they had one thing in common, they were rich old men
So I accidentally saw The Eagles on Saturday night. I'm still not sure exactly how it happened. If you had asked me when I woke up Saturday morning where I'd be Saturday night, "Checking out the Eagles at the Garden" would have been low on the list, somewhere around "Winning a fishing tournament." I didn't even know there still was, is, an Eagles.
But there I was, $7.75 beer and vegetarianism-busting hot dog in hand. And there they were, resplendent in matching black suits. Lean, not completely bald. Ready to rock. Ready to soar.
How did I get there? It was a work thing. A freebie. The bosses invited me on Saturday afternoon. What do you say? The weirdest part is that I am in the middle of a painful attempt to renegotiate my deal at work so I would expect things to be tense and awkward but instead the two main bosses invite me to see The Eagles. So there's little Hans, at MSG, Saturday night, surrounded by bosses, feeling the Frey, soaking in the Schmit, wallowing in the Walsh, and eventually being healed by Henley.
What do you think about The Eagles? I have always had a sort of soft spot for them, as their Greatest Hits filled out one side of a Maxell XL-II 90 that I took with me to college along with my 7 Bruce Springsteen tapes. I played it a lot, somehow I missed the point that by the time you got to college it was way too late to be listening to The Eagles. But I didn't know and therefore I didn't care. They made me happy.
But I acknowledge they are pretty lame at the same time. I have a lot of friends who hate them. Like, go-die-a-slow-death-in-a-ditch hate. The Eagles, I will admit, are soft and wimpy and pretty bland and I guess they didn't really do much for the world except crank out a ton of unremarkable hits that provided the gentle soundtrack for white teenagers humping in basements throughout the 70's and 80's. Which, come to think of it, is way more than you ever did or will do. Still, it's easy to hold them up as an example of all that is wrong with 70's rock music, with the state of California, and with guys named Glenn.
But I dunno. I kinda like 'em anyway. The show was pretty darn good. I think one of the advantages of being generic and average in your prime is that it's easier to maintain generic and average as you approach 60 years old than it is to maintain snot-nosed or groundbreaking or rebellious or unpredictable. Like I doubt this show last night was more than 15% worse than seeing them at their peak in 1976 or whatever. Although come to think of it I'm sure when they were all coked up and afroed there were some goofy moments of brilliance that were nowhere to be seen last night.
Anyway, thoughts on The Eagles at MSG, May 31, 2008:
People love Joe Walsh, and his songs got the biggest reactions. He got to play Rocky Mountain Way and In the City and Life's Been Good and the crowd went nuts every time. He's hard not to like, like a favorite cousin who got in a motorcycle accident and has never quite been the same since. He's come up with some pretty monstrous riffs over the years, too.
Henley was indeed behind the kit for Hotel California and a bunch of the other hits. I don't know why, but I am always impressed by drummer/singers. Funny, though, you could tell Henley takes no great joy playing the drums -- he expended minimum energy and didn't really get into it. Still, my hat is off the dude, and he does have a nice distinctive voice. He just needs some lessons from this guy in stage presence:
I am talking about the drummer, btw. I wish the audio and video were synched up better but you get the idea.
Frey was sort of the ringmaster, but he didn't get to play any of his solo songs (do you think he even put up a fight about that?), while Henley played at least three or four. I'm sure Frey is so wounded that he sobs a little when he deposits his checks.
Timothy B. Schmit remains an emaciated, creepy-looking woman-man combo platter but seems like a nice guy. And he can hit the high notes, bless his soul. "Look at us baby, up all night..."
Look, you've heard Hotel California too many times. We all have. But you would have dug it live. Walsh was tearing it up on guitar, and it was just very tight and rocking and all that was missing was Henley's 'fro. P.S. I read that the last tour they were on they played this song with eight guitars. Eight. That would be a good name for a bootleg from that tour: When Seven Guitars Just Isn't Enough.
Also, here is an interesting stat:
Number of non-white fans I saw at the show: 1
Number of fans I saw patted down by security: 1
Number of non-white fans I saw patted down by security: 1
That's right, out of the hundreds of people I saw working their way towards the entrance, only one got the wand and the patdown, and he was the only non-honkie in the crowd. Depressing.
