Eagles/Steely Dan in LA
On Friday, January 5th, my wife and I were at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles to see The Eagles, with Steely Dan as the opening act. It was the first of a four-night set of shows to kick off the last leg of the Eagles “Long Goodbye” tour. Lisa and I have been Eagles fans our whole life. I’ve become a big Steely Dan fan in recent years, and I fondly remember playing “Peg” in my middle school jazz band. This combination is not coming to the Bay Area, so we took the time to drive south and catch this “last of this lifetime” opportunity.
Our seats weren’t cheap, but we were still in the upper deck and on the far side of the arena from the stage. (Thank goodness for big screens!) Steely Dan opened with “Josie.” Being the opening act, there was no time for deep tracks. This was a favorites-only 60 minute set. Donald Fagen surrounds himself with top musicians, sings for a bit and then steps back to let his band shine. His three background singers sang “Dirty Work.” Jon Herrington handled the guitar solos on “Kid Charlemagne,” while Jim Pugh closed “Hey Nineteen” with an impressive trombone solo. The star of the set, though, was drummer Keith Carlock, who rocked through the dramatic instrumental breaks of “Aja” and then took another solo at the end of “Reelin’ in the Years” to close the set.
After a quick thirty minutes to switch out the stage, we were summoned back to our seats by a music and video montage. Then - there they were, the Eagles, with their distinctive harmonies, singing “Seven Bridges Road.” In their final form, the Eagles consist of Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit, plus country star Vince Gill and Deacon Frey, the son of founder and leader Glenn Frey. Deacon Frey fit in well with the others and held his own singing “Take it Easy” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” Vince Gill not only hit all the high notes of “Take it to the Limit” but took an impressively rocking guitar solo at one point. Timothy B. Schmit was the most comfortable of the band when it came to audience banter. He took the lead only once, for “I Can’t Tell You Why.” The loudest, most rocking moments of the night belonged to Joe Walsh. He sang four songs: “In the City,” “Life’s Been Good,” “Life of Illusion,” and “Rocky Mountain Way.”
Don Henley is unquestionably the leader of the band now. He could have stood in front with an acoustic guitar in hand and sang all night, and I would have been fine with it. It was great to see him behind the kit for some of the numbers, including “Hotel California.” I was thrilled to see him perform the big hit from his solo career, “Boys of Summer.” Henley pointed out that they could have done a single show at SoFi Stadium, what he called, “the spaceship next door,” but they preferred the acoustics at the Forum, where the Eagles have been performing for fifty years. “We’ll just work a little harder so that you have a better entertainment experience,” he said.
The special guest of the night was long-time collaborator J.D. Souther. He came on early and sang a few lines of the hit songs he helped write, “Best of my Love,” and “New Kid in Town.” He returned for the finale: “Heartache Tonight.” It made for some heartfelt, sentimental moments, playing in their adopted hometown in front of so many longtime fans.
Our seats weren’t cheap, but we were still in the upper deck and on the far side of the arena from the stage. (Thank goodness for big screens!) Steely Dan opened with “Josie.” Being the opening act, there was no time for deep tracks. This was a favorites-only 60 minute set. Donald Fagen surrounds himself with top musicians, sings for a bit and then steps back to let his band shine. His three background singers sang “Dirty Work.” Jon Herrington handled the guitar solos on “Kid Charlemagne,” while Jim Pugh closed “Hey Nineteen” with an impressive trombone solo. The star of the set, though, was drummer Keith Carlock, who rocked through the dramatic instrumental breaks of “Aja” and then took another solo at the end of “Reelin’ in the Years” to close the set.
After a quick thirty minutes to switch out the stage, we were summoned back to our seats by a music and video montage. Then - there they were, the Eagles, with their distinctive harmonies, singing “Seven Bridges Road.” In their final form, the Eagles consist of Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit, plus country star Vince Gill and Deacon Frey, the son of founder and leader Glenn Frey. Deacon Frey fit in well with the others and held his own singing “Take it Easy” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling.” Vince Gill not only hit all the high notes of “Take it to the Limit” but took an impressively rocking guitar solo at one point. Timothy B. Schmit was the most comfortable of the band when it came to audience banter. He took the lead only once, for “I Can’t Tell You Why.” The loudest, most rocking moments of the night belonged to Joe Walsh. He sang four songs: “In the City,” “Life’s Been Good,” “Life of Illusion,” and “Rocky Mountain Way.”
Don Henley is unquestionably the leader of the band now. He could have stood in front with an acoustic guitar in hand and sang all night, and I would have been fine with it. It was great to see him behind the kit for some of the numbers, including “Hotel California.” I was thrilled to see him perform the big hit from his solo career, “Boys of Summer.” Henley pointed out that they could have done a single show at SoFi Stadium, what he called, “the spaceship next door,” but they preferred the acoustics at the Forum, where the Eagles have been performing for fifty years. “We’ll just work a little harder so that you have a better entertainment experience,” he said.
The special guest of the night was long-time collaborator J.D. Souther. He came on early and sang a few lines of the hit songs he helped write, “Best of my Love,” and “New Kid in Town.” He returned for the finale: “Heartache Tonight.” It made for some heartfelt, sentimental moments, playing in their adopted hometown in front of so many longtime fans.
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