What can I say? Simply outstanding. The Eagles
are truly one of America's all time great bands.
I have never been to a show that encompassed so
much vocal talent. This was my first time seeing
the band and I must say, they are without
flaw. Don Henley, Glen Frey, and Timothy B.
Schmidt were incredible. The horn section of the
band is to be applauded for a splendid
performance also. During intermission it started
to rain outside The Mark and the mayflies from
the river got into the arena via the door to the
smoking pavilion. Joe Walsh (being the classic
court jester he is) made reference to it later
by saying "bugs, more than the usual amount of
bugs around me". Everyone loved that. He then
dedicated "Life's been good to me" to the bugs.
The crowd at The Mark of the Quad Cities was
more than appreciative of the Eagles
music. There was not a empty seat in the house
and everyone cheered and clapped after every
single song. In true Midwestern spirit we hope
we sent the Eagles on their way with a smile on
their deserving faces.
The midwest thanks you fella's. Come back
again...SOON!
Moline Dispatch
July 9, 2002 12:21 AM
Were Eagles tickets worth the price? You bet
By Sean Leary, Dispatch/Argus Entertainment
editor MOLINE -- Ever since the Eagles
concert at The Mark of the Quad Cities was
announced, fans alternately have gushed with
excitement and snarled over the high price of
tickets -- $125 for top seats, $95 midrange, $75
for nosebleeds. Monday night was finally the
moment of truth, as the classic rock foursome --
Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmit and
Joe Walsh -- hit the Moline arena for the first
time. And as they walked off stage, concert
completed, the question loomed large: Was it
worth it? In a word, yes. In several words --
judging by the reaction of the roughly 11,000 in
a sold-out Mark -- area Eagles fans were quite
pleased.
And, while I personally still disagree with rock
acts in general charging exorbitant ticket
prices, I have to say the Eagles put on a hell
of a show. Upholding their end of the bargain,
the southern California quartet soared high with
over 2 1/2 hours of hits played with sterling
clarity and considerable style. The musicianship
was, as expected, brilliant, and the sound
quality was outstanding. Aside from Yes'
concert, way back in the Age of Hootie and the
Blowfish, this was probably the most sonically
pristine show I've heard at The Mark. That aural
superiority perfectly presented the group's
intricate harmonies and folk-country-rock sound,
which was brought to life with a rich fullness
by an eight-piece backing band. The mellifluous
blend of voices in ``Peaceful Easy Feeling,''
Walsh's nonchalantly squawking guitar on ``The
Long Run,'' and Henley's destitute wail on
``Boys of Summer'' were translated live with
fantastic fidelity.
While slick, the show was far from clinical in
its approach to the material. Each track's
character was brought to the fore with visceral
energy -- although some bled more than others.
``Summer'' was a textbook example. The sad
indictment of the Reagan-era facade dripped with
a tangible surrender. ``Take It to the Limit''
was an upbeat contrast, a bouncing piano bar
anthem delivered with a gospel flavor by Frey.
``Already Gone'' brought fans to their feet to
sway and clap along with its boogie beat and
frantic guitar. As a diabolical guitar sliced
above foreboding percussion, Henley spat out ``Witchy
Woman'' through three-part vocal harmony that
blew like a freezing wind. The forlorn country
anthem ``Lyin' Eyes'' ironically perked the
audience right up as it spun its tale of
betrayal. And another weeper, the wistful ``I
Can't Tell You Why,'' brought the crowd to it! s
feet. Walsh's iconoclastic blizzard of
cartoonish depravity, ``Life's Been Good'' was
one of the night's definite highlights. Bringing
the audience to its feet from the first
meandering guitar twist, its every lyric was
augmented by a torrent of voices. Very cool. And
with its dub-inflected chorus, weird guitar
tangents and Walsh's mugging stage presence, it
injected some welcome levity into the set and
brought the house down. The crowd remained
buoyed for Henley's ``Dirty Laundry,'' which
rocked with a gritty guitar, clanging refrain
and clap-along beat. Unquestionably this was a
top-notch show by a talented band of veterans
still on top of their game. But again, was it
worth the expense? As one fan said after the
show, ``That was worth a big credit card bill to
me.'' Given the quality of the Eagles'
performance, there were undoubtedly thousands of
fans who echoed that sentiment last night.
