The Eagles at Energy Solutions Arena

Some of my very favorite childhood memories involve my Dad's light blue Dodge Ramcharger and the music of the Eagles.  We went on many road trips and my Dad's favorite traveling music was the Eagles' Greatest Hits (1971-1975).  As we drove down the road my sisters and I would sing at the top of our lungs: "I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see.  It's a girl, my Lord, in a flat-bed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me."  Last night my family got to relive those memories at the ESA during the Eagles concert and it was pretty amazing (it turns out that we can still sing "Take It Easy" at the top of our lungs).  This tour celebrated the history of the band and they played their hits in chronological order.  When they took the stage, they sat on their amplifiers and reminisced about starting the band.  They played "What Ever Happened to Saturday Night" and "Train Leaves Here This Morning" which are some of the first songs they wrote.  Then they played "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and a bluesy version of "Witchy Woman" (which I really liked) from their first album.  They told the crowd that the inspiration for their second album was a book about gunfighters that belonged to Jackson Browne and then, to my delight, they played "Doolin-Dalton."  It is one of my favorite songs by the band and I've never heard it live before!  They also played "Tequila Sunrise" and then "Doolin-Dalton/ Desperado (Reprise)" which gave me goosebumps!  Then they moved onto the album On The Border and played "Already Gone" and "Best of My Love."  Next came One of These Nights and they played the title song, "Lyin' Eyes," and "Take it to the Limit" before the intermission.  When the band came back, they only played one song from Hotel California (saving it for the encore?), which was "Pretty Maids in a Row," and moved on to The Long Run.  Timothy B. Schmit gave a lovely rendition of "I Can't Tell You Why," and then they sang "New Kid In Town," "Those Shoes," and an acoustic version of "Heartache Tonight."  Then they let Joe Walsh off his chain and they performed "In The City," which is one of my Dad's favorites.  Joe Walsh continued by jamming to his solo hits "Life's Been Good To Me So Far" and "Funk #49."  I don't know how many brain cells Joe Walsh has left but he can certainly play that guitar!  He had the ESA rocking!  They continued with "The Long Run" and finished their set with "Life in the Fast Lane."  For the first encore they played "Hotel California" (as predicted) with everyone in the arena singing along!  They came back for a final encore and played "Take It Easy," "Rocky Mountain Way," and "Desperado."  They played for close to three hours and I didn't want it to end!  I am glad that my family was able to make another wonderful memory involving the music of the Eagles!

Note:  When the Eagles came to Salt Lake in 1995 for the Hell Freezes Over tour, I didn't go because I thought $75.00 was too much to pay for a concert!  I find that highly amusing now, especially in light of what I recently paid to see Paul McCartney!