http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/230600
Eagles play their hits in Hershey
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Nov 24, 2008
00:23 EST
Hershey
By JON FERGUSON, Staff Writer
The Eagles can ride this cash cow until hell truly does freeze over.
The Eagles, one of the most popular rock bands of all time, landed Sunday night at the Giant Center and delivered a long, satisfying concert packed with crisply delivered versions of its biggest hits.
The band (Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmitt) never strayed far from the recorded versions of its songs.
In fact, most of the 28 songs they played during the three-hour show split into two sets were as faithful to the recorded versions as humanly possible. But the Eagles have never been an improvisational band. Its success is built upon heartfelt songs of love and betrayal, tasteful instrumentation with a few country flourishes and close harmony singing.
And that's what the Eagles gave their fans — a tightly scripted show that likely varies little from night to night, right down to Frey's tired jokes (a crack about this being the assisted-living tour and a swipe at their wives' attachment to credit cards before playing "Take It to the Limit") and Walsh's goofiness during "Life's Been Good."
That said, the Eagles played and sang extremely well, satisfying a largely middle-aged (and older) crowd that didn't want the band messing with the songs it wanted to turn into sing-a-longs. After all, the crowd paid good money (tickets ranged from $60 to $185) to hear the soundtrack of their lives played live.
Though bass player Schmitt, with his high cheekbones, is looking a touch cadaverous, the four Eagles — all of whom wore dark suits, white long-sleeved shirts and black ties — look fit. They certainly have more hair and better bodies than Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
They play well and their singing can still, at times, take the breath away. Schmitt did struggle to hit the high notes on "I Can't Tell You Why" and Frey's voice has coarsened, but Walsh and Henley still sound remarkably like their youthful selves.
The Eagles did have plenty of help with the instrumentation, as they were augmented by a guitarist, three keyboardists, a drummer and four horn players, with some of them also adding pedal-steel guitar and violin.Surprisingly, the Eagles largely kept the wraps on Walsh, a brilliant guitarist who is the band's best instrumentalist, during the first set. They made up for it in the second, however, when Walsh cut loose, especially on "Life's Been Good" and the hard-rocking "Walk Away" and "Funk 49," two songs he recorded with the James Gang.
The band did play most of its best-known tunes ("Hotel California," "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Lyin' Eyes," "The Long Run," "Life in the Fast Lane," "Take It Easy" and "Desperado") but also devoted huge chunks of the show to songs from "Long Road Out of Eden," the 2007 album that has sold monstrously well.
The new songs generally held up fairly well against the older material and were politely received by the rather staid crowd, but they didn't spark much enthusiasm. The exception was the title track, a topical tune. The song is classic Henley — a dramatic presentation given weight by taut musical dynamics and intelligent, thoughtful lyrics.
Henley, certainly the best songwriter of the bunch, demonstrated why during the show. His tunes, including "Witchy Woman," "Dirty Laundry" and "Boys of Summer," perhaps his best song, were the highlights of the show.
Though the Eagles do seem to be as much about commerce as art these days (there's a certain irony when Frey sings "You can spend all your time making money" during "Take It to the Limit"), the band does not disappoint. They are consummate professionals.
E-mail: jferguson@lnpnews.com
Ok -we get it Glenn's jokes are getting stale, now if only Glenn would get some new material. Reviewer did say they sounded good. But this remark really makes me boil: " Though bass player Schmitt, with his high cheekbones, is looking a touch cadaverous" At least spell his d*mn name right!!!! GGRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!