes that Mary mentioned), and then Tim came out for PEF. Finally, Joe joined them for "Witchy Woman," which made me smile, it being one of my favorites.
They changed the set then, with a video of Glenn explaining the making of Desperado in the background. Then they started with "Doolin Dalton".
Ok. I knew the song was coming because I've seen the setlist (it was identical to Louisville), but I didn't expect its effect on me. As Tim played harmonica and Don began singing, I started thinking how, as a teenager, I had sung this song with the record in my room late at night, dozens of times. It and the DDD Reprise were among my favorite Eagles songs. I remembered that I REALLY started loving the band after Eagles Live came out and was always a little sad that those songs weren't on it and that I would NEVER hear them done live. Even if I saw the Eagles in concert, why would they ever bring those songs back?
As Glenn started singing his part, I lost it. I bit my lip hard and the tears started streaming down my face. All I could say was "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God" under my breath. They were singing "Doolin Dalton". Live. With the backdrops. And the full production. And... oh man. I don't even have words. I started pulling myself back together during "Tequila Sunrise", but was once again reduced to tears when they DID play the Reprise. But at least I had the presence of mind to sing with it. And I sang my heart out, around the tears.
"Already Gone" was next. I thought the cross-country video of Glenn was a little silly and somewhat distracting, but it did give me a chance to recover from DDDR. I ignored the video and sang and danced while watching the band. This was the first song that got everyone up and dancing. Next was BOML, and it was perfection, as expected. (By the way, when Glenn talked about Bill Szymczyk (?) before this section and mentioned that he also produced the J Geils Band, the Boston crowd ROARED!)
"Lyin' Eyes" was another interesting one. Glenn wished Bernie a Happy Birthday before the song, and mentioned that even though the song was long, it was written very quickly over the course of 2 days. He added that they "did a lot of things quickly in 1975", which caused Joe to pop into Glenn's spotlight and make lewd faces behind him. Glenn did "Plaintiff" which made me groan, but Pat laugh (since he hasn't heard it a million times yet).
The neat thing about LE was that, even though it's never been one of my favorites, I found myself fascinated by this production of it. My eyes kept being drawn to Bernie, who was spot-on perfect playing that classic guitar of his (Austin, you can fill in what type of guitar that was!). It was seriously like being back in 1975 and nothing had ever changed between them.
OOTN was next and it was amazing, though I did have a hard time seeing Don singing from the drums because Glenn was directly in my line of vision. (I know some of you wouldn't find that to be a problem at all.). I had to keep watching Don on the screen to see him well.
TITTL was touching. Glenn talked about Randy and how they wished he could be with them, but he was "under the weather". He did say Randy's doing better now and they wish him well and dedicated this song to him. His comments seemed very heartfelt, especially when he asked everyone in the crowd to "sing along for Randy." And we all did.
(Going to take my own little intermission now, both to get lunch and post this before I lose the whole thing. Back with Set 2 later.)
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I can't wait to read the next part. I can imagine exactly how you felt. Even watching the videos this morning, I was a bit of a wreck! Seeing it live must just be incredible...
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.
