Link to the review by
Rolling Stone https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-live-reviews/eagles-hotel-california-madison-square-garden-953642/
Midway through the Eagles marathon show at Madison Square
Garden on Friday night, Don Henley stepped up to the microphone and addressed
the crowd for one of the few times that evening.
“The first thing I want to do is thank you for your support
all these years,” he said. “We want to provide you with about a three-hour
break from the hideous 24/7 news cycle. Something familiar in uncertain times
because life is like a box of chocolates, except with some boxes of chocolates
you get a little map that shows you exactly what you’re going to get with one
of those squares inside. We’re that box of chocolates.”
The metaphor is nearly perfect. There’s no better way to
think of an Eagles show circa 2020 than a box of chocolates (albeit a very
pricey one) with a square insert noting exactly what’s inside. This time
around, that square calls for a complete performance of the band’s 1977
masterpiece Hotel California along with a long set of classics from
their other albums and a scattering of solo hits.
The predictability of an Eagles concert and their tendency
to recreate their recordings onstage with note-perfect precision has led to
much criticism over the years. (A famous 1977 review in Rolling Stone
said they “flaunt no athletic grace [onstage] – if anything, they loiter.” They
later proved their athletic grace by beating the RS staff at a softball
game.)
In many ways, the criticisms have always been unfair. Their
hits are meticulously crafted works of art and they’ve burrowed their way into
the public’s consciousness after decades of continuous airplay on classic rock
radio. Playing wild variations of them onstage or breaking out obscure B sides,
oddball covers or forgotten solo tunes would practically be a criminal offense
to their enormous fan base. These are songs that demand precision.
They made that clear by beginning the show by having a man
walk onto the stage and place a vinyl copy of Hotel California on a turntable.
The second the needle hit, the curtain rose and the band launched into the
title track. This was the record coming to life in as literal a way as
possible, and it sent shockwaves of nostalgic ecstasy through the audience.
They’d never attempted a complete album prior to September,
when they debuted this show in Las Vegas. And though this isn’t an anniversary
of any significance (Hotel California turns 43 next week), it was the
obvious pick from their seven records. Not only was it their most successful
non-compilation album, but it also captured them at the absolute peak of their
songwriting powers.
The nine songs represent a loose concept record about the
unraveling of the American dream as the hope and idealism of the Sixties fell
by the wayside. The characters are trapped in doomed relationships, battling
the ravages of drug addiction and living on once-beautiful lands now destroyed
by corporate greed and public indifference.
The album was a true collaboration by all five Eagles of
that era: Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Don Felder and Randy Meisner. Only
two of them, Henley and Walsh, remain in the band today. Frey died unexpectedly
in 2016, while Meisner has dealt with severe health and personal problems over
the past few years that have largely removed him from public life. Felder
played an integral role in writing the Hotel California title track and
was their lead guitarist during their salad days in the Seventies and the
initial reunion era in the Nineties, but he took them to court after his
dismissal from the band in 2001 and later wrote a tell-all book. It would have
been wonderful to see him back onstage for this tour, but, sadly, it was not to
be.
Filling the large gaps in the lineup are Glenn’s 26-year-old
son Deacon Frey, country singer Vince Gill, guitarist Steuart Smith and bassist
Timothy B. Schmit, who has been an official Eagle since joining up with them
during the Hotel California tour back in 1977.
The show presents the album in exact chronological order,
meaning that “New Kid In Town” followed the title track. This was Glenn Frey’s
sole lead vocal on the album and Gill tackled it in his place with great
tenderness and care. (Walsh and Meisner were also given just a single song on
the album. Henley, on the other hand, sang five of them.)
“Life in the Fast Lane” amped things up and gave Walsh a
chance to rip into his famous guitar solo, but things got really interesting
when they geared down for “Wasted Time.” This is a mournful ballad about
Henley’s real-life heartache, and his old Shiloh bandmate Jim Ed Norman was
brought into the studio to compose the music played by a string section. All
these years later, Norman was back with the band to oversee another string
section to recreate those parts. Henley started the show on drums where he sang
“Hotel California” Levon Helm-style, but by this point he was in front where he
delivered the song with amazing passion. As on the original, he trembled with
vulnerability as he wondered whether the love affair was anything other than
“wasted time.”
The record flips over at this point, and to do the honors
the band brought a young blonde woman onto the stage dressed up as an old-timey
cigarette girl to turn it over. (The shtick seemed anachronistic since
cigarette girls were long out of fashion by 1977, but they did used to roam the
aisles during intermission at Las Vegas shows in the Fifties and earlier.)
