Walsh will always be the Eagles wild card, a cartoonishly crowd-pleasing goofball who, as Schmit said, “makes great faces.”īut beneath the buffoonish exterior lies a priceless combination of raw talent and a tendency toward spontaneity in a show that might begin to feel a bit too smooth around the edges if they reined him in. But in the long run, it's the vocals that get you Review: Eddie Vedder's Innings Fest set was a ukulele-smashing triumph - complete with guest stars Joe Walsh was a blast. Henley also dusted off his solo hit “The Boys of Summer.” And Walsh did three non-Eagles songs - the James Gang hit “Funk #49,” the epic talk-box showcase “Rocky Mountain Way” and “Life’s Been Good” - in addition to taking a turn in the spotlight on two Eagles songs - the “Hotel California” ballad “Pretty Maids All in a Row” and “In the City,” one of four songs from “The Long Run.” The orchestra returned on two second-half highlights - "Take it to the Limit" and a gorgeous "Desperado." history, having overtaken Michael Jackson's "Thriller."įrey’s son Deacon, who joined the band in 2017, left to pursue his own solo career in 2022, but Henley brought him out as a surprise guest after opening the second set with “Seven Bridges Road” to take the spotlight on two early hits his father used to sing.Īt the end of "Peaceful Easy Feeling," a photograph of Glenn Frey filled the screen above the stage. That may have been a slight exaggeration, but they did come back from intermission with a second set that went on for an hour and 45 minutes and included every single on “Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975),” an album destined to remain the biggest-selling album in U.S. “That concludes the ‘Hotel California’ portion of the show,” Henley said, with a smile, “because albums were only 40 minutes long back then.”Īfter taking a beat to introduce “some very important people up here on the stage that are making all this happen,” including members of the Phoenix Metro Orchestra and Solis, Choir of the Sun, he promised they’d be back to “play everything else we know.” Several songs featured a symphony orchestra conducted by their old pal Jim Ed Norman, who supplied the string arrangements on three Eagles albums, not the least of which was “Hotel California.”Ī choir emerged in matching robes to join the orchestra in underscoring Henley’s plaintive vocal on “The Last Resort,” the song that brings the album to a stately finish.ĭifferent Drum: How a pop song written by one of the Monkees made Linda Ronstadt a star Following 'Hotel California' with 'Their Greatest Hits' and more Smith did a heroic job of duplicating the guitar licks and entire solos that defined so many of the Eagles greatest hits in a lineup that now features three extremely talented guitarists in Smith, Walsh and Gill. Crago on drums and percussion Steuart Smith on guitar, mandolin and backing vocals Will Hollis on keyboards, synths and backing vocals and Michael Thompson on piano, keys, accordion and backing vocals. Their ranks were further fleshed out by four touring members: Scott F. Schmit (whose first appearance on an Eagles album was just after “Hotel California”) were joined by country star Vince Gill, who signed on in 2017 after the death of founding member Glenn Frey. Henley, Walsh and longtime member Timothy B. The whole album has held up amazingly well, from the killer guitar riff Walsh brought to the party on "Life in the Fast Lane" to the bittersweet yacht-rock of "New Kid in Town," the soulful balladry of “Wasted Time" and the majesty of “Pretty Maids All in a Row.”Īnd the Eagles that returned to downtown Phoenix on Wednesday, March 1, for a sold-out show at Footprint Center made that album come alive in concert.Įagles flashback: The Eagles honor Glenn Frey's memory in a hit-filled set while welcoming new members The Eagles were joined by a symphony orchestra It’s the album that welcomed Joe Walsh to the table, expanding the scope of their sound even further than "One of These Nights." The title track remains their greatest hit, an epic guitar solo tagged at the end of a wounded morality play about a hedonistic culture in a hell of its own making. It’s their crowning achievement, a 26-times-platinum masterstroke. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why “Hotel California” is the album the Eagles have taken to revisiting in its entirety these past few years. View Gallery: Eagles 'Hotel California' Tour in Phoenix: A photo gallery
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