Grand Rapids Goodies

 

Eager for Eagles: Judging by 3-hour St. Paul show, GR's will be awesome
Thursday, June 20, 2002
By John Sinkevics
The Grand Rapids Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Native Midwesterners Lisa Mielke and Melissa Prepster drove 270 miles from Madison, Wis., to catch the Eagles' show here Wednesday, a couple of weeks after flying to see the band perform in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Boise, Idaho.

But that's just the beginning. By summer's end, the rabid Eagles fans who started an Internet Web site devoted to the band will log thousands of miles to attend 11 of the tour's 32 concerts in cities as far-flung as Lubbock, Texas, and Little Rock, Ark.

"When you think of American music, when you hear the Eagles, you think about  getting on the highway and getting down the road and being in the car with the radio on," Mielke, 32, said prior to Wednesday night's show at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center for which she scored front-row tickets.

"It sounds like a cliche but the Eagles really have provided the soundtrack  for a lot of people's lives. They are THE American band."

A major summer tour

As Peter Johns puts it, the Eagles are a very big deal for folks in middle America.  "This is a big one. They're huge," the Xcel Energy Center's marketing  director said of Wednesday's sold-out concert, the biggest concert crowd ever  at the 2-year-old arena, which just happens to overlook middle America's most  famous river, the Mississippi.

"Classic rock is big in the Midwest. It's rock solid. The Midwest likes guitars and they (Eagles) have put together some good ones."

Perhaps that's why a 30-year-old band that hasn't put out a new studio album  in 23 years still sells out big arenas, still draws rave reviews from music critics and still plays and sings spirited versions of its radio hits as if  they were freshly written yesterday.

"On this tour, it's the best reviews they've ever gotten, actually," legendary band manager Irving Azoff said backstage before Wednesday's show, with guitarist Joe Walsh warming up on guitar in his dressing room next door and crews hustling to make last-minute equipment adjustments.

Sounding great

"They're singing as good as ever. Their body of work is that important. The reaction has been amazing .. . . . I've been listening to this band play for 30 years, and it's better than ever."

After wandering into the backstage "nerve center" teeming with portable computers and cell phones, bassist Timothy B. Schmit echoed Azoff's assessment: "It's stronger than ever. We found a groove and we're on a roll."

Of course, it helps their cause that the band -- Don Henley (drums, guitar), Glenn Frey (guitar, piano), Schmit (bass) and Walsh (guitar), plus eight backing musicians -- is playing places like St. Paul and Grand Rapids for the first time ever this summer, finally tapping the secondary markets, blue-collar towns and medium-size cities that have warmly embraced the group since it soared to prominence in the early 1970s.

That ardent enthusiasm was greatly evident in St. Paul on Wednesday night, just two days before the band was to make its Grand Rapids debut.

The governor, too

The Xcel Energy Center concert drew more than 18,000 pumped-up fans, including an ultimate blue-collar politician, Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who showed up to see the Eagles the day after announcing he wouldn't run for re-election.

Along with the rest of the exuberant crowd, the governor/celebrity/ex-pro wrestler cheered and sang along with the cavalcade of greatest hits: 29 songs in all, including solo pieces from Henley, Frey and Walsh, expertly performed in a three-hour-and-eight-minute show (including a 23-minute intermission) on a simple, spare stage with two huge video screens to aid fans' viewing pleasure.

Because concert set lists haven't varied much on the tour, Grand Rapids fans on Friday can expect the same hit lineup, from the guitar-slinging classics "Life in the Fast Lane," "Funk #49" and "Witchy Woman" to the stunningly perfect harmonies on the slower country-rock ballads "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Tequila Sunrise" and "Desperado," which ends the show.

It's pure Americana, with songs about "runnin' down the road," "riding fences," doing things the "Rocky Mountain Way," getting rooms at the "Hotel California" and taking things "to the limit."

