My Eagles Concert Review

When I heard The Eagles "Long Road Out of Eden Tour" was coming to Greensboro I cleared my calendar and made I was able to get tickets the second they went on sale. The tickets were a Christmas present for Beth but truth be known I was just as excited as she was to see them.

We noticed two things when we arrived at the concert; first was the ridiculous $15 parking fee, and secondly the temperature inside the coliseum. It may have been freezing outside but it was close to 80º inside. Someone must have noticed the sweating crowd and turned it down but it took several hours for the temperature to become bearable. As far as the parking fee, it was an obvious case of the city taking advantage (extortion) of a sold out crowd that had already paid outrageous prices for the tickets.

The Eagles came out nicely dressed in black suits, white shirts, and black ties playing acoustic guitars. The current featured Eagles members are Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit and the concert also included a horn section, a drummer, two pianists, and Steuart Smith, a guitarist that replaced longtime Eagles member Don Felder who was fired in 2001.

The band opened with several songs off their newest Cd before launching into an amazing rendition of "Hotel California" which brought the place down. After the first song, Glenn Grey welcomed the crowd by introducing themselves as, "We're the Eagles, and this is the 'assisted living' tour. We're the band that just won't die".

As the concert went on, I was blown away by the versatility of Don Henley. He was not only the vocals of a vast majority of the most popular Eagles' songs, but during the concert he also played the bongos, acoustic and electric guitars, and the drums most of the evening. Equally as impressive was Joe Walsh. Not only is he arguably one of the top guitarists in rock history, but he has a great singing voice, and provided lots of funny moments during the show. One which was prior to singing one of his most recognizable solo tunes "Life's Been Good." The 61-year-old Walsh, while donning a "hat-cam", apologized to the crowd for their parents playing this song during their childhood "over and over and over and over again." It was amazing to hear the voice that comes out of Joe Walsh's mouth. It's very high-pitched, and just doesn't seem to fit. Glenn Frey also impressed me with his stage presence and demeanor. I had always heard we was a bit of a jerk but he actually came off as a really cool guy. In fact Don Henley was the one who spoke the least and had a constipated look on his face most of the night.

The band played for well over 3 hours (not including the 20 min intermission). The only song I can think of tat wasn't sung was "Seven Bridges Road". The sound was by far the best I have ever heard at any concert. You could have closed your eyes and it was a clear as listening to a cd. The tightness of the band was amazing as were they near perfect voices and harmonies. I have no idea how after all theses years (they are all over 60) and all the abuse they put on their bodies with drugs and alcohol how they can still perform at the level they do. The concert was well worth every penny we spent and I'd go see them again in a second.

EAGLES SET LIST:
1. “How Long”
2. “Busy Being Fabulous”
3. “I Don’t Want to Hear Anymore”
4. “Guilty of the Crime”
5. “Hotel California”
6. “Peaceful Easy Feeling”
7. “I Can’t Tell You Why”
8. “Witchy Woman”
9. “Lyin’ Eyes”
10. “Boys of Summer”
11. “In the City”
12. “The Long Run”

Intermission

13. “No More Walks in the Woods”
14. “Waiting in the Weeds”
15. “No More Cloudy Days”
16. “Love Will Keep Us Alive”
17. “Take it to the Limit”
18. “Long Road out of Eden”
19. “Somebody”
20. “Walk Away”
21. “One of These Nights”
22. “Life’s Been Good”
23. “Dirty Laundry”
24. “Funk #49”
25. “Heartache Tonight”
26. “Life in the Fast Lane”
27. “Rocky Mountain Way”
28. “All She Wants To Do Is Dance”

Encore
29. “Take It Easy”
30. “Desperado”