Hershey, PA 11-23-08

[TimothyBFan]

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/230600

Eagles play their hits in Hershey


Intelligencer Journal
Published: Nov 24, 2008
00:23 EST
Hershey



By JON FERGUSON, Staff Writer
The Eagles can ride this cash cow until hell truly does freeze over.
The Eagles, one of the most popular rock bands of all time, landed Sunday night at the Giant Center and delivered a long, satisfying concert packed with crisply delivered versions of its biggest hits.
The band (Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmitt) never strayed far from the recorded versions of its songs.
In fact, most of the 28 songs they played during the three-hour show split into two sets were as faithful to the recorded versions as humanly possible. But the Eagles have never been an improvisational band. Its success is built upon heartfelt songs of love and betrayal, tasteful instrumentation with a few country flourishes and close harmony singing.
And that's what the Eagles gave their fans — a tightly scripted show that likely varies little from night to night, right down to Frey's tired jokes (a crack about this being the assisted-living tour and a swipe at their wives' attachment to credit cards before playing "Take It to the Limit") and Walsh's goofiness during "Life's Been Good."
That said, the Eagles played and sang extremely well, satisfying a largely middle-aged (and older) crowd that didn't want the band messing with the songs it wanted to turn into sing-a-longs. After all, the crowd paid good money (tickets ranged from $60 to $185) to hear the soundtrack of their lives played live.
Though bass player Schmitt, with his high cheekbones, is looking a touch cadaverous, the four Eagles — all of whom wore dark suits, white long-sleeved shirts and black ties — look fit. They certainly have more hair and better bodies than Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
They play well and their singing can still, at times, take the breath away. Schmitt did struggle to hit the high notes on "I Can't Tell You Why" and Frey's voice has coarsened, but Walsh and Henley still sound remarkably like their youthful selves.
The Eagles did have plenty of help with the instrumentation, as they were augmented by a guitarist, three keyboardists, a drummer and four horn players, with some of them also adding pedal-steel guitar and violin.Surprisingly, the Eagles largely kept the wraps on Walsh, a brilliant guitarist who is the band's best instrumentalist, during the first set. They made up for it in the second, however, when Walsh cut loose, especially on "Life's Been Good" and the hard-rocking "Walk Away" and "Funk 49," two songs he recorded with the James Gang.
The band did play most of its best-known tunes ("Hotel California," "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Lyin' Eyes," "The Long Run," "Life in the Fast Lane," "Take It Easy" and "Desperado") but also devoted huge chunks of the show to songs from "Long Road Out of Eden," the 2007 album that has sold monstrously well.
The new songs generally held up fairly well against the older material and were politely received by the rather staid crowd, but they didn't spark much enthusiasm. The exception was the title track, a topical tune. The song is classic Henley — a dramatic presentation given weight by taut musical dynamics and intelligent, thoughtful lyrics.
Henley, certainly the best songwriter of the bunch, demonstrated why during the show. His tunes, including "Witchy Woman," "Dirty Laundry" and "Boys of Summer," perhaps his best song, were the highlights of the show.
Though the Eagles do seem to be as much about commerce as art these days (there's a certain irony when Frey sings "You can spend all your time making money" during "Take It to the Limit"), the band does not disappoint. They are consummate professionals.
E-mail: jferguson@lnpnews.com




Ok -we get it Glenn's jokes are getting stale, now if only Glenn would get some new material. Reviewer did say they sounded good. But this remark really makes me boil: " Though bass player Schmitt, with his high cheekbones, is looking a touch cadaverous" At least spell his d*mn name right!!!! GGRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TimothyBFan]

Here's another review--kinder than the one above!!!

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/ind..._to_hersh.html

[DonFan]

Thanks for posting those reviews. I agree--the "cadaverous" quip in the first one was unbelievably harsh, espeically from a reviewer who can't even bother to spell Timothy's name correctly!

I did, however, appreciate with this line:
"The song (BOS) is classic Henley — a dramatic presentation given weight by taut musical dynamics and intelligent, thoughtful lyrics."

And I completely agree with this quote from the second review:

"If this is how late middle age sounds, bring it on; the Eagles have nothing to worry about. They're handling it beautifully." AMEN.

