The Roxy, West Hollywood 4-11-08 (Benefit)

[sodascouts]

Wow guys - what a night!

The stage at the Roxy is very low – about to the top of my thighs and I’m 5 feet 5 inches. We were RIGHT up front, right at their feet.

It turns out this whole thing was put together by a group of ninth graders who were concerned about the AIDS crisis in Africa, Deacon Frey among them. They gave a short speech about the problem (with a movie that unfortunately didn’t play fully) and then introduced the first band. It featured a young ninth grade guitarist named Nick Shapiro who was very good and had Glenn-circa-1972 hair. An excellent player.

After that band finished, Daniel Powter came on and allowed Nick Shapiro and a couple other young guys to be his backup band. Don Was also came out. Powter only did three songs, one of them an abbreviated version of Bad Day (I was disappointed he didn’t stretch it out like he usually does). He was terrific.

Next were the headliners – Glenn and Deacon Frey. Before, I assumed Deacon would be backing Glenn, but that was far from the case. Deacon sang lead on more songs than Glenn! It was very cool. Deacon sang and played guitar on Get Over It, then I Hear You Knockin’ with Glenn backing along with Don Was (Michael Thompson was on piano). After that, Glenn sang Some Kind of Wonderful and Take It Easy with Deacon backing. Finally, for the climax of the show, Deacon did Hotel California. He played the ending guitar duet with Nick Shapiro and it was pretty freaking amazing. Our minds were blown. What an experience! We did get some photos and video.

We’ll be more explicit later – right now we’re all getting ready to leave to go back to our respective homes. My flight is at 7:00 am and it’s currently almost 4:00 am – I’m not bothering to go to sleep, and neither are PLS and dreamer.

More exciting details to come…

[Freypower]

I came on to see if you had posted. I don't want to pre-empt what you are going to tell us.

Glenn must be very proud of Deacon and it sounds as if Deacon has real talent. It sounds like this was an opportunity to let Deacon and his fellow students shine.

How I admire Glenn's generosity and willingness to subordinate himself in the name of a good cause and to assist in starting his son's career.

[Brooke]

Wow! Very cool! Deacon must be quite talented, just like his old Dad! How nice of Glenn to help these kids out like that.

Can't wait to hear the rest of the details and thanks for giving us a preview!

[DonFan]

Wow! I can't wait to hear the rest of the story!

[Molly]

How I admire Glenn's generosity and willingness to subordinate himself in the name of a good cause and to assist in starting his son's career.

I'm sure the pride of seeing Deacon do well left Glenn feeling many things, but I doubt subordinated was one of them.

Can't wait until the next installment, Nancy!

[Freypower]

I suppose I meant that he was the headliner and he only sang two songs.

[Glennsallnighter]

Well it sounds like you had a fantastic night girls. How I would have loved to join you, and I can't wait to hear the rest and to see the pics and the footage. It was indeed brilliant that Glenn and Deacon seemed to compliment each other so well, and I'm sure Glenn didn't mind at all only taking lead on 2 songs. I'm sure he was incredibly proud of Deacon and his pals for organising this benefit and also for the professional way he played. I'm sure that young man will go places.

'Its his world now'

Hope you are all well rested by now!

[sodascouts]

Hey guys, I wanna give more details now, but I'm too freaking tired. Just got back an hour ago. I'll have to keep you in suspense a little longer!

[sodascouts]

I slept 12 hours to catch up on all the sleep that I lost, but here I am ready to give you what you've been waiting for!

It's very long because I include EVERYTHING we did, not just the show. I've put in some subheadings if you'd like to skim all of that and get right to the show review.

I'll put the details as best I remember them, although some might be out of order. I know I've left stuff out though - that's inevitable! Those with me can add what I forgot.


Our adventures the day before the show
We decided to do a bit of Eagle-related sightseeing in our short time in Los Angeles. I had not slept the night before, leaving at 3:00 in the morning in order to get to LA before noon Pacific time with the cheapest rates. I arrived and met PLS at LAX when she arrived at 12:30. After a few tiresome setbacks getting a rental car, we found ourselves finally in LA and ready to party!


Dan Tana's
We headed off to Dan Tana's for dinner, but foolishly did not make a reservation. Therefore, though we arrived at 6:00, we waited until 9:30 to have dinner. We at first thought to spend the time at Dan Tana's bar, but it was crushed tight with tipsy men on the make (one of them literally fell against me, apologizing as I helped him straighten again - and this in the early evening)! We also noted there were only a couple other girls (one told us Dan Tana's often had "nothing but sausages" at the bar). When I had gone with Sally back in May, we got there at 5:00 and sat at the bar. I sat in between Sally and another lady at the time. I guess I never noticed how it got later. It wasn't really our type of scene, so we headed outside and walked up and down Santa Monica Boulevard. We saw the Troubadour, but it was closed because the band had canceled. Finally, we spotted a coffee shop and passed the time there, talking excitedly about what was to come.

