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Went to the concert last night in Vancouver and
saw the best show of my life. Anyone who says
those boys are “old” is very, very wrong. They
could blow most current bands off the stage with
their musical abilities and stage presence.
Opening with “Seven Bridges Road” the Eagles
proved that all their voices are as strong and
clear as ever. Don Henley and Glenn Frey sounded
better than ever. Timothy B. Schmidt sings like
an angel (what a voice) and when Joe sang Pretty
Maids, it was far better than when he performed on
the Hell Freezes over tour. Henley was dressed
all in black, Frey black pants and shirt with
cream blazer, Schmidt in black and Joe started out
with black shirt, dark blue blazer and red
marching band pants with a gold trim down the
sides.
I found the first half of the concert to be more
mellow and nostalgic. Brought you back to when
you were a kid. A very good mix of songs with
everyone swaying and singing along to the music.
Just wonderful.
The second half was definitely more rocking.
Although I agree Joe didn’t steal the show from
Henley, Frey and Schmidt, he certainly blew
everyone away when he played. Nice little jazzy
intro on Funk 49. That song seems to change each
time I hear it. And when he played Life’s Been
Good, he proved why he’s known for his clowning
around and great showmanship. The man is an
incredible guitar player. I enjoyed hearing some
of their individual works. Really shows what a
talented bunch they are both as a group and
individually.
The sound system superb! I felt as if I were in
my living room listening to the stereo but having
way more fun…you definitely get what you pay for.
The guys all looked as if they were having a good
time being there together. A very relaxed feeling
all around.
I was a little surprised at a few of the people
who left before all the encores were done. Who
really cares about getting to your car first? How
often does one get to see the Eagles? My only
regret is they’re not playing a second show in
Vancouver. I’d be there for sure! It was worth
every penny.
Gail and Chris
How do you do a review of a concert, when you are
not an entertainment reporter?
It’s difficult, because when you have experienced
a mid-week skipping out of your responsibilities
to attend the Eagles 30th
Anniversary Tour (June 12 – GM Place,
Vancouver), it really takes some planning.
Especially living on Vancouver Island and running
a business like ours it takes great friends like
Al and Dianne to pull this off. They knew we are
huge Eagles fans and it was something to stop us
from being like eagles hovering over two major
golf tournaments to attend this gig!
Thank you Wendy, for taking such good care of us
at the Rosedale on Robson, a wonderful, classy,
boutique hotel, on Robson St. Thank you Arrowsmith
Staff for being so totally awesome, for holding
down the fort.
From where we were sitting it felt, sounded and
looked like GM place was hosting a sell-out
concert. You could feel the excitement and the
anticipation of something great about to happen.
The energy was quickly ignited when our “boys of
summer” came on stage and opened with “Seven
Bridges”, in such a perfectly executed harmony, it
rendered me breathless. Followed by “The Long
Run” and “New Kid in Town”, I felt the last thirty
years of my life racing through me as these fine
entertainers took the majority of the audience
through a time rush. Songs such as “Peaceful Easy
Feeling” and “Best of my Love” brought the
audience to their feet as those familiar and
reminiscent lyrics resounded throughout the
building. Who could resist? Everyone was a
singer tonight. As the familiar intro bars opened
up to “One of These Nights” it was obvious that
the audience approval had exceeded beyond even the
highest expectations of the promoters and our fine
entertainers. It was an excellent choice to finish
off the first set. As Tim, Joe, Don and Glenn and
the boys promised the next set is going to rock,
we scrambled off to find refreshments, as my
extremely resourceful friend Dianne borrowed a mop
from a cleaning attendant to pose as a washroom
attendant. This way she could go to the front of
the line while avoiding an extremely long line up
and possibly missing any of the next set.
With no time wasted, we hastily headed back to our
seats just in time to hear the haunting sounds of
“Witchy Woman” as Don Henley’s amazing voice sent
chills up my spine. Those oh so familiar lyrics,
etched in my mind from years gone by, got kicked
up another notch when the ever so familiar “Lyin’
Eyes” had the audience singing, dancing and
rocking in their seats. For $150.00, the most I
have ever shelled out for a concert ticket, it was
easily established that even if they pulled the
plug now not only was this the best concert I have
ever attended, I felt I had already received my
money’s worth. This was one class act, and they
had definitely responded to the audience’s
appreciation. Between each song there were
standing ovations, applause and cheering so loud,
you couldn’t help but stand back and see the
gratitude and respect from both sides of the fence
here.
As each of these performers have branched out over
the years, their careers have at times taken
different directions yet back together they still
have the rapport, talent and maturity it takes to
deliver. As they took us right through to “Life
in the Fast Lane”, you can see that these old boys
still know how to rock and roll. As everyone was
on their feet, cheering so loudly that some of us
lost our voices and our eardrums vibrated, you
know that they would come back for this kind of
standing ovation. “Hotel California”, “Rocky
Mountain Way”, just when you thought you couldn’t
get much higher…. another standing ovation, they
wound up the evening with “Take it Easy”, or so we
thought, hey this is the West Coast crowd, we love
you guys, Thank you…. hey, here they come again,
ovation #3, you got it… it wouldn’t be complete
without hearing them finish of with “Desperado”.
When the audience is singing louder than the band
and all it’s high tech sound equipment, these have
to be the best fans in the whole world.
Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey and Timothy B.
Schmit – Thank you for coming together after all
these years and delivering the best of the best to
our doorstep.
As with fine wine, you have all gotten better with
age.
Gail & Chris Jiggins
Randy's Review
Some highlights and
lowlights:
-Seven Bridges Road: Beautiful harmonies,
unfortunately not quite loud enough
-As we got further into the concert the volume was
better.
-From where I was sitting the bass was booming a
little-almost sounded like
it was being played through a blown speaker.
-I'm a major Henley fan, so I was glad to hear
some of his solo stuff again.
Just awesome but...
-Joe Walsh was the star. He turned a good concert
into a great one. He didn't
just sing his vocals, he attacked them. Hopefully
the boys have matured
enough to allow Walsh some room for his incredible
stage presence.
-Schmidt and Henley's voices were the usual-
consistently great
-Frey's vocals were good but not quite to the
caliber of the others.
Definitely not as strong as when the Eagles
appeared here in '95. The sound
engineers seemed to realize that as well since
Glenn's voice on many songs
could hardly be heard above the instruments
-I liked the horn section. Added an extra layer of
sound.
-Great to here some of the really old stuff that
wasn't played on the last
tour.
-Walk Away was a highlight as was anything that
Joe Walsh did (as mentioned
in other reviews).
-I thought their new guitarist was good, but not
the caliber of Felder or
especially the two guys that toured with Henley a
couple years ago. His
playing to me did not appear to flow very easily
at times.
-I didn't like the "one song" encore strategy.
-Overall, this concert was definitely in my top
five all time.
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