On Friday evening, November 12, Glen Frey’s family and close friends clustered quietly around the dead still of the Crisler Arena locker room. After the completion of a twelve-hour production set-up involving fifty people, the backstage area took on an aura of nervous anticipation. Occasionally, a crew member darted out to check a last minute detail, then escaped back behind the big blue door of the locker room. The few solitary security men were drinking coffee.
At approximately 8:15, the Eagles’ sleek black limosine slithered into the Crisler tunnel. As the band’s joyous greetings to Glen’s family pierced the air, Frey advised J.D Souther to make this “the best damn gig he’s ever played.”