[tbs fanatic]

DOUBLE GRRRRRRR - How dare he say that about Timmy

[eaglesvet]

Thanks, TBF, for posting those reviews. As we were leaving the concert last night, they were handing out free copies of Sunday's Patriot News, which had a feature story on the Eagles (that I haven't read yet, but is obviously not a review.) And, yes, I did say we were leaving the concert even though I arrived solo...because coincidetally, new Border member Stars was seated 5 seats away from me in Row 7! What are the odds of that in an almost sold-out arena? And if she didn't join a couple of days ago, we would not have known to speak to each other from our individual seats. It made the concert more fun to meet a fellow Eagle-lover and talk for a short time at the show; and for quite awhile afterward when her hubby picked us up and we all went for coffee. As it turned out, I didn't need the coffee to make the 2 1/4 hr ride home at 1 am--I was so pumped up from the show I could have flown home on a magic carpet! However, I was not so pumped up at 6:30 when I had to get the kiddos ready for school. Oh well, them's the breaks!

I tried to remember my observations and thoughts on the show, in order to write as much as possible that might be different from the previous shows (or at least, previous memories or posts.) And what I forget, Stars might remember...her perspective on the show should be fairly similar, maybe only a little closer to center!

With that, I need to go to work for a staff picture for our Holiday Card (?)--we've never done this in the 20 yrs I've worked there, and then to my own medical appt. I'll get to the gist of the review later. Stars, I promise not to read yours if you post in the meantime...

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Wow EV and Stars - How wonderful that the two of you were able to meet. That is part of what makes a message board like this so special. It is awesome that we are able to come together here and not only discuss our favorite band, but to form friendships as well. I said many times, a few years back after I went to my 2nd Eagles concert, I came home and did an Internet search and found an Eagles message board. I had never even seen a message board before, so I also lurked a while before I joined. The only thing I wanted to do was to get current news and information about the band. I had no idea I would make friends, but I have formed some friendships that are very special to me. I know that many others here have had similar experiences.

And BTW, I can't wait to hear more about the show.

[Prettymaid]

I'm all for this idea. I've never been really big on chocolate but people can change.

Not big on chocolate? What kind of woman are ya PB?

[TimothyBFan]

I had never even seen a message board before, so I also lurked a while before I joined. The only thing I wanted to do was to get current news and information about the band. I had no idea I would make friends, but I have formed some friendships that are very special to me. I know that many others here have had similar experiences.

You just summed up EXACTLY what I did and felt!!!

Can't wait to hear the reviews EV & Stars. How cool that you guys were actually setting that close! Small world!

PB---I will admit it also-I don't care much at all for chocolate, but as you said, with the right stuff dipped in it, I'm sure I could aquire a taste for it.

[TimothyBFan]

Apparently this guy doesn't get it

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/230605

Eagles' new stuff doesn't soar
Still, the band rediscovers its groove at Hershey with “Boys of Summer” and “In the City.”

Lancaster New Era
Published: Nov 24, 2008
11:00 EST
Hershey


By JOHN DUFFY, Correspondent
CONCERT REVIEW

The Eagles perform at Hershey's Giant Center Sunday night. From left are Timothy B. Schmit, Don Henle...(more)

1 of 1

It's a joke that's been around at least as long as classic rock groups from the '60s and '70s have been reuniting. When the singer says "here's a song from our new album," he or she might as well say "everybody go and get a beer now…."

So for a band like the Eagles to start each of their two sets with no less than four new songs from last year's "Long Road Out of Eden" would seem like a colossally bad move.

Knowing everything we do about Glenn Frey and Don Henley, it also might seem a brilliant tactical maneuver.

Interspersed between better-loved hits, the new tunes would surely suffer by comparison. And an audience not itching for the next old classic might be more likely to listen more intently to the new stuff that plays along with it.
About that new stuff: It's not nearly as good as "The Long Run," the group's last studio album from 1979, but that's so long ago it's like comparing Ataris to iPods.

When the band took the stage just before 8:30 Sunday night at the Giant Center, all of them wearing nicely cut black suits like a corporate board, it seemed the audience was unprepared for a rock and roll show. Nobody stood up for the first 20 minutes.