America's best

So it's really no surprise that so much of it hits home in middle America for just about anybody 30 and over who's ever listened to the radio.

"You can tell they remember where they were when they first heard the song. You can see the look in their eyes," Schmit said of fans' reaction during the current North American tour, the band's first since the mid-1990s. "Last night, I saw a girl crying in the audience more than once."

Said Azoff: "We were kind of surprised and shocked at how the songs have stood the test of time."

 But, really, what else would one expect from THE American band?

Stacey's Review

We just got back from Grand Rapids, 2 hours drive from Detroit.  We saw the Eagles last year in Dallas and thought that was the best concert ever.  We were wrong.  This concert blew last years's away by far.  They opened with "The Long Run" and Henley was all over the stage, as my husband put it "who does he think he is Elvis?"  The energy that went into the concert was amazing.  The entire arena rocked for 3 hours and 10 minutes, including the 20 minute intermission.  The second half of the concert just rocked, all 17,000 fans on their feet and singing every word of every song.  The absolute best song of the evening was "Hotel California".  They totally out did themselves, it wasn't the slower version with the horn section as the solo.  It was Joe Walsh and Steuart Smith with dueling guitars, I have never heard this song sung and played as well as last night.  Henley voice is as good as it was in the 70's, if not better.

I really liked the fact that the band gave Steuart some free reign on his solos and he rose to the occasion every time.

Glenn's mom was there, he waved to her and introduced her before playing "Take it to the Limit".  My only complaint and this is mainly with Glenn since he is from the Detroit area, was that he did not mention anything about the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings.  Is he not a hockey fan?  Not routing for home town teams anymore?  Who knows, all in all it was a concert to remember.  I honestly don't think any other band can compete. 

Plobsta's Review

OK, I saw the Eagles last night and all I can say was IT WAS AWESOME! Thirty years has had no effect on anyone's voice. The sound quality was excellent and the sound was powerful. We knew every song. They did Don tunes, Joe tunes, Tim tunes and Glen tunes. It was kinda like getting 5 mini concerts all rolled into one incredible evening. During "Dirty Laundry" all 4 of these entertainers were cranking out notes and jumping around simultaneously. That was a memorable sight to behold. We just couldn't have imagined such a great show with such talented individuals. Any music fan will certainly be an Eagles fan after an evening of this. I fell in love with them from the "Hell Freezes Over" DVD and I am a full blown fan(Imean full blown). These guys are great (What an understatement) and they are int! erested in quality sound which is so refreshing. If you are going to a concert have a killer time and if you can find tickets for a show, BUY THEM. Have fun and keep enjoying this talent. Virginia Bleich (Grand Rapids, Michigan-Van Andel Arena 6-21-02)

Ellen's Review

The show was awesome!!! I didn't think to get the setlist, but i can tell you I was so happy to hear Witchy Woman --Don's vocals were in perfect form. Lyin' Eyes was one of the best songs of the night .....I can't recall if they did this one during the HFO tour but it was incredible!! I was so ELATED to see them and to be there. Now if I can just manage to go to a show where there aren't drunks next to me...("Hhhey,..dddidyyoou know dat wus "SSHHUNSET GRRRILL?"), and of course the one in front of me who kept yelling at everyone around him!! Funny evening!! but one of the best I've had in a while!! Joe totally rocked the house with each jam, in fact all the boys got a rousing sound of applause/cheers/whistles for more when they did their solo songs!! Just a GREAT evening!!


