Eagles give Fargodome crowd two hours of hits
By Andrea Berninger
The Forum - 06/19/2002
The Eagles have spent the better part of 2002 in the studio, but the
1970s supergroup left its new material incubating in the nest Tuesday.

Instead, the band that pioneered the California country-rock sound 30
years ago wooed a Fargodome audience with more than two hours of hits
and favorites.

Back seven years after the notorious “Hell Freezes Over” tour’s local
stop in 1995, The Eagles – whose current line-up includes drummer Don
Henley, keyboardist Glenn Frey, guitarist Joe Walsh and bassist Timothy
B. Schmit – gradually thawed the atmosphere as the evening progressed.

The concert’s first set focused on mellow numbers including “New Kid In
Town,” Henley’s solo hit “The Boys of Summer” and “Love Will Keep Us
Alive,” a 1990s effort from the “Hell Freezes Over” album. Henley and
Frey multitasked between lead vocals, guitar parts and their respective
instruments, and nine additional musicians filled out the sound.

The “50-something” band members looked mature but current in stylish but
casual jackets and pants, save for Joe Walsh, who sported a blazer over
what appeared to be frantically patterned Zubaz pants.

The crowd of about 15,000 seemed a bit conflicted about how to respond
to The Eagles at first. During the slower tunes most sat and listened
appreciatively, except for those in the very front and center section,
who stood without moving. If you pay $96 for the best seats in the
house, you’d think you would want to sit in them when it isn’t time to
dance.

Three decades have passed since The Eagles wrote songs like, “Take It To
The Limit,” but the years accumulated weren’t evident in the band’s
sound. Henley’s voice still rings crisp, and Schmit’s falsetto is as
sweet as when the group first recorded “I Can’t Tell You Why.” Walsh
demonstrated guitar solos that drew hollers.

But perhaps the group felt weary, because they stopped the concert for a
nearly 30-minute break after less than an hour of play. The extended
pause killed the momentum built during The Eagles’ first set.

After a nap, or game of Scrabble, or whatever The Eagles did for half an
hour, the band came back to make some real heavenly – not hellish – heat
onstage.

The Eagles finally stretched their wings and let loose during more
uptempo tracks like “You Belong To The City” and “Life In The Fast
Lane.” By the time they wrung out “Dirty Laundry,” band members were
playing off each other and jumping on stage, and the audience danced
along. “Life’s Been Good,” featuring Walsh making faces and acting out
his wry lyrics about the rock-star life, was especially fun.

So when Frey sang “this night is going to last forever, last all summer
long,” during “Heartache Tonight,” the crowd likely wished those words
were true.
 

Andy's Review

didn't take notes, but here's a brief writeup of the June 18 Fargo show...

It started at about 8:10.  Opener was "The Long Run."  With the stage lights
dimmed, the band came on stage.  From the fourth row, I could see the guys
on stage before the lights came up.  Those of as the front started screaming
before the lights even came up.

"The Long Run" was spectacularly played.  Except for changing "Houston" to
"Fargo" in the lyrics, it was a lot like the studio version, but more
energetic.  The crowd loved it.

The first half of the show was less memorable than the second.  It was still
beautiful, but the songs tended to be slower.

Many of the solo songs got the most cheering, especially Joe Walsh's solo
stuff.  When he played the opening solo of "Life's Been Good," the crowd was
so loud it was almost deafening.

"Boys of Summer" also got a great crowd reception.

I've been to a number of concerts before, but I was amazed at how many great
songs there were.  Every song was great, and I knew all the words (except
for "You Belong to the City").  This made it tons of fun for me.  However,
the guy in front of me stood there the whole time and barely even tapped his
feet.  At one time he asked me not to sing along so loudly.  It was only my
Minnesota nice side that prevented me from telling him in no uncertain terms
to Get Over It.  The lady next to me, afterwards, leaned over and said,
"It's a free country, you can do what you want."

When Henley played "Dirty Laundry," he pointed at the domed roof when he
sang "Kick 'em when they're up," and he pointed at the stage when he sang
"Kick 'em when they're down."  He had the whole stadium singing with him on
it.

They didn't say much during the show; not to the crowd, not to each other.
At the beginning, Frey welcomed everybody to the show.  He said something to
the effect of, "If you've come from North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota,
Canada...we hope you have a great time."  When he said Canada, a lot of
people started screaming.  I get the impression quite a few people made the
3-1/2 hour trip down from Winnipeg to see the show.

There was little interplay between the band members.  Not much chattiness at
all.

After the band walked offstage the first time, everybody knew damn well they
were coming back.  But they made us work for it.  While the band was
offstage, somebody came up and hooked a plastic tube up to Walsh's
microphone stand.  I didn't recognize it at the time, but later, I realized
it was for his talk box, as the first encore was "Rocky Mountain Way."  This
song drew a huge resonse from the crowd.

I personally didn't think "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" made for all that
great of an encore piece, but that was the second one.

The third was "Take It Easy," which, of course, got an awesome response from
the crowd.  Of course, this time, Frey was no longer in Winslow, Arizona--he
was standing on a corner in Fargo, North Dakota.  With that declaration came
the expected screaming of the crowd.

Desperado, of course, finished it.  I don't think any band could come up
with a better closer with any of their songs.  Perhaps John Lennon could top
them with "Imagine," but I'm told they haven't had much luck getting him to
start another tour.

After 3 hours and 15 minutes, the Eagles walked off stage leaving the
audience wanting more, and that's something.  It really takes something to
get a dome full of ordinarily reserved Norwiegans and Germans screaming out
their favorite songs, but the Eagles did it with ease.

I can die happy now.

Andy Cummings
Thief River Falls, MN