Workmanlike songs such as "How Long," and "Busy Being Fabulous" sound more like Rascal Flatts than the Eagles, but are certainly better than the stuff tacked onto "Hell Freezes Over," their 1994 reunion disc.

But it was, oddly enough, the classic material that sounded weak at first. "Hotel California," which used to open the group's shows on a dramatic note, sounded thin and forced.

Though a flamenco trumpet intro from one of the group's four back-up horn players established a sense of drama, it was robbed of its tension by the group's decision to lower the song's key over the years for singer Don Henley.

Glenn Frey's "Peaceful Easy Feeling" perhaps should have been lowered. As with almost all the songs Sunday night, the harmony vocals from everyone soared, but Frey seemed to struggle with what is a fairly relaxed melody.

Bassist Timothy B. Schmit, still the best singer in the group, turned in a seductive "I Can't Tell You Why," with extra sexiness layered on by support guitarist Stuart Smith's buttery R&B stylings.

But it was not until the spooky middle-eight of Henley's solo hit "Boys of Summer" that the band found its groove and was able to keep it, playing in front of black and white dreamlike images similar to the original groundbreaking music video.

Following quickly on its heels was Joe Walsh's "In The City," which let the singer/guitarist come alive for essentially the first time of the night. With added horns, searing slide and an extended ending, the song pushed the set to new heights. Consequently, "The Long Run" was raised as well.

Following a brief intermission, the group took to the stools for an acoustic set of new (and newer) songs: "No More Walks in the Woods," a predictably heavy-handed environmental statement from the pen of Henley that proved the four men could still harmonize flawlessly together; "Waiting in the Weeds," a notably better tune from Henley, comparing a dying romance to a dying town; Frey's forgettable "No More Cloudy Days," and Schmit's schmaltzy "Love Will Keep us Alive."

Then Frey nearly destroyed "Take it to the Limit." Originally sung by the soulful Randy Meisner, who exited the group in 1976, it was the only song of the night not originally sung by one of the four men on stage.

Henley's overwrought "Long Road Out of Eden," taking on the war in Iraq, economic uncertainty at home, and corporate greed — remember this is the band that made a deal to sell its disc exclusively at Wal-Mart to secure a better royalty deal — nearly stopped the show dead in its tracks.

Not satisfied, Frey's "Somebody" tried to do the same, but was rescued by some tasteful slide, again from Walsh, who brought things back down to earth with James Gang oldies "Walk Away" and "Funk No. 49," as well as his ode to the rock and roll lifestyle, "Life's Been Good."

As things began to work toward a close, the band pulled out all the stops for Henley's funky "Dirty Laundry," "Life in the Fast Lane," and "Heartache Tonight," all enhanced by horns and the dueling lead guitars of Walsh and Stuart.

Nine new songs, despite the fact that they were all spot-on vocally, is still a heavyweight. Coupled with Walsh's three solo selections and the same from Henley meant there was no room for non-hit fan favorites like "Ol '55," "Victim of Love," "Pretty Maids all in a Row," "Wasted Time," or even "Best of My Love."

Encores "Take it Easy" and "Desperado" reached back to the group's country-rock beginnings. Couldn't have made room for Schmit to do one of his old Poco tunes? Then of course we might have had to sit through "The Heat is On" from Frey.

If this is to be the last Eagles tour, as Frey has sometimes intimated from stage in between his disc jockey-like banter, the effort to prove their current music can stand next to their classic hits is a bold move. It didn't quite work Sunday night.

[sodascouts]

And, yes, I did say we were leaving the concert even though I arrived solo...because coincidetally, new Border member Stars was seated 5 seats away from me in Row 7! What are the odds of that in an almost sold-out arena? And if she didn't join a couple of days ago, we would not have known to speak to each other from our individual seats. It made the concert more fun to meet a fellow Eagle-lover and talk for a short time at the show; and for quite awhile afterward when her hubby picked us up and we all went for coffee.

That's wonderful that you and Stars were so close together! It was obviously meant to be that you get together.

I built this message board for precisely this reason - to connect with other fans who "share the love" and are happy to talk about America's greatest band with me! I started The Border two years ago with about 15 other people who were looking for a friendly place to talk about the Eagles. Seems like just yesterday, but we've grown so much and I've made so many friends through here! I'll never regret it!