We arrived back at 9:25. The host told us he was glad we had come back - I was surprised he had even noticed we'd left in all that crush of people! We were seated at a booth just like the type Glenn and Don sat in during the 60 Minutes interview. I was on the end next to PLS. I put my arm up on the top of the seat as Don did during that interview and joked how my "body language" signified my true hatred of her. Our waiter was full of jokes, asking me why I was always smiling merrily as if he had never seen such a sight in LA. I guess the personality is part of the "atmosphere" and once we got used to it, we liked it. I ordered the fettucini alfredo, which was very good but very rich. I could barely eat half of it, which is unusual for me! I automatically was going to ask for a box even though we were staying at a hotel (I was raised to never waste food), but when the waiter was informed of this he told the busboy to just take it away, lol.


The next day: Cruising LA
It was Friday, the day of the show. We wanted to head down early to see some sights before our evening at the Roxy. We drove by the Beverly Hills hotel and up Laurel Canyon, Mulholland Drive, and Coldwater. I did pretty well except for the time I tried to do a U-turn in the winding streets above Coldwater Canyon and La Fontaine Court. I believe what I executed in a small one-lane road near some person's hillside residence could be called a "20 point turn." Luckily it was a side street with no cars coming.

Once we were again safely onto Sunset with nothing more intimidating then attempting to turn left without an arrow in the face of determined California drivers, I was much relieved. We had a snack at the Sunset Grill (yes, I know it is verboten according to Don, but their cold drinks really hit the spot on such a hot day). After that, we had a light dinner at the Rainbow Bar and Grill. It's not an Eagles site, but my guitarist cousin who lives in LA thinks it's a very cool place. They certainly give you your money's worth when you order a chicken Caesar salad, even if the waiter did ask me what dressing I wanted on it. Um, OK.


Waiting outside the Roxy
At 6:00, we headed out to the Roxy next door in case there was a line forming. Sure enough, we found two friendly ladies there as hard-core as we were who had been waiting a while already. They recognized us from the board and the time passed quickly as we talked about the Eagles, full of excitement (I was also delighted that they were Fleetwood Mac hard-cores, just as I am). In the line behind us, I saw a girl who'd been at Pebble Beach every year and I talked to her and her friend a bit. Finally, the will-call window opened - ten minutes before the show started!


Pre-show at the Roxy
Once inside, we saw that it was quite small and dark, and that we would be RIGHT up to the low stage. We spotted Glenn at a table in the VIP section, talking to people he knew. I turned back towards the stage so as not to be rude and stare, but I stole glimpses out of the corner of my eye every now and then, lol.


The show begins
As I stated in my prior post, the first to come out were the ninth graders who had organized the event. They were obviously nervous but very earnest in their efforts. I admired their passion for an important cause at such a young age. When the projector suddenly stopped working, the girl who was doing most of the talking - I think her name was Cameron? - controlled her momentary panic and they kept going in a professional manner. As someone who has taught presentation skills, I was impressed. When she proclaimed that her generation would not stand by when such suffering would happen, I embarrassedly thought that I was not of her generation and felt very old, lol.

Nick Shapiro's group came out first, with an outrageous name that was blamed on the bass player, also named Nick. The boys all played solos and I was impressed by every one of them; the keyboardist looked a bit older and had a couple solos. I sang along with their cover of Light My Fire, although I honestly don't know the song too well. Shapiro got everyone clapping along at the end. They played a total of three songs and did very well.

Once they left the stage, Daniel Powter came on. He brought back out Nick Shapiro as well as a couple other boys to play with him, saying he'd never forget how Chris Isaak did the same for him when he was young. Don Was also came out, and both lavished sincere praise upon the boys. I was next to the friends of the drummer (I think his name was Jarod) who were going positively wild for him, lol.

I was familiar with Powter's "Bad Day" but it wasn't until listening to some of his music in preparation for this that I began to appreciate him. He plays the piano with a great deal of sensitively and has an emotive voice. He sang "Song 6," "Free Loop" and "Bad Day," which he said he hadn't played in a year. I sang along as did most of the crowd to his well-known and catchy hit.


Deacon and Glenn's set
Then it was time for the Freys, folks! They were introduced and came out with Don Was and Nick Shapiro. Glenn joked that "Here we are, Don and Glenn - but this Don is more mellow than the one I usually work with!" Everyone laughed and he added, "I love 'em both, though." The drummer was one of the boys from the first band, with absolutely wild long blond hair. I think his name was Henry, but it was hard to hear. Deacon's guitar was very cool-looking by the way, kind of an odd shape. It seemed to sparkle in the spotlight.

When Glenn started playing the slow and bluesy opening notes for "Get Over It", I thought "Hmm, 'Smuggler's Blues'?" I never expected that Deacon would go up to the mic and start singing a Henley vocal, as he then did! I hurriedly got out my camera - I only have enough memory on the card for 10 minutes so I was gonna wait to see if Glenn did a special song before I started filming. I wasn't going to waste half of it on "Smuggler's Blues" if something more special was coming later. However, Deacon singing lead on a song was definitely special enough to use up that memory! I got the whole thing after the first bit. I glanced nervously at Glenn to see if he would motion for me to stop - I was in full view of him - but he didn't seem fazed at all.

