Las Vegas December 29, 1999
The second Vegas show is one that will go down in the memory books as a truly remarkable (not to mention exhausting) experience. We had seats right at the side of the stage (kind of behind the guitars). Yes, once in a while the cameraman got in the way and Don did have cymbal head when he was behind the drums, but being that close at such a unique angle gave a totally new and different perspective to the show. Probably the thing that struck us the most was what a technical and perfectly choreographed production this was. Seeing the cameraman at work, watching the drum technicians prepare (heck, even the sax/clarinet tech was working his ass off!) and seeing the scurrying taking place in the wings reinforced the fact that this band has a stellar road crew. The show is laid out to the point that right before the last song, Tony Taibi is standing in the wings with Don's coat (we think it was a Dallas Cowboys one) ready for Henley to just slip into. He also had a towel for Don. As we've mentioned before, this show was a bit more animated than the show the night before. We knew Glenn was keyed up when he started talking to the crowd after the 2nd song (we had to wait until after the 5th the 1st night). There were so many smiles and so much joking. Towels were thrown playfully at each other. We were in the perfect position to watch Don Felder and the grin never left his face. He acknowledged us when we waved. Joe, who smiled at us occasionally, could also be seen in rapturous concentration over his guitar. Probably one reason that this show was better than the first was that the crowd was more into it. More people stood up. More people danced. Even Irving danced and sang along. During "Take it To The Limit" the audience sang with the band. At that point I took my eyes off the band for a second and turned and looked back at the audience. The angle were were at must have been similar to what the band was seeing and it was awesome. Thousands of people...singing...looking happy. I got chills and wondered how it made those guys on stage feel. Pretty damn good, I'll wager. There were people sitting behind the stage as well and most of the guys wandered back there or acknowledged the crowd. Speaking of Take it to the Limit, Glenn seemed really tickled that they were doing it. He announced it as something people probably weren't thinking they were going to hear. He also said that it was "...in the key of G...now". At first we thought that meant that they had merely altered the arrangement to suit his voice, but watching the way the rest of the band cracked up at that comment, it hit us that he meant "...the key of Glenn." What a goof! I think this review is disintegrating and becoming even more random........ The set list was basically the same. The Long Run, Already Gone and The Heat is On were dropped and Best of My Love got moved to AG's spot in the encore. Again, let us mention how wonderful the new arrangement of BOML was. We hope Henley is happy with it now. The band had a practice millennium countdown. We counted back from 10 and then the fireworks went off. We were basically right under them. Mr. Azoff and some security people had already warned the people in our section that they were going to happen and that we "...shouldn't be frightened". They even suggested that the older ladies behind us take out their hearing aids. While the fireworks were going off, Joe played Auld Lang Syne and the rest of the band looked up at the sky. Don and Glenn looked as if they thought it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. Don even stuck his tongue out at Glenn. To quote someone standing next to us, it was "....f**king hysterical." I think we forgot to mention that Funky New Year has a new verse about the century ending and about how the band, "....broke up, got back together....broke up...got back together." He also really wants audience participation. It was hard to see Timothy from where we were, but at one point he did walk over. It was great to see him! One final comment (of course I'm sure we'll think of more). One of my favorite moments of the evening came as the film was ending. The entire band came out from backstage and was standing in a V. They were all were looking up at one of the screens, watching the film. As the movie came to a close, they all began moving at once, in formation, as a unit toward the stage. It was something to see (I commented on this and was made fun of by the cameraman....GEEK!) and only reinforced that this band is in the best place it has been in a while.
|