....it,s a 2 hour drive down state to where they were playing....plan was to hit Joes Crab Shack before the show....been waiting over 3 years to try that place....but plans dont always work out...we got there in plenty of time to eat...so we thought...lil ditz playing hostess said 40 minutes to a table....hour and twenty minutes later we were waliking out the door in disgust and headed to Wendys to wolf down a not so great burger...oh well....maybe next time...
.....we got to the stadium....15 bucks to park....walked in....place was packed....and I mean PACKED....we slowly made our way though a litteral sea of people until we finally made it to the T Shirt Stand....35 bucks a shirt..*Ouch*...but how many times do ya get to see the Eagles ?.....we bought two....showed our tix to an usher...she was real nice...took us to our seats on the 2nd level right on the side of the stage....decent view I guess...would have been better, but I forgot my binoculars in the truck <~~ dumb move....after about 30 minutes the lights went down and the boys walked onto the stage to thunderous applause....
.....this is the view 150 bucks a Ticket gotcha..
....now this place sez no "professional cameras...or removable lens cameras".....but the Eagles said.....NO CAMERAS....so I left mine in the truck and we snuck Chili,s compact digital in....we sat down and the male usher gave a little speech before the show even started....no cameras ...and that means cell phone cameras too ! ....yeh right....this guy obviously never met me before....so all night we played cat and mouse...and I never used Chili,s camera before....it was fun....but I didnt know if I got any decent shots until we got home...luckily I did...
....heres the boys...
.....they did alot of ...Classic Eagles...but they also did alot from their new album...Long Road Out of Eden....which was...okayyyy....lot of harmonizing....kind of reminded me of Flying Burrito Brothers or Fire Fall....
...I was hoping these guys would be in the backup...and they were....needless to say....they rocked..
.......and ofcourse...Joe Walsh....I dig the guy dont get me wrong...but I was not pleased at first when Bernie Leadon left the band..and they replaced him with Joe....the man is a master on the guitar and tears the frets up....but he also took the band into a whole new direction with alot more ROCK flavor in their music....
........and that night was no exception....he wailed on his...various axes....but he also put a black baseball cap on with a camera in it and ran around the stage...showing various sections of the audience on a huge screen over head.....which they loved..
.......they played for about an hour...took a 30 minute break.....which I thought was excessive....but ya hafta remember....these guys are all either pushing 60...or there already....I was taken back when I got a close up of Henley and Timothy B Schmidt on the big screen....Timothy had that ruddy Dirty Harry look going on ...on that boyish face....and Don Henley looked puffy and sometimes...tired....dont get me wrong...they were GOOD....but I couldnt shake the feeling on alot of their songs that they were just going through the motions and relying way too much on the fact that.....they were The Eagles..
.....they did ....two encores....I knew what the 2nd one was going to be before they started...because they had not done it all night long.....Desperado....Henley was on his signature drums...obviously straining to make the high notes....and his voice actually *cracked* near the end...I couldnt help but think that he should have done that song in the beginning when he had ALOT more energy....overall....for me....although they played for a good solid 3 hours....they didnt do nearly enough of their old stuff....and I walked away thinking...if Henley wants to charge his fans...Mega Bucks...for his shows....he needs to get his ass in the gym and get in better shape, so he can actually sing ALL the songs....
......worth the money we paid to see em ?....thats a hard call...to which I find myself leaning towards...no....yeh....they ARE The Eagles...and yeh....they ARE a legend.....but hell...we saw Bob Seger for less then half the money...and he did ...number 1 hits for almost two hours straight...and had the crowd singing along ....word for word...
.....this is one of my last shots of them performing...Henley was in the middle of Desperado...and I turned to the huge screen next to us and got this shot of him....puffy....eyes almost closed...obviously exhausted.....but hey....they ARE The Eagles....and we,ll prolly never see em again....not at those prices, thats for sure....
