Review: Eagles soar, Steely Dan is missed at PPG Paints Arena
“Hello, Pittsburgh! Quick heads up, I am not Steely Dan.” Vince Gill addressed the crowd in that fashion Sunday night at PPG Paints Arena after...
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I may have been the only Boomer in the U.S. who had not seen the Eagles live. I corrected that oversight last night, in Pittsburgh's PPG Paints Arena. The schedule called for Don Fagen/Steely Dan to play up front, but Fagen is not well, and it didn't go as planned.
For the past 6 years or so, Vince Gill has been replacing Glenn Frey as the main/lead singer of the Eagles, and since he was available and willing, he performed in place of Steely Dan to start the event. He apologized in advance for not being Steely Dan, and he prophetically announced, "If you are not a country music fan, this may be the longest hour of your life." He was pretty much on the money. I, for one, had never heard any of the songs and although everyone on stage was undoubtedly talented, they did nothing for me. In the next-to-last song, he showcased one of his backup singers, who sang a stylized version of The Ode to Billy Joe, and she did an excellent job of it. The audience gave him what is often called, "polite applause," and he dutifully said at one point, "We are doing the best we can." One guitarist flew in from Ireland for the gig. Good for him.
With the Eagles, one expects near perfection, and they did not disappoint. Two solid hours of the hits that all seventeen thousand of us knew by heart, with audience participation at a high level. Joe Walsh sang three of his own hits and was a clear crowd favorite, with a few fat chicks screeching, "We LOVE you Joe!" throughout the performance. Don Henley never skipped a beat, but age is affecting his voice and he is starting to sound like a resident of Munchkin Land.
Vince Gill is about as good as Frey ever was, and none of his songs disappointed. He even did Randy Meisner's Take It to the Limit in fine form. Deacon Frey filled in on a few songs and he was much better than I had heard on recordings made shortly after Glenn's demise.
I hope this really is their final tour. While they can still Bring It, they are looking seriously decrepit. Walsh and Schmidt could work in a Halloween Fright House without makeup. If Walsh was not under the influence of controlled substances, he did a good imitation of it.
I can remember as a child, seeing my parents enjoy watching the musical stars of their youth (e.g., Guy Lombardo). The performers were in their 60's at the time and I thought it was pathetic that they were still culturally living in the past.
Now I understand. But it is pathetic that so many of us Boomers still claim that no good music has been produced since 1980. It is a conceit that has little basis in reality.