David
I
was ready to pen the zillionth 'Joe stole the
show' review but there was
so much more to it than that. More on Walsh
later. The Mark of the Quad
Cities is a hockey arena but is a great place
for concerts...not a bad seat
in the house. I attended with my 10 year old
daughter (our seats were on the
floor about 50 feet from the left side of the
stage). My sister and her 13
yr old son were with us and seated in the upper
bowl about the same
distance from the right corner of the stage). We
arrived about 2 1/2 hours
early bought our compulsory t-shirts and found
our seats. The time seemed to
pass quickly as we enjoyed a little people
watching. Every age group from
pre-teen to senior citizen was represented. At
8:20 the lights went down,
the cheers went up, and the band took the stage.
They opened with The Long
Run. The mix was a little rough with pretty weak
background vocals but
improved greatly over the next few tunes.
Henley's vocals were also a little
off which may be the reason for skipping Seven
Bridges Road??? By the time
they got to Wasted Time the glitches were worked
out and Henley's voice was
warming up. Walsh seemed to be having some
problems hearing his guitar for
the first few songs. Although it seemed to be
bothering him it sounded
great in the mix. In welcoming us Frey made the
gesture of mentioning a
couple of the cities that make up the Quad
Cities to the pleasure of the
crowd and used the " it's great to be 30 again"
line. The set list was
exactly as expected without 7BR.
Tim introduced Walsh as Quad City Joe for Pretty
Maids which got the crowd
going. Joe's stage presence is a thing of
wonder. The crowd absolutely went
nuts with everything he did. Every person in the
place seemed to be on their
feet during his songs. Much of the slide guitar
and vocals on Pretty Maids
and In the City were somewhat improvised which
tended to add a little
live-show flair to the CD quality sound. After
In the City, Frey remarked
that this must be Joe Walsh country and asked
Walsh if he had a bunch of
relatives in the area to which Joe shrugged his
shoulders and tried to look
sheepish.
During the first set Frey introduced the backing
musicians. Steuart Smith
was warmly welcomed as were the rest. The
oft-mentioned Felder void is
non-existent. Smith covered the fills and solos
with his own style and loads
of pure talent. This guy nailed them all and had
the crowd's approval with
every solo. The interaction between Smith and
the other guitarists is
fantastic. The timing is tight and they're
musically on the same page. As a
guitar player and a huge fan of the Eagles from
the early '70s I know those
guitar parts note-by-note....there was nothing
missing.
Timothy B. Schmit was great. Since our seats
were on his side of the stage I
kept an eye on what he was doing. Although he
doesn't get many lead vocals
or the beloved guitar solos his contribution is
awesome. He was really
working it tonight dancing around, messing with
Walsh, and generally being
a real rocker. His laps around the stage got a
big response from the
audience as did his lead vocal efforts. You
Belong to the City was actually
done as a duet with Tim sharing the lead vocal
and it sounded great.
I've heard Frey referred to as the anchor and
this is no lie. Frey takes the
role of spokesman, comedy director, and the
newly acquired position of lead
dancer!! He was a hoot during All She Wants To
Do is Dance. Jigging with the
horn section!! His voice was the usual greatness
during the songs he leads
as well as the backing vocals he provides. His
version of Take it to the
Limit is wonderful. He plays a powerful guitar,
heavenly keyboards and is
truly working hard every minute.
The thing that really impressed me tonight was
Don Henley. We all know he's
got the voice, the stage presence and the
attitude but Henley was more like
the pre-superstar Henley than I expected. On the
HFO stuff Henley seemed to
be the definite frontman and although they
covered a bunch of his solo work
he really blended into the band tonight. He
spent a lot of time behind the
drum kit. Other than the first song his vocals
were magnificent. Desperado
was (as usual) a thing of beauty as was Wasted
Time. His voice (which is
undoubtedly heaven sent) is truly aging at some
un-human rate.
All in all the band was tight and although they
were all working very hard
they really seemed to be enjoying themselves.
There were many (mostly
Frey/Walsh provided) laughs, smiling glances,
and a genuine good feeling
although Frey mentioned that they're still
working on a studio album "which
will probably take 7 years to finish". Hopefully
that was just a little more
comedy.
