Richmond Reviews

H Miller: Fan Review

Zermie: Richmond Review

I agree that this tour is more polished more rehearsed and a lot smoother running that the last few tours. You will have to look closely to notice the nuances between last year's tour and this one. I guess the biggest visual addition is the back of stage projection screens. Beginning with BOS, those screens depict the theme of the song, beach and ocean scenes for BOS, a curvy highway for James Dean, fuzzy media images for Dirty Laundry. Also, the construction hat Walsh cam is a neat trick, he first dons it for Life's Been Good about 2/3rds of the way through the show, and then uses it in bits and pieces the rest of the way. As far as the media review of the show is concerned, I think that writer is used to reviewing bands like Green Day and thinks unless the lead singer throws himself into the mosh pit and bangs his head on the stage until he loses consciousness, then he is acting "bored", I prefer to think of it as a calm professionalism by a band intent on giving the audience what it came for. My clue to see if Glenn is into it is if he sings along w/ the other guys songs even when he isn't at the mike, and he was most of the evening. Glenn also had both of his wrists taped up below the hand, like a football wide receiver, either he has been playing too much golf, or his rheumatiz was acting up, it didn't seem to effect his playing, however, now, to a few chick matters, we can put a "Y" in the answer box on the wedding ring issue for both of the colitas brothers, the clothing attire came from the funeral director's outlet mall, Tim: black top and jeans, GF: black sport coat and jeans, DH: black French disassociated artist dress shirt, JW: black moo-moo top, Joe, btw, looks like he's got the local Dominoes' locked into his speed dial, Stuey: black shirt and pants, borrowed from his twin brother, Lyle Lovett. One final word about my Virginia homey, SS, all he did was play the lead jams on most of the songs and did more backing vocals than I can recall Felder doing, its amazing to see what he does, from the band interplay w/ him on stage it seems the main four have embraced Stuey if not as a member, than as a partner to what they do onstage.
 

Laura: Fan Review

The Eagles put on a fabulous show last night. It was phenomenal to be in the presence of such enormous talent. We were on the left side of the stage, two rows off the floor, about eight rows back - perfect seats! I think the only better seats could have been on the very front row. We met up with several friends seated in different sections (upper left) who were happy with their seats too and just glad to be there to enjoy the show. I didn't notice any of the glitches with the video display, but we were close enough that I only glanced up at it now and then. But with that kind of talent, you don't need any "visual spectacle."

The harmonies were tight and the band seemed to be having a great time. I heard Joe Walsh on a radio interview yesterday morning before the show, and he said, "for two hours, I can be 18 again." Let me just say, he rocked and rolled and played like he was 18 for all three hours of the show. His antics are so much fun to watch! Glenn Frey had his share of fun too, especially during "All She Wants To Do is Dance" when he jumped up from the piano to dance with the incredible horns section. At one point in the night, Glenn walked to the very front left corner of the stage and a fan must have yelled I love you, because I could see him say "I love you too" back to her - what a thrill that must have been! Glenn looked really good too - better than on the Hell Freezes Over tour. Timothy B. Schmit was unfailingly superb all night. He definitely has a stage presence that just locks you to him. Don Henley was solid all night - it was great to hear so many of their solo hits - Boys of Summer and Sunset Grill were awesome.

We didn't review set lists before the show, so every song was exciting to us. I had an unspoken hope of hearing Rocky Mountain Way and just couldn't believe it when they did it - and did it right - Joe's guitar licks were so hot. The new guitarist - Stuart Smith (a Virginian)- did an excellent job on every song.

The new song, Hole in the World, was great - the crowd loved it - it really showed off their vocal skills - beautiful harmony - can't wait to hear it on the radio Monday! There wasn't a moment in the night that hinted at being disappointing - it was a perfect night - no traffic jam getting in, plenty of space in the parking garage, we walked right into the building - no lines at the entrance we went through. The show was excellent from start to finish.

I've read a couple other reviews this morning, and I am a huge Springsteen fan (saw him in March - another incredible show) and I need to set the record straight - I don't believe Bruce would ever 'scoff' at anything the Eagles might do for the simple reason that The Boss respects talent - which seems to be something a little lacking at a certain Richmond newspaper these days.