Sticking tightly to the album’s script, the string section played the brief
“Wasted Time” reprise as the group prepared to kick into “Victim of Love.”
Joe Walsh finally had the chance to lead the festivities
with “Pretty Maids All in a Row,” while Vince Gill took over for the
half-forgotten country rock of “Try and Love Again” by Meisner. Prior to this
tour, they hadn’t played it even a single time since the bassist left in 1977.
It may be the least memorable part of the album, but Gill sang it for all it
was worth.
Both songs gave Henley a chance to catch his breath before
the epic album closer “The Last Resort.” The prophetic song is a journey across
America and time documenting the mindless destruction of the environment that
begins on the Eastern shores of Providence, Rhode Island and travels all the
way west to Lahaina in Hawaii. “We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody
deeds,” he sings. “In the name of destiny and in the name of God.”
The band was joined not just by the string section for this,
but also a vocal choir. There were 77 people in total crammed onto the stage,
but all eyes were on Henley. At age 72, he still somehow has nearly the entire
vocal range he had four decades ago. He sounded absolutely magnificent,
especially on the “they called it paradise, I don’t know why” apex of the song
that also wraps up the album.
They probably could have ended right there and many in the
crowd could have gone home happy, but after a brief break the Eagles came back
and played another 22 songs. This was a familiar routine for anyone that has
seen the Eagles in recent years, kicking off with everyone locking voices on
“Seven Bridges Road.” They then went around the stage and gave everyone a
chance to take lead on their signature tunes, including Schmit’s “I Can’t Tell
You Why” and Walsh’s “In The City.”
Some of biggest applause always came whenever the spotlight
hit Deacon Frey. He not only looks exactly like his father circa 1975, but he
also inherited his singing voice. For whatever reason, Gill handled most of
Glenn’s song (along with Meisner’s “Take It To The Limit”), though Deacon was a
key part of the harmonies and he sang lead on “Take It Easy,” “Peaceful Easy
Feeling” and “Already Gone” with incredible confidence and poise.
As the set wound down, solo hits like Walsh’s “Life’s Been
Good” and Henley’s “Boys of Summer” worked their way into the show. They fit
seamlessly into the repertoire as they have many times before, but the James
Gang managed to deliver definitive renditions of “Walk Away” and “Funk #49”
without a five-piece horn section. The songs work much better when delivered by
a power trio. (Here’s hoping that Walsh finds time to reunite with his old
buddies Dale Peters and Jim Fox for one more James Gang tour at some point down
the line.)
The encores kicked off with a wild “Rocky Mountain Way”
(sans Henley) before the drummer came back onto the stage to lead the entire
arena in singing “Desperado.” The horns came back for “The Long Run” before the
whole show wrapped up with a brief reprisal of “Hotel California,” complete
with the dual guitar solos.
The Eagles are taking this show across America over the next
two months and then over to London for a pair of gigs at Wembley Stadium in
August. The next time they head out, fans would love to see them bring
back original guitarist Bernie Leadon, Felder and, health permitting,
Meisner for a grand summit of all living Eagles past and present. That remains
an extreme remote possibility, but this sentimental return trip to the
Hotel California is basically the next best thing they could possibly do.
Set List:
Set 1: Hotel California
1.
Hotel
California
2.
New
Kid in Town
3.
Life
in the Fast Lane
4.
Wasted
Time
5.
Wasted
Time (Reprise)
6.
Victim
of Love
7.
Pretty
Maids All in a Row
8.
Try
and Love Again
9.
The
Last Resort
Set 2: Greatest Hits
10.
Seven
Bridges Road (Steve Young cover)
11.
Take
It Easy
12.
One
of These Nights
13.
Take
It to the Limit
14.
Tequila
Sunrise
15.
Witchy
Woman
16.
In
the City (Joe
Walsh song)
17.
I
Can't Tell You Why
18.
Lyin'
Eyes
19.
Best
of My Love
20.
Peaceful
Easy Feeling
21.
Love
Will Keep Us Alive
22.
Walk
Away (James
Gang cover)
23.
Those
Shoes
24.
Life's
Been Good (Joe
Walsh song)
25.
The
Boys of Summer (Don Henley song)
26.
Funk
#49 (James
Gang cover)
27.
Already
Gone
28.
Heartache
Tonight
Encore:
29.
Rocky
Mountain Way (Joe Walsh song)
30.
Desperado
31.
The
Long Run
Hotel California (Reprise) 