"Get Over It" is really hard to sing with its fast-paced torrent of lyrics - I know this from attempting to sing along with it in the car - but Deacon did a great job and played the rockin' guitar part flawlessly to boot. Dang! Glenn was positively beaming.

Glenn introduced the next song by talking about how both he and Don Was were from Detroit, "where mother was half a word," and joking that it was "the birthplace of country rock." He then went on to say how they loved the blues and I recognized the opening of "I Hear You Knockin'." Once again I assumed Glenn would do it, once again I was wrong as Deacon took lead. This night was his showcase. I captured it on film as well, and thought that Deacon must like the blues since he since he was giving the vocal a lot of soul.

Michael Thompson got a solo for this song. I had been glancing over at Michael occasionally and smiling at him a bit sheepishly - he was really sweet to us in Niagara Falls and I liked talking to him. He grinned back and I was relieved he didn't seem to think we were freaks for being there, lol.

Glenn introduced the next song by telling everyone it was a classic, and to sing along if they knew it. In an ironic reversal, I figured Deacon would be singing lead again, but this time it was Glenn. The song was Some Kind of Wonderful. I couldn't sing along very much, as this is one of the few songs that Glenn performs which I don't know the lyrics to. The reason is simply because the only time I hear the song is at Glenn solo shows, lol. It's a great song, though, and Glenn does it up right. I enthusiastically joined in on the simple chorus, the only part I knew.

At one point in the song, Glenn called to the guys in the audience to raise their hands if "they had a sweet little woman like mine." I turned my head and couldn't help but smile as I saw some boys in their early teens earnestly raising their hands. I wondered how many of them had their girlfriends right next to them at that point, since most of the boys had decidedly kept their hands at their sides for that question, lol. Ah, youth!

The next song was "Take It Easy," with the crowd eating it up. I was glad that Glenn's record of playing that landmark song at every performance was unbroken, as I adore it! I did, however, put away the camera. I knew it was getting close to the end.

Glenn introduced the band, saying that as usual, he was the third best guitarist on the stage. He thanked Michael for being there on his break. As we all fanned ourselves, he told one of my favorite jokes of his - "It sure is hot here. I'm sweating harder than Eminem at a spelling bee." LOL! The audience loved it too, of course.

When it was time for the final song, Glenn once again told us to sing along if we knew it - that "this is gonna be exciting." As soon as the notes started I knew what he meant - Deacon was going to do "Hotel California"! I once again pulled out my camera, but captured only a teensy bit before the card was full. I later cursed myself for wasting it on the opening when Deacon and Shapiro did their guitar duet, which would have been much cooler to capture. Oh my gosh, it was terrific! Glenn looked so proud!

Afterwards, they said their goodbyes to great applause. Glenn thanked us for coming out. What a night! We said goodbye to our new friends from the line, then debated whether we should stay or not. We wound up deciding to stay a bit longer.


Shwayze
The next act was Shwayze, the hip-hop duo. They were a big hit with the young boys near me, who crowded up to the front mosh-pit style. The duo was into their music and having a good time, but they seemed to think the audience was acting "tired" and remarked that they needed to stop following legends at concerts. For my own part, I was trying not to look appalled at some of the lyrics the young kids around me were singing along with. I gave Shwayze smiles for their efforts, though, and tried to sing along with the chorus of one of their songs about wanting to get a picture - "click, click!" It may not be my type of music, but I was up front and not about to act sour when they were doing their best.


And the exciting end...
Still, after Shwayze's performance, we decided we should probably leave if it was to be more of the same, lol. However, thank goodness we delayed and stayed by the stage, because at that point Glenn came through the crowd to us with his wife Cindy. He introduced us to her. She was sweet as could be and so pretty! They make a great couple and are obviously very happy. We chatted for a bit about the concert and how proud they must be. I screwed up my courage and mentioned to Cindy that I had taken video, praying she wouldn't freak but would be OK with it. I certainly didn't want to make a bad impression on her, but I also didn't want to put video online if it would upset his mother. Like Glenn, it didn't faze her at all. I guess the proud parents realize that their son is now in the spotlight! Cindy was so thrilled about how well Deacon had performed that she was absolutely glowing. Glenn also waylaid Deacon and introduced him to us. Then, it was time for them to leave, and they said goodbye. We felt so honored!


Post-show visit to the Troubadour
Since it was only 10:30, we decided to head over to the Troubadour. We had a couple screwdrivers sitting in the very spots that Glenn and Don had sat at one time, and talked about what an amazing experience we'd just had. Definitely worth the trip, and then some!


Photos and video are forthcoming!

[luvthelighthouse]

OMG, that is SO awesome!!! How did Glenn know to come up and talk to you? Did you seek him out? WoW! You are so lucky! Did you tell him all about your site dedicated to him?

I bet Cindy was even more beautiful in person that she is in pics. Speaking of which... I can't wait for the pics!