I don’t review concerts very often, and this is not really a review. But in all honesty, it would be a wasted opportunity not to talk about the final night of The Eagles summer tour in Cleveland last night. What an amazing night.
It never ceases to amaze me what happens on stage when you watch a bunch of players that have been together for decades. You can always tell the veterans, they have a different talent level, just by being around a while. This show was first class all the way. It looked great, it had great pace, and the sound…oh my, the sound was about as perfect as a concert can be. The show was not overdone, or too flashy that you were distracted from the music. Let’s face it, few groups in any genre of music have the luxury of the quantity, and quality of incredibly well known songs as them. And keeping your senses on the music was clearly the goal.
The late Glenn Frey’s son, Deacon has joined the group and was terrific. Veteran, and multi-formatted Vince Gill has as well. As where Frey was actually born to be an Eagle, it seems Gill was as well. The mix of them, with Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, and Joe Walsh, simply fantastic. Toss in a string section on a few select songs, and a horn section as well at times and this added up to a audio experience second to none. There were some songs I felt were actually better than the recorded originals. Heartache Tonight had a thump the original did not, and Life In The Fast Lane with horns and a new drive was even better than the incredible original. New Kid In Town too was simply sensational, in a song difficult to perform, with its intricate vocals.
The Eagles are so good they can easily be taken for granted. In the early years they were one of the first bands to successfully marry many, many kinds of music into one. The 5 part harmonies were inspired, but not the same as the Beach Boys. They mixed in rock, folk, West Coast influences, and wrote a bunch of songs that actually have a country feel to them in their written, and in some cases produced form. The songs weren’t just songs, they were Eagles’ songs. They were so good and original we just figured they would always be there. And lucky for us they still are. They are woven into the fabric of American life.
The key is, when you hear an Eagles song, you know it’s them. They’ve had their issues, but what 50 year relationship doesn’t. They are still going strong, and the music still sounds great,.
May be the best show I have ever seen live.