Jason's Review

Friday night, June 21st, 2002.......the night was warm and humid as tons of people crowded into the small lines to get into the Van Andel Arena. The concert was slated to start at 8pm, and about 8:20pm, the house lights dimmed and we were treated to the familiar drum opening to "The Long Run." Don Henley sang his heart out on this and every other song, be it an Eagles' hit, or his own solo career songs, Don brought it all home. Glenn was back into his home state, and he even had his mom there, and he dedicated "Take it to the Limit" to her, for as he put it, "Making me take all those piano lessons....". The whole band was getting along great and smiling and goofing off with each other through-out the entire show.....there was never a dull moment, even during the Intermission, everyone was hyped up for the second half of the show. Timothy made our hearts melt with his wonderful singing in "Love Will Keep Us Alive", which was much appreciated t! o my girlfriend, who was even blowing kisses to him when she thought I wasn't looking.....Joe Walsh stole the show of course, with such greats as "Walk Away", "Funk #49", "Rocky Mountain Way", and "Life's Been Good", to just name a few. He was right on everytime, and was hopping and joking and dancing around on stage for the whole show......and his "I lock the doors and say 'WAZZZUUUPPP!!!'" was also a highlight....the crowd went crazy when he changed that part of the "Life's Been Good" around. Steuart Smith I have to say almost stole the show with his excellent, and let me say that again.....Excellent guitar playing.....He gave it his all, and blended with Joe and Glenn very well.....a very nice addition to an already great band. After a while, with all the people in the packed solid sold-out arena, it started to get very warm, and Timothy had to point out that it was the first day of summer....and I can't think of a better way that I could have ! spent this first night of summer with my girlfriend...listening to America's Band.....The Eagles. --Jason--

Set List for Grand Rapids:

The Long Run

New Kid In Town

Wasted Time

Wasted Time Reprise

Peaceful, Easy Feeling

Pretty Maids All In A Row

Love Will Keep Us Alive

Boys Of Summer

Take It To The Limit

Already Gone

In The City

One Of These Nights

25 Minute Intermission

Witchy Woman

Lyin' Eyes

I Can't Tell You Why

Walk Away

Tequilla Sunrise

Sunset Grill

You Belong To The City

Life's Been Good

Dirty Laundry

Funk #49

Heartache Tonight

Hotel California

Rocky Mountain Way

All She Wants To Do Is Dance

Take It Easy

Desperado
 


Tom's Review

We left with the neighbors at 5pm, and went to a popular eatery for some burritos, fajitas, and tequila.  By 7pm, we were near the venue at a martini bar, and made it to our seats by 7:40.  Our view was not close, but the acoustics were fine, and the binoculars helped scope out the pre-show set up.  There must have been 25 guitars lined up in back left stage area. 
 
Here's our take on the personnel and songs:
 
Glenn - Seemed to enjoy being back in MI in the summer.  His relatives were there including his mom.  Glenn played the spokesman of the group, and he sounded relaxed and in good spirits.  He is steady, and with Don clearly one of the co-leaders.  I like him singing "Take it to the Limit", but please let Tim do the falsetto at the end.  It's just gotta be there.
 
Don - His voice has never been better.  He was quite mellow, but the "cerebral one" delivered his best and seemed happy.  The Boys of Summer was especially good, and received the most appause of Don's songs.  Of course, "Wasted Time" was a favorite as well.
 
Tim - I think Tim was a little overpowered by the others, but his sweet harmony and his energy blended well.  His two solo songs were flawless, and ya gotta like that hair!
 
Joe was ....well, Joe of course.  There's no short description.  Not only was his solo work good, but the guitar licks on "Dirty Laundry" and "Already Gone" were superb. You won't get an argument with me about Rocky Mountain Way" being one of the encore tunes.  The Eagles felt it belongs there on this tour, and I agree.  "Life in the Fast Lane" received the greatest ovation of the night except for the encore tunes.  Joe was the crowd favorite, but that takes nothing away from the others.  They were all well received by an excited audience.
 
Steuart Smith was impressive, and the horns, fiddle, and keyboards were polished.  I miss having a pedal steel guitar at times.  It would add a nice touch to many of the Eagles songs.
 
A very enjoyable night.  What could be better?  Well, maybe a surprise visit by Linda Ronstadt or Jackson Browne in the encore!
 