 

Sallie:  Response to Times-Dispatch Review

I am writing in regards to the concert last night in Richmond featuring the Eagles. It was awesome. Simply awesome. I've been a fan for over 20 years but do not rave over groups because of their longevity. I go for the music. For the words. For the feelings they evoke.

I totally disagree with the reviewer from the Richmond Times Dispatch. Her take on the concert was ho-hum and what a bother it was to hear all those hits. First, I would say she has no appreciation for music... the Eagles have it all. Great musicianship, etc. They HAVE written so many songs and many did become hits....so, duh? They put on a great show. It actually was the first concert I had ever gone to with my daughter and her husband...they had just as good time as I did. And looking around the audience, they all did too.

So, when you describe great music...this is the standard. Maybe she was looking for more lights, a fog machine, whatever. Nah. Its not their style. They don't need to resort to show biz.
 

Wayne S. Richmond Show Comments

Awesome show! The best I've ever seen them. From aperformance perspective, I noticed no indication of rustiness. Very tight harmonies, obviously well and thoroughly rehearsed. They were tight and on, both vocally as well as instrumentally, and they appeared to be genuinely enjoying themselves and the audience throughout the performance (as opposed to Hell Freezes Over where they seemed to me to be somewhat bored and uninterested.) Overall, a very full and very electric sound throughout. The four person horn section really wailed on several tunes.

Sound was excellent and well-administered throughout.  I can confirm the set list you've published. Start time was 8:20. Break from 9:16 to 9:41. Second set ended at 11:05, first encore finished at 11:15, 2nd encore finished at 11:30, and 3rd and final encore finished at 11:40.

A couple of glitches (loss of video) with the large video display suspended above the stage lighting, but they were short-lived and were corrected without delay. I can't estimate the size of the main video display but it was as wide as the stage and had approximately a 4:1 aspect ratio. The main video display was capable of a single frame or three separate frames. When in three frame mode the center frame took up half the video display and the two outside frames one quarter each. Usually the two outside frames shared the same video feed as one another. There were also two smaller video displays pointing left and right for the audience located to the sides of the stage. Also multiple smaller video displays at stage level behind the band, but they usually carried programmed, as opposed to live, video.
Twice Joe Walsh wore a hard hat with an embedded camera, the video from which was shown on the main video display. Fascinating to see the audience and the other band members from the performer's perspective, although Joe's pretty animated so his head whips around a lot. And so does his video. A remotely controlled, floor-mounted crane camera and
multiple hand-held cameras provided the primary sources for the video displays.

If you don't have tickets yet for your area, get them!
A tremendous show.
 

Eagles' hits on parade
Richmond Times Dispatch
BY MELISSA RUGGIERI

Brian A.  Post Show Notes

Don sang Long Run, WT, & Desperado at the microphone; he played guitar on most of his solo, drums on many of the Eagles tunes. Smiled a lot, seemed to have a good time.

The new song is FANTASTIC. It has kind of a gospel/soul feel to it. The song starts with all 4 of them singing a capella, then the instruments kick in and Don has some solo vocals. The chorus was great (you know the lyrics from the magazine article). Don said before he sang it that it was their first time ever doing it in concert and to "wish them luck."  Well, they nailed it, I would say! He also said that "it should be on the radio Monday" and that "it will probably be on the Internet tomorrow." That's Don for ya!

Glenn sounded great on James Dean. That was a real highlight. Joe and Timothy were great as well.  Steuart Smith nailed the guitar parts, especially "I Can't Tell You Why" and "Hotel California."

The show started at 8:15 and ended at about 11:35pm, so they may cut a couple of songs from the setlist for length. I was a little disappointed that the setlist was so similar to the previous shows. I was hoping for more changes, not just a rearranging of the order.

We arrived at about 6:45pm. Before the show, while standing in line outside the Coliseum, I could hear "In The City" and "7 Bridges Road" coming from inside, as if they were rehearsing, but they never performed "7 Bridges" during the show. I was disappointed about
that too.
 

Dennis' Review