An ode to the finest-ever band of its genre

[DonFan]

Over harmonies of the Eagles came the screeching chords of selfishness



By DAVID ENGLAND • October 9, 2008

Dear Mr. Section 311/Row N/Seat 17: I drove to St. Louis on a recent Saturday to see the Eagles at the Scottrade Center. Little did I know, as I made this 600-mile round-trip journey, that I would receive the value-added experience of sitting next to you.


Let me say first that I appreciate your enthusiasm for the finest-ever band of its genre. Clearly, at your tender age, you have adopted this music and made it your own. I was impressed that you knew every word to every song. Even more impressive was your ability to sing along with every song, not just in unison, but in your own crunchy, discordant, sixth-part harmony. I'm sure the Eagles' arrangers would be pounding at your door if they only knew there was an extra dimension the band had been lacking all these years.



Your screaming was instructive, as was your clapping. I would never have thought to stand and scream at the top of my voice midway through a verse. I would never have considered I Can't Tell You Why — that delicate exploration of a relationship in jeopardy — as a clap-along.

I do want to apologize for yelling at you when your random "Whooooooos" rattled my eardrums and actually kept me from hearing the band. But while you were screaming/singing/clapping, here are some of the nuances you may have missed: the quiet virtuosity of Timothy B. Schmit, the accessible versatility of Glenn Frey, the smoldering intensity of Don Henley, the carefully controlled aggression of Joe Walsh. Those of us around you struggled to notice those things, too, because we were too busy noticing you. There are certainly moments when screaming and clapping are called for. If Frey starts clapping over his head instead of playing, that's a good sign it's OK. If no one within 200 feet on either side of you is clapping, however, that's a pretty good sign you shouldn't, either.

You see, when you express your enthusiasm so loudly for so long, it is obvious your only concern is yourself, with no thought to those around you who may have waited far more years than you for this one night with their favorite band. Although this may be difficult to accept, we did not come to see you — we came to see the Eagles.

Perhaps it is not your fault. You have grown up in a time when selfishness has taken center stage. A traffic light? If it's yellow or even red, that just means you should speed up to make sure you get through. Fast food? Throw your trash on the street; after all, the city pays people to pick it up.

Selfishness is insidious, and it is getting worse. It is very easy to see in someone else, but as one also guilty at other times, let me thank you, Mr. 311/N/17, for your powerful and distracting reminder that we are better people when we take an extra thought to be courteous to others.
And to the Eagles, thank you for what, I think, was a great show.

David England is associate vice president/advancement at Lipscomb University in Tennessee.
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(I couldn't have said it better myself! Bravo!)

[TimothyBFan]

That poor man! It's a shame that his experience was hampered by the loud mouth next to him. Why can't people have some consideration for others around them, especially when you know they are shelling out major $$ also for their ticket. I admit, I sang along with every song, but did it to myself and never interrupted anyone else's enjoyment (except Larry-who indeed expected it when I would grab him and say "did you see that, did you hear that?").

[Prettymaid]

By DAVID ENGLAND • October 9, 2008

Perhaps it is not your fault. You have grown up in a time when selfishness has taken center stage. A traffic light? If it's yellow or even red, that just means you should speed up to make sure you get through.

I do agree that the current generation generally is a selfish one (but who's fault is that?) But hurrying through a yellow traffic light? They didn't invent that one!

[MikeA]

That is a hard one to call. I've experienced it from both sides as one who has been distracted by a neighboring fan who thought that it was required that he sing the song about three counts ahead of the band so that everyone would KNOW that he knew the song better than the band. But I've also been in a situation where I was in the middle of a group of folks (hard to call them fans) who sat through the entire concert like an Old Stone Wall out in a Meadow. And they got belligerent when we got into the music.

There is a place somewhere between Opera and Riot that should be adhered to when attending a Rock Concert. I think that point varies depending on the general level of enthusiasm expressed by those in attendance and in particular those seated close to you. It is difficult to sit in your seat with your hands carefully folded when the Eagles crank up Life In The Fast Lane or Take It Easy. But by the same token, you shouldn't be swinging from the chandeliers when they are doing Desperado.

[Prettymaid]

I defintely understand the magic of being in a hall or arena where your favorite band is playing your favorite music. It is possible to go into your own little world. Sometimes it's almost an out of body experience! But you have to have somewhere in your inner self a certain amount of respect for people, and if you do that just naturally takes precedence over anything else.