Mark's Review

I can craft sentences with the best of them, but as a true 'reviewer' I can only call 'em like I see them.  Some observations:
 
I found the sold-out concert Friday night at the Van Andel arena to be - and pardon the overuse of this phrase - TOTALLY awesome.  I've been an Eagles fan since high school - I graduated in 1976 at the height of the Hotel California craze.  I have many fond memories of Eagles' tapes blaring from a cassette player with 'quad' speakers in my old Chevy Blazer - incongruently blasting the strains of 'LIFE IN THE FAST LANE' while I motored along serenely at 55 mph with an old in-line six-cylinder engine straining to maintain that modest speed.
 
I am (still) the proud owner of every piece of vinyl with an Eagles song on it, but I'd never before been to an Eagles concert.  And while I've worn out a pirated copy from the VH1 video production of their initial 'Hell Freezes Over' concert, seeing them in person and 'truly' live was like nothing I'd ever experienced before.  And experience is certainly something one does at an Eagles concert.
 
I found most of the tunes to be extremely 'tight' sounding - nearly as good as a studio mix.  While Don Henley easily wins the award (hands down) for still having his vocal chords fully intact - with Timothy B. Schmidt coming in a close second - they all did an admirable job with their vocal efforts.  Joe Walsh 'cheated' a few times by avoiding some of the 'higher' reaches of songs he did - both solo and with the Eagles - but hey!  It was a live concert, and ad-libbing to some degree is expected and accepted.
 
I found the blend of Eagles tunes and the respective artists' solo efforts to be well-balanced.  It's obvious the four are getting along quite well, thank you, and while Frey and Henley vocals certainly dominate material put forth by the Eagles, there was not a noticeable leaning toward one member over another.
 
Special mention should be given to Stuart Smith.  As a guitarist myself - nothing in their caliber of course - I can appreciate exceptional guitar playing.  Don Felder is certainly no slouch, and brought much of the guitar 'edge' the band enjoyed over the years he was with them.  Stuart Smith can hammer home the licks as well as Felder and seemed almost 'unconscious' about the effort it must have taken to step into Felder's shoes.  He shined on virtually every lead part assigned to him, and he and Joe Walsh's riffs on 'Hotel California' were classic.  One could close their eyes and never realize Don Felder was NOT playing along.
 
The band members - as well as their capable back-up musicians - were into the evening, and genuinely seemed to enjoy the pounding throng of the crowd.  The dancing, hopping, and general 'cutting up' by all of them at one time or another during the performance was palpable!
 
Since the world seems to revolve around a scale of one to ten, I give this concert a 9.25.
 
Regards,
 
Mark Walker
Wayland, MI.

Jim's Review

At 11:32 pm, Don Henley crooned the last note of Desperado and the magical
night came to a close.  And what a night it was.  After seeing two HFO
shows back in 1994-1995, it was a dream seeing these guys in a smaller,
more intimate setting like Van Andel Arena.  There were 12,000 plus at this
particular show.  Since I am rather late to provide a full review, I will
leave you with these thoughts and perceptions:

*All four Eagle members looked fine and seem to be defying age rather well.
Tim is as skinny as ever while Don seems to have gotten a "bit thicker"
around the mid-section.

*I was really disappointed that they did not start out with "Seven Bridges
Road" or include "Best of My Love" later in the first set as they have done
in a few other cities.  We sold the show out for them in twenty two
minutes, so I thought the least they could do was reward us with at least
one of those songs, if not both.  They played a total of 27 songs.  Other
cities have heard either 29 or 30 songs.

*There was very little banter with the crowd, which was fine because they
had a lot of music to perform.  After playing "The Long Run", Glenn
shouted, "Grand Rapids, Michigan!!!!"   "In the summertime!!!!"  He also
gave us the "ex-wife/credit card story" dedication and said hi to his mom
and aunts and uncles in the crowd before playing "Take it to the Limit".

