The Eagles Live in Concert - Long Road to Eden

I rarely head down to the HP Pavilion, more affectionately known as the "Shark Tank", home of the San Jose Sharks hockey team.

Last night I did go downtown and this was why: To see my favorite band of all time. I LOVE the Eagles. When they were first together I was too young to attend their concerts. By the time I discovered I liked them they were in the process of disbanding. I still bought their albums and listened to their music. So when my sweet hubby saw they were coming to town he got us tickets to attend even though he only knows a handful of their songs.

They opened with Seven Bridges Road. The crowd, of course, went wild! Shortly after Glenn Frey took the mic and greeted San Jose. He informed us we were attending the "Eagles Assisted Living Tour" which of course cracked everyone up. All kidding aside, they had plenty of stamina playing many of their greatest hits and new material from Long Road to Eden for three hours!

Oh, and super cool? Cameras without detachable lenses were allowed at the show so I was able to take a lot of pictures for this post.

This was the 6th time I've seen the Eagles in concert. When they got back together for their Hell Freezes Over reunion tour in 1994 I saw them 5 times: 3 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA and two times at the Tacoma Dome up in Washington state. I LOVED that tour. It was almost their entire catalogue of hits and all of the hits from each band member's respective solo career.

The lighting backdrop for "Hotel California." It was so great I wish they had played it twice. LOL. Part of what made the night really perfect for me was that they played "Peaceful Easy Feeling" which is one of my favorites that they never played in 1994. It completed the missing link from my Eagles' concert experiences.

This was Don Henley singing "Boys of Summer." I really adore Don Henley. He is one of my all time favorite singer/song writers and the only performer I've ever bought overpriced, scalped tickets to see. But that was years ago on one of his solo tours.

When Glenn Frey began singing "Lyin' Eyes" I wished my mom was with us. It's her favorite Eagles' song. I texted her after and told her we were at the concert and that they just sang "Lyin' Eyes." She texted back "I'm jealous."

Can you see the image of Timothy B. Schmidt in the dome? He was singing the classic ballad "I Can't Tell You Why." He sounded awesome. For that matter all of the guys did. I thought their harmonies were fantastic.

Joe Walsh sang many of his personal hits including "Funk 49," a crowd favorite "Life's Been Good," and the song that pretty much brought the house down, "Rocky Mountain Way." Gotta love Joe Walsh. He's for sure the quirkiest member of the group and usually fun and silly on stage.

Even though this pic came out a little fuzzy I love it. It's how I'll remember the show, Don Henley and Glenn Frey still reunited. If they were able to resolve all of the animosity that led to the band's breakup and have remained performing and collaborating together again since '94, well, to me that says there's always room for hope that given time, differences between friends and colleagues can be resolved and mended.

You can check out their tour schedule on their website by CLICKING HERE

For the curious...

2010 - Long Road to Eden Tour Set List:

Seven Bridges Road
How Long
Busy Being Fabulous
I Don’t Want to Hear Any More
Guilty of the Crime
Hotel California
Peaceful Easy Feeling
I Can’t Tell You Why
Witchy Woman
Lyin' Eyes
Boys of Summer
Long Run

- Intermission -

No More Walks in the Woods
Waiting in the Weeds
No More Cloudy Days
Love Will Keep Us Alive
Take it to the Limit
Long Road Out of Eden
Walk Away
One of these Nights
Life’s Been Good
Dirty Laundry
Funk 49
Heartache Tonight
Life in the Fastlane

- For the Encore -

Take It Easy
Rocky Mountain Way
Desperado

In truth I preferred the Hell Freezes Over tour to the current one but only because I felt like we didn't get to hear a lot of their biggest hits last night. No Tequila Sunrise, Wasted Time, Best of My Love, New Kid in Town, Already Gone or Last Resort... None of my favorites from the Hell Freezes Over CD like Get Over It, Learn to be Still or Girl From Yesterday... None of my most favorite Don Henley hits like Heart of the Matter, End of the Innocence or New York Minute. I'd rather have heard more of the classics than the new songs. But maybe that's just me.

ETA: This got me to thinking and I went and dug out the playlist I jotted down when I saw them in 1994. Solo career hits are noted in parenthesis.

1994 - Hell Freezes Over Tour Set List:

Hotel California
Victim of Love
New Kid in Town
Wasted Time
Pretty Maids All in a Row
Girl From Yesterday
I Can't Tell You Why
Ordinary Average Guy (Joe Walsh)
Lyin' Eyes
One of These Nights

- Intermission -

Tequila Sunrise
Help Me Through the Night (Joe Walsh)
Love Will Keep Us Alive
Heart of the Matter (Don Henley)
You Belong to the City (Glenn Frey)
Boys of Summer (Don Henley)
Funk 49 (Joe Walsh)
Dirty Laundry (Don Henley)
Smuggler's Blues(Glenn Frey)
Life's Been Good (Joe Walsh)
All She Wants to do is Dance (Don Henley)
Heartache Tonight
Life in the Fast Lane
Get Over It
Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh)
Already Gone

- Encore -

Desperado
Take it Easy