So what do you think: Eagles, lame or pretty darn good?
But there I was, $7.75 beer and vegetarianism-busting hot dog in hand. And there they were, resplendent in matching black suits. Lean, not completely bald. Ready to rock. Ready to soar.
How did I get there? It was a work thing. A freebie. The bosses invited me on Saturday afternoon. What do you say? The weirdest part is that I am in the middle of a painful attempt to renegotiate my deal at work so I would expect things to be tense and awkward but instead the two main bosses invite me to see The Eagles. So there's little Hans, at MSG, Saturday night, surrounded by bosses, feeling the Frey, soaking in the Schmit, wallowing in the Walsh, and eventually being healed by Henley.
What do you think about The Eagles? I have always had a sort of soft spot for them, as their Greatest Hits filled out one side of a Maxell XL-II 90 that I took with me to college along with my 7 Bruce Springsteen tapes. I played it a lot, somehow I missed the point that by the time you got to college it was way too late to be listening to The Eagles. But I didn't know and therefore I didn't care. They made me happy.
But I acknowledge they are pretty lame at the same time. I have a lot of friends who hate them. Like, go-die-a-slow-death-in-a-ditch hate. The Eagles, I will admit, are soft and wimpy and pretty bland and I guess they didn't really do much for the world except crank out a ton of unremarkable hits that provided the gentle soundtrack for white teenagers humping in basements throughout the 70's and 80's. Which, come to think of it, is way more than you ever did or will do. Still, it's easy to hold them up as an example of all that is wrong with 70's rock music, with the state of California, and with guys named Glenn.
But I dunno. I kinda like 'em anyway. The show was pretty darn good. I think one of the advantages of being generic and average in your prime is that it's easier to maintain generic and average as you approach 60 years old than it is to maintain snot-nosed or groundbreaking or rebellious or unpredictable. Like I doubt this show last night was more than 15% worse than seeing them at their peak in 1976 or whatever. Although come to think of it I'm sure when they were all coked up and afroed there were some goofy moments of brilliance that were nowhere to be seen last night.
Anyway, thoughts on The Eagles at MSG, May 31, 2008:
People love Joe Walsh, and his songs got the biggest reactions. He got to play Rocky Mountain Way and In the City and Life's Been Good and the crowd went nuts every time. He's hard not to like, like a favorite cousin who got in a motorcycle accident and has never quite been the same since. He's come up with some pretty monstrous riffs over the years, too.
Henley was indeed behind the kit for Hotel California and a bunch of the other hits. I don't know why, but I am always impressed by drummer/singers. Funny, though, you could tell Henley takes no great joy playing the drums -- he expended minimum energy and didn't really get into it. Still, my hat is off the dude, and he does have a nice distinctive voice. He just needs some lessons from this guy in stage presence:
I am talking about the drummer, btw. I wish the audio and video were synched up better but you get the idea.
Frey was sort of the ringmaster, but he didn't get to play any of his solo songs (do you think he even put up a fight about that?), while Henley played at least three or four. I'm sure Frey is so wounded that he sobs a little when he deposits his checks.
Timothy B. Schmit remains an emaciated, creepy-looking woman-man combo platter but seems like a nice guy. And he can hit the high notes, bless his soul. "Look at us baby, up all night..."
Look, you've heard Hotel California too many times. We all have. But you would have dug it live. Walsh was tearing it up on guitar, and it was just very tight and rocking and all that was missing was Henley's 'fro. P.S. I read that the last tour they were on they played this song with eight guitars. Eight. That would be a good name for a bootleg from that tour: When Seven Guitars Just Isn't Enough.
Also, here is an interesting stat:
Number of non-white fans I saw at the show: 1
Number of fans I saw patted down by security: 1
Number of non-white fans I saw patted down by security: 1
That's right, out of the hundreds of people I saw working their way towards the entrance, only one got the wand and the patdown, and he was the only non-honkie in the crowd. Depressing.
So what do you think: Eagles, lame or pretty darn good?
Labels: The Motherfreaking Eagles
posted by hans q. bungle at 00:37
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