Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Eagles know their audience. Friday at the first of a two-night stand at a packed United Center, the veterans made no attempt to disguise their old-school methods and untrendy style.
Just days removed from seeing his criminal case against men accused of stealing the band’s lyric sheets dismissed by the court, an unruffled vocalist Don Henley all but explicitly admitted the Eagles are dinosaurs. He highlighted the Eagles’ spartan stage setup, straightforward production and dearth of choreography. Resembling a banker in his vest and button-down shirt, Henley described the collective as “just a bunch of guys with guitars,” before acknowledging it “may be anachronistic, but it works.”
The candid moment revealed a rare self-effacing side of the famously solemn Henley. As the last co-founding member involved with the Eagles, the singer-drummer-guitarist also expressed gratitude for more than five decades of support and instilled the event — part of the band’s farewell tour — with a hint of finality. Cue the standing ovation.
After the brief emotional display, it was back to business. For the Eagles, that meant delivering one instantly recognizable song after another for 120 minutes without added effects or obvious mistakes. Doing so required assigning lead vocals to songs identified with deceased co-founder Glenn Frey to his son, Deacon, and country star Vince Gill, who joined in 2017 and handled every part as if he’d been in the group since day one. And it necessitated a professionalism and seriousness interrupted only by a few scheduled comic-relief spots from singer-guitarist Joe Walsh.
Calculated, and too staid for their own good? Definitely. But the Eagles arrived having put in the hard work, nailing the blended multi-part harmonies crucial to many of the tunes and playing with a technical acumen that valued each note. The quintet operated as the equivalent of a leveling device that finds any imbalances. And the Eagles ensured the crowd could experience it all — the spaciousness, the separation, the small details such as fingers delicately moving on a fretboard or hands gently cradling a shaker — by dialing in a crisp, transparent sound at a venue where acoustics frequently get compromised.
Then there were the songs, textbook examples of country-rock craftsmanship and organic architecture that the Eagles often made appear effortless. The hungover mood of “Tequila Sunrise,” dirt-road escapism of “Already Gone,” funky skedaddle of “Life in the Fast Lane,” melancholic ache of “Desperado.” Songs with identifiable lyrics, easy-going tempos, breezy rise-and-fall vocal patterns and lingering melodies didn’t rouse many in the crowd out of their seats but had them mouthing the words and swaying their heads — just as they would in the car if the Eagles came on the radio.
Never mind that the group’s most recent studio effort (“Long Road Out of Eden,” 2007) stands as the only all-original album the Eagles released since their initial 1980 breakup. Or that the newest song the collective performed on Friday dated to Michael Jordan’s rookie season.
Continuing to inspire strong opinions on both sides of the fence, the Eagles acknowledge what their fans want: nostalgia and classics. Unlike generational peers, they no longer concern themselves with recording half-baked new material in a bid to prove relevance. Credit the Eagles, too, for honesty in branding. Named The Long Goodbye, their current tour plans to stretch through 2025 and seems built to allow for leniency in terms of return visits. This is a band, after all, that realizes the music industry is at heart a business and that people will pay for what they love.
Independent of the fancy awards and commercial achievements that include dibs on two of three biggest-selling albums in American history, the most enduring aspect of the Eagles’ legacy arguably pertains to commerce. The group permanently changed concert economics when in 1994 it became the first artist to charge $100 for a ticket to its reunion tour. (By comparison, the Rolling Stones capped prices at $50. It was a different era.)
Initially derided by experts who believed the amount would lead to backlash and empty seats, the strategy triumphed. Its historical impact continues to resonate. The hefty prices associated with today’s big-name shows — and the escalated importance society places on musicians and their entertainment — connect to that once-controversial decision.
Fast-forward 30 years, and Henley’s and bassist-vocalist Timothy B. Schmit’s hair is grayer but the songs largely remain the same. Ditto Henley’s voice which, aside from losing a bit of altitude in the higher end and evincing a slight nasal quality, exhibited smoothness, control and depth. The goofy charm and rubber-faced expressions of their other longtime and fellow 76-year-old cohort, Walsh, similarly possessed a familiar ring. Even the four auxiliary support musicians, all in their respective roles since at least 2001, contributed to a consistency and dependability that reign as Eagles trademarks.
Other than Henley threatening to crack a smile more than once, the biggest surprise related to Walsh disclosing he spent part of his early childhood in Evanston. With the Eagles, you know what you’re going to get. Though the conservative approach rubbed up against unspoken rock ‘n’ roll rules and lacked liveliness, it fit the music’s polite character and perfectionist-oriented arrangements. To loosen things, Walsh offered the quirky “Life’s Been Good” and talk box-accompanied “Rocky Mountain Way” from his solo career. Per usual, the whir and whine of his reedy voice ranked a distant second to his bluesy guitar licks.
Deacon Frey stepped into his father’s shoes on the windswept “Take It Easy” and relaxed “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” He sang with sturdiness, clarity and purpose, but fared better as a harmony vocalist and rhythm guitarist — duties that dissolved the obvious timbral differences between him and his dad. Schmit turned in the evening’s only threadbare lead vocal on the adult-contemporary ballad “I Can’t Tell You Why” whose title ironically served as the answer to the question of how the track entered into the set over superior fare such as “The Long Run,” “Victim of Love” or “Best of My Love.”
Indeed, if the Eagles imparted a lesson for younger generations of bands on Friday, it concerned the importance of elevating songs above personal interests or skills. Granted, Walsh impressed with a fiery guitar solo on an extended reading of “In the City” and Henley kept steady time behind the drum kit while pushing his voice into falsetto regions. Neither called attention to themselves or showed up their mates.
Rather, the group’s successes drew on a collective principle that stressed less “me,” more “us.” Like the Eagles themselves, an analog concept in a digital world.
Setlist from the United Center March 8:
“Seven Bridges Road” (Steve Young cover)
“Take It Easy”
“One of These Nights”
“Lyin’ Eyes”
“Take It to the Limit”
“Witchy Woman”
“Peaceful Easy Feeling”
“Tequila Sunrise”
“In the City”
“I Can’t Tell You Why”
“New Kid in Town”
“Life’s Been Good”
“Already Gone”
“The Boys of Summer”
“Funk #49” (James Gang cover)
“Life in the Fast Lane”
Encore
“Hotel California”
“Rocky Mountain Way”
“Desperado”
“Heartache Tonight”
