DonFan
07-29-2008, 04:37 PM
This review is MUCH better!
-----------------------------------
Eagles, taking the long road back, show they still know the way
By Sarah Rodman, Boston Globe Staff / July 29, 2008
They made jokes about assisted living and ex-wives, and a sense of wistfulness pervaded the evening both onstage and in the audience, but Eagles left no doubt last night at the TD Banknorth Garden that while life may have moved to a slower lane, they're still capable burning rubber.
Having strong new material to play from last year's multiplatinum "Long Road Out of Eden" has clearly sent an electric current through the core quartet. Backed by a group of gifted sidemen - including a horn section, a fiddler, a percussionist, and guitar ace Steuart Smith - Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit were in some ways even stronger last night, in the first of two shows at the venue, than they have been since hell froze over back in 1994 for their original rebooting.
Henley's righteous rage remains acidic, Frey's hound dog soul urgent, Schmit's as sensitive as ever, and Walsh's wild-man guitar heroics are still, well, wildly heroic. They looked pretty smart, too, in fighting shape, and natty black suits.
Over the course of three hours and 30 songs, the band played many of the songs that have become staples of classic rock radio playlists and a smattering of their individual solo hits, and the sold-out house played its part.
Not that any of the singers needed help, each offering his specialty - from Walsh's wobbly warble to Henley's high hoarse holler - with panache on everything from "Rocky Mountain Way" to "Witchy Woman."
But they also managed the nearly impossible task of introducing a good chunk of "Eden" without triggering rest room stampedes or a palpable sense of boredom. Considering that this is an audience that has been conditioned to expect pristine nostalgia fests over the last 13 years, that's not too shabby.
It helped that among the nine new songs they weaved into the hit parade were some of the better tracks, including the autumnal "Waiting in the Weeds," the near a cappella lament "No More Walks in the Wood" (a vision of layer cake harmonies), and the blistering title track, which allowed Henley to get his disgust on and Walsh to drop some liquid fire.
In fact, the night teetered on tedium only during a long stretch of well-sung but a little too peacefully easy ballads in the opening set. It's hard to quibble with songs like "I Can't Tell You Why" and "Lyin' Eyes," but the beginning of the evening could have used a little more bite in its sequencing.
In the second set, the new songs seemed to juice the band even further, helping kick up the home stretch of well-worn chesnuts several notches.
As deadline encroached, Walsh unleashed some fury on "Funk 49," the band wriggled through "Life in the Fast Lane," and Henley offered up the hip-swiveling pleasures of polit-rocker "All She Wants to Do is Dance."
They wound down the night with "Take it Easy" and "Desperado."
-----------------------------------
Eagles, taking the long road back, show they still know the way
By Sarah Rodman, Boston Globe Staff / July 29, 2008
They made jokes about assisted living and ex-wives, and a sense of wistfulness pervaded the evening both onstage and in the audience, but Eagles left no doubt last night at the TD Banknorth Garden that while life may have moved to a slower lane, they're still capable burning rubber.
Having strong new material to play from last year's multiplatinum "Long Road Out of Eden" has clearly sent an electric current through the core quartet. Backed by a group of gifted sidemen - including a horn section, a fiddler, a percussionist, and guitar ace Steuart Smith - Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit were in some ways even stronger last night, in the first of two shows at the venue, than they have been since hell froze over back in 1994 for their original rebooting.
Henley's righteous rage remains acidic, Frey's hound dog soul urgent, Schmit's as sensitive as ever, and Walsh's wild-man guitar heroics are still, well, wildly heroic. They looked pretty smart, too, in fighting shape, and natty black suits.
Over the course of three hours and 30 songs, the band played many of the songs that have become staples of classic rock radio playlists and a smattering of their individual solo hits, and the sold-out house played its part.
Not that any of the singers needed help, each offering his specialty - from Walsh's wobbly warble to Henley's high hoarse holler - with panache on everything from "Rocky Mountain Way" to "Witchy Woman."
But they also managed the nearly impossible task of introducing a good chunk of "Eden" without triggering rest room stampedes or a palpable sense of boredom. Considering that this is an audience that has been conditioned to expect pristine nostalgia fests over the last 13 years, that's not too shabby.
It helped that among the nine new songs they weaved into the hit parade were some of the better tracks, including the autumnal "Waiting in the Weeds," the near a cappella lament "No More Walks in the Wood" (a vision of layer cake harmonies), and the blistering title track, which allowed Henley to get his disgust on and Walsh to drop some liquid fire.
In fact, the night teetered on tedium only during a long stretch of well-sung but a little too peacefully easy ballads in the opening set. It's hard to quibble with songs like "I Can't Tell You Why" and "Lyin' Eyes," but the beginning of the evening could have used a little more bite in its sequencing.
In the second set, the new songs seemed to juice the band even further, helping kick up the home stretch of well-worn chesnuts several notches.
As deadline encroached, Walsh unleashed some fury on "Funk 49," the band wriggled through "Life in the Fast Lane," and Henley offered up the hip-swiveling pleasures of polit-rocker "All She Wants to Do is Dance."
They wound down the night with "Take it Easy" and "Desperado."