The Eagles in Concert Was a ‘Life Experience’
Being a radio dude for as many years as I have been a radio dude, you can imagine just how many concerts I have seen. It's a lot. They're all at least slightly different. Some suck out loud. Some not so much. Others are great and still others are OK, I guess. But on a rare occasion you do get the chance to attend a lifelong dream of a concert and for me the Eagles, was "that" concert.Researchers say that lifelong musical attachments are made in our early teen years. Well, in my early teens the Eagles were weaving musical gold, great songs with five-part harmonies, the stuff a young musician's dreams were made of. Not only was the material fun to play and in most cases relatively easy to learn, but if you played it well enough, it might just get you... lucky!
The Eagles were such a major influence on me and my lifelong musical tastes that I was really kind of bummed that I might not ever get the chance to see them in concert. Something always seemed to get in the way, work, home, money, life in general. It seems I was doomed to never get to see that band while it still had most of the original members -- until Wednesday night in Bossier City at the Century-Tel Center.
Glenn Frey narrated the whole show and told the story of the Eagles, where everyone was from, bands they had been in before the Eagles, inspirations for different songs and more. It was awesome!
I was a little surprised at how many original Joe Walsh songs they played including "Funk 49" from the James Gang, "Life's Been Good" and then "Rocky Mountain Way" for one of the encore songs. Myself and the rest of the crowd loved it though, it was like two concerts in one.
Have I seen better concerts? Technically, yes. Better light shows? Definitely. Better musicianship? Yep. Better harmonies? Maybe. But very few concerts can I actually call a "life experience." I have anticipated this show in my head for many years and to finally see it in person was a big check off my bucket list.
Thank you local boy Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh and Bernie Leadon, and even though they weren't on this tour Don Felder and Randy Meisner have all contributed to the greatness that was and still is the Eagles.
Yeah I'm calling it a "life experience." Maybe not up to the importance of a marriage or death or birth, but it's one concert out of Lord knows how many forgettable concerts. Only this is one that I will never forget.