[DonFan]

I completely agree with you, Mike. As the reviewer pointed out:

"There are certainly moments when screaming and clapping are called for. If Frey starts clapping over his head instead of playing, that's a good sign it's OK. If no one within 200 feet on either side of you is clapping, however, that's a pretty good sign you shouldn't, either."

Unfortunately, the bad behavior the reviewer wrote about is one reason why my hubby won't attend Eagles concerts with me anymore. I have attended more concerts than he has so I tend to take this kind of thing with a grain of salt if at all possible. Anyway, he had the distinct misfortune, on the initial two Eagles concerts I took him to, to be sitting beside obnoxious fans who were continually getting up & down to buy beer, guzzle beer, empty beer and buy more beer, sing off-key and throw their arm around hubby's shoulders while telling him how AWESOME the Eagles were. (Of course, hubby already had to listen to me telling him the same thing on the trip to the concert.) As a casual fan attending with his wife, hubby said listening to their perfect harmonies on the CD player would be quite enough for him from now on, thank you.

[DonFan]

On a positive note, I love this description of the guys:
"The quiet virtuosity of Timothy B. Schmit, the accessible versatility of Glenn Frey, the smoldering intensity of Don Henley."

Timothy, Glenn and Don he got right. I don't really think Joe has "controlled aggression," however.

[StephUK]

To add my 4-penny worth....

At one show we had a guy next to us who had obviously drank more than was good for him; before the show even began he had managed to elbow my friend in the head(quite hard) & then stand on her foot. Then he spilled his beer onto my foot.
In his drunken state he'd have been better to have sat down instead of standing & waving his arms about, but no, that didn't occur to him.

Then during the 2nd part of the show, he started fighting with the guy next to him(who had come to the show with him). Did they fight in front of their own seats? of course not - they had to stand up & do it in front of us. Luckily the ' drunken pain in the arse' decided to leave at this point & didn't come back.
You may be wondering where the security people were? Probably too busy making sure that real fans didn't get any photos.

IF YOU PREFER GETTING DRUNK TO SEEING A BAND ......GO TO A BAR INSTEAD and leave the rest of us to enjoy our evening.

Steph

[sodascouts]

Ugh, I'm sorry guys, I can't get into the spirit of this so-called review, where he's more concerned with criticizing fellow fans than telling us about the concert.

Perhaps it is not your fault. You have grown up in a time when selfishness has taken center stage. A traffic light? If it's yellow or even red, that just means you should speed up to make sure you get through. Fast food? Throw your trash on the street; after all, the city pays people to pick it up.

Hate to break it to you David, but as PM says, people have been speeding through yellow lights since they were invented. Same with litter... when did littering become enough of a problem for the posting of "Don't Litter" signs, Mr. England? Those signs have been around as long as I can remember, and I'm over 30.

About concert behavior... here's the thing. Most people resist the obviously obnoxious - those who yell constantly, bellow words at quiet moments. But applause? Hoots? I've let loose some of those during the quiet moment when Don holds out that note at Desperado... and he encourages it. Same for the relatively quiet Hotel California trumpet solo... again encouraged.

We all have different standards as to what is appropriate - and those standards are far from generational. One of the most obnoxious concert goers I have ever dealt with looked to be in her 40s. (She drunkenly used me to brace herself while climbing onto her seat, then steadied herself using my shoulder to keep from teetering. Luckily I was able to "talk her down." This was during Fleetwood Mac's slow and sweet Landslide.) I don't categorize that with applause and hoots, however. And while I agree that constant, loud off-key singing is distracting, isn't it cool when you hear everyone around you singing along with Take It to the Limit? With Desperado, in a moment of beautiful cross-generational unison, as people put their arms around their S.O. and sway with smiles on their faces, perhaps even tears in their eyes?

If David England wants to look for a selfish generation... well, there was a reason the "ME generation" was called that. Did he ever consider that his yelling at the people next to him was probably just as distracting, if not more so, than what he considers their poorly-placed applause?

I'm just glad he takes a couple of lines to praise the concert in the midst of his rant. Talk about selfishness... why did this "concert review" focus solely on the writer's displeasure at a fan sitting next to him??? Please! We want to hear about the Eagles, not how pissed off you are at some random fan. It's NOT ABOUT YOU, David England.

Looks like someone is still stuck in that "ME generation" after all.

[tbs fanatic]

That poor guy. Sounds like he endured it. My hubby would of exploded all over the 'obnoxious one' - lol. I remember some concert (I don't remember who was playing) we went to that had a guy like that a couple of rows in front of us. Hubby finally gave him a good tongue lashing and everyone cheered - Ha! I just pretended I didn't know who hubby was.