*There were two very pleasant additions made to the group and to this tour
that were very noticeable and well-received.  One was the guitar-playing of
Stuart Smith.  I hate to say this, but I don't think anyone in attendance
missed Don Felder one bit due to Smith.  In fact, it seems as if Felder's
lack of presence has made the others more comfortable with each other.  The
other addition was the four-man horn section.  What a nice touch!!  To hear
all of these classic Eagles tunes with some horns now has taken this group
to a new level!

*Speaking of taking this group to a new level, Joe Walsh is almost God.
What a riot he is just to watch-let alone hear play.  His versions of
"Pretty Maids", "In the City", "Walk Away", etc. were alone worth the price
of admission.  Fans attending shows in the upcoming second half of the tour
are in for quite a treat thanks to this guy.

*This show was arguably the biggest and best one that has ever come to
Grand Rapids.  It sold out quickly despite the ticket prices, people were
juiced and abuzz to see and hear the Eagles together again since HFO, they
sound as good as they ever have (If not better!), and people walked out
feeling like they got their money's worth because the show was over three
hours long.  The Who arrives here on August 27 and will have their work cut
out for them to exceed the quality of this show.

Grand Rapids, Michigan – A View from Backstage

 

My dream finally came true! As a stagehand my one goal was to someday work an Eagles show. That happened this past Friday. Upon arriving at the Van Andel Arena there were eight 53 foot tractor-trailers waiting for the 42 man crew. We began unloading at 8 a.m. Crew members were soon split up into several departments and I was assigned to the electrics crew to begin assembly of the lighting rig. After about four hours, the lights were hanging in the air and the sound system was going up into position. Then came the task of setting the risers and placing the band’s equipment on the stage. Also being a guitar player myself, it was a real treat for me to actually be setting up Glenn and Joe’s amps and getting a close up view of what they use. After lunch break things began to move at a more leisurely pace. I guess I just happened to be in the right place at the right time when the lighting director came up to me and asked for some help focusing the lights into position. He handed me a two way radio so he could talk to me while he was at the mix position and directed me where to stand on the stage while he positioned the lights on me. Soon there I was sitting behind Glenn’s grand piano, behind Don’s drums, and standing at each Eagle’s microphone. When we finished I struck up a conversation with Timothy’s guitar tech. We started talking about our guitar pick collections and I mentioned I had three full sets of Eagle picks from previous tours. He reached into his workbox and pulled out two sets of the picks they are now using and said, “ I guess you’ll probably need these to add to your collection” and handed them to me. A major score! Soundcheck was scheduled for 4 p.m. At five there were still no Eagles. I asked the production manager if a soundcheck was going to happen and he said yes but the Eagles jet was late in taking off. He did tell me that they have three private jets. One for the Eagles, one for the additional musicians, and one for their management and security people.  At 5:15 we heard that they had landed and were on their way from the airport. Minutes later the overhead door opened and they began arriving one by one in SUV’s. First to arrive was Joe. In the second car was Don and manager Irving Azoff. Soon after, Timothy then Glenn arrived. Last to come in were the additional musicians in a large van. Minutes later they were all on stage and jammed while the sound engineer set his levels. After dinner break the doors opened and the crowd began to fill the arena. I was assigned to operate a followspot during the show. My man was guitarist Steuart Smith. The band hit the stage at 8:20 and opened with The Long Run. What a show it was! They have never looked or sounded better. I thought this show was much better than the HFO tour. They were all smiling and joking around. You could tell they were really enjoying themselves. My hat goes off to Nick Sholem the lighting director for his great lighting design and to J.D. Brill the sound engineer for the best live sound I have ever heard. All too soon it was over. At 11:30 we began tearing down what we had spent all day putting up. The door on the last truck was closed at 2 a.m. and the crew headed to their buses for the overnight trip to Ohio and then it just all became a memory. Can’t wait for the world tour next year!