Atlantic City, NJ 06-17-08

[Just Another Hired Hand]

July 17. This is the second time this week I am going to an Eagles concert. Because of my shoulder surgery, there is no vacation this year, but there are a lot of nearby concerts. The tickets for this event were pricey, but the venue explains that.

The Event Center at the Borgata Hotel and Casino is probably one of the best places you could want to see a band like the Eagles play. I saw Eric Clapton there earlier in May and I was blown away by the accoustics. It is very intimate in that it only seats 3500 and the accoustics are second to none. The Center is draped with curtains and is carpeted. We were lucky enough to score seats in the eighth row, center stage.

As I parked my car I got an insight as to the amount of work that goes into putting on a production like the Long road Out OF Eden Tour. I looked over the berm of the parking garage and saw the Eagles convoy parked adjacent to the garage. There were 18 - 18 wheelers with 40 foot trailers parked there.

Once again, the Eagles were fashionably late, taking the stage at 8:15 PM. I immediately noticed they were a little more laid back than they were in Philadelphia three days earlier. I especially noticed how great the music sounded in this small theatre. If you ever get a chance to see the Eagles play there you will be amazed at the "hominess" the performance takes on.

Once again Don Henley rendered blistering performances of "Boys of Summer" and "Long Road Out of Eden". His performance on LROOE was particularly impassioned, even more so than three nights earlier in Philadelphia.

Glenn Frey told the story of how Don Henley and he would hang out at Tana's restaurant where they witnessed a real life soap opera that led to "Lyin Eyes".

Joe Walsh was, as I expected was on top of his game. As he sang "Guilty of the Crime" he had a backdrop of various jail like bars on the screen behind him. But unlike Philadelphia, he did not steal the show. When he performed "In The City" the media show behind him consisted of general scenes of city life. In Philadelphia the band really reached out to the crowd because the media production consisted predominantly of scenes shot in an around the Philadelphia area. I could tell that some this presentation was filmed in New York, but I was struggling to figure out where the rest of the footage came from.

When the band grinded out "Dirty Laundry" the media show depicted a whole series of headlines featuring Rupert Murdoch, CNN, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh and many other radio and television hosts. Toward the end of the song the media production showed some humorous headlines like "Alien sues Joe Walsh", "Glenn Frey Wins Masters" and Don Henley solves Global Warming".

Glenn Frey and Tim Schmit were also their their usual excellent selves, but the audience itself left a little something to be desired. There was a large bar in the rear of the venue that led to a good portion of the audience being "in the bag".

Late in the show some "half lit" woman staggered up the aisle and threw a big bouquet of flowers at the stage. TBS was on stage, playing his bass for all he was worth when all of a sudden he sees a large object being hurled in his direction. He actuallly had to step aside to avoid the flowers hitting him directly. He really looked concerned and who could balme him? In close quarters like that you have no idea what is coming at you. I personally didn't appreciate it because I think this single act cost the audience the second encore. The "talk tube" was set up on Joe Walsh's microphone stand but it never got used.

Another incident consisted of an inebreated woman repeatedly shouting Glenn's Name and being so annoying that Glenn Frey himself finally shut her up when he yelled into his microphone, "Thanks for coming, Aunt Flabby!"

The audience roared and the annoying woman fell silent.
Joe Walsh'sperformance of "Life's Been Good" featured a lot of pictures of the Eagles in their younger days. It included video of Joe Walsh with sledge hammers and chain saws as he renovated several differrent hotel rooms. It was hillarious. What happened next was one of those rare strokes of luck.

Timothy B. Schmit threw a guitar pick into the audience. Some very tall guy about three rows in front of us tried to catch it, but it bounced off his finger tips and went back into the air. Its trajectory brought it striaght to my wife, who caught it, looked at it and turned to me and said, "Can you believe this?" She showed me the pick. On one side it said "The Eagles". On the other side it said "Timothy B Schmit". My wife, who is a rabid Glenn Frey fan is now equally enthusiastic about TBS. She is convinced he threw the pick to her.

The Set List changed a little from three nights previous. The Set List:

How Long/ Busy Being Fabulous/ I Don't Want to Hear Anymore/ Guilty of the Crime/ Hotel California/ Peaceful Easy Felling/ I Can't Tell You Why/ Witchy Woman/ Lyin Eyes/ Boys of Summer/ In The City/ Long Run/ intermission) / I Dreamed There Was No War/ No More Walks in the Woods/ No More Cloudy Days/ Love Will Keep Us Alive/ Long Road Out OF Eden/ Take It To The Limit/ Somebody/ Walk Away/ One of These Nights/ Life's Been Good/ Dirty Laundry/ Funk 49/ Heartache Tonight/ Life in the Fast Lane/ (encore) Take It Easy/ Desperado.

Like I previously mentioned the "talk tube" was there but it went unused.
Now, if you are starting to think I had a bad time, nothing could be further from the truth.

After the show was over, my wife and I went to the "Metropolitan" restaurant adjacent to the Event Center escalator. While standing there my wife exclaimed, "O my God! There goes Scott Crago and Will Hollis!"
I quickly walked up to them, introduced myself and asked if they would be willing to say hello to her. They couldn't have been more gracious. They each gave her a hug and allowed me to photograph her standing between them.

A few minutes later, Steuart Smith walked by. Once again, I walked up to him, introduced myself and told him how much I appreciated all of his work on the new album. He was actually humbled that I knew who he was and what he had accomplished. He' like the other two could not have been more gracious. He allowed me to photograph him with my wife. All three of them autographed our "Long Road Out of Eden" CD jacket.

Even though I thought the Wachovia concert three nights prior was more energetic and fun than at The Borgata, The Borgata had its own set of special circumstances that led to an incredibly memorable and enjoyable evening.

I originally posted this review on last.fm. I am glad to share it here because I know it is greatly appreciated. Thank you all for all of the positive comments given to my other reviews.