April 3, 2003

This is an excerpt from "The Tulsa Herald" Entertainment Section, April 4, 2003.

EAGLES REUNION TOUR ROCKS TULSA

 by Wayne P. Dotts, Music Critic

    As a long time Eagles fan, I can't even pretend that this will be an impartial review of the best selling band's latest tour.  Newly reunited once again by their love for each other and the for the magic that happens whenever all four members get back together, Glen Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmidt took the stage at the Tulsa CornNuts Arena on the fifth leg of their latest reunion tour.  The last tour was hilariously titled the "When Hell Freezes Tour," and keeping to that tradition of anti-establishment hipness, the current  tour is wryly called the "Gimme Your Fucking Money,  You Yuppie Scum, Tour." 

    The boys opened with a rocking version of "Heartache Tonight" with Don Henley pounding out the backbeat just like in 1978 as the two other drummers and the girl percussionist behind him in the shadows filled out the sound leaving Henley free to concentrate on belting out the timeless party anthem.  Joe Walsh as always was the epitome of seventies stoner hippie cool as he was rolled out onto the stage in a plaid Lay-Z-Boy recliner and placed center stage.  The crowd went crazy as he ripped off repetitive slide guitar solo after solo.  Though he never left the recliner throughout the band's generous forty-five minute set, the crowd was nonetheless thrilled by his sly showmanship.  Whether the recliner spun in circles during "Life's Been Good To Me So Far" or was hoisted high above the audience during "Hotel California," Joe Walsh gave 100%.  A comic highlight came when during every other song, Walsh would pretend to doze off or simply sit back and watch TV on a small flat screen monitor bolted onto the chair's arms.  Always a generous bandmate, these pauses allowed the three other uncredited guitarists in the shadows behind him the opportunity to show what they have learned from working with the master.

    Of course, no Eagles show would be complete without the sass and style of Glen Frey.  Still looking spry and stylish and wearing a pair of stretch denim pants and an official Eagles bandana over his balding pate, Frey had the crowd in the palm of his hand whether adding harmonies to a soulful version of "Long Run" or cracking up everyone by taking out a cell phone and making a ten minute call to his broker during Don Henley's performance of his solo hit "The Boys of Summer."  Frey hit his pace during a rousing version of "One of These Nights."  As the crowd cheered, he leapt off the stage into the audience and wandered through the first few rows getting the crowd to sing along with a cordless microphone.  As they sang, he would playfully remove the wallets from several ecstatic fans and empty out all the money or rifle through several lucky ladies' purses looking for more cash.  The crowd ate it all up.

    Although never as flashy as his bandmates, Timothy B. Schmidt in this reviewer's opinion has always been the glue that held the Eagles together.  Normally cool and laid back live, for this tour Schmidt spent the entire show sitting quietly on a stool by the side of the stage reading a magazine.  Apparently due to business reasons, he is not allowed to actually play or sing with the band, but having him there in the spotlight flipping through copies of "Men's Health" or "Fortune" brings back the memories and makes it  - at least  contractually -  a real Eagles show.

        It is worth noting that although the ticket prices for the Eagles starting at $200 are the highest ever for Tulsa, the crowd definitely got their money's worth as lasers and fog machines lit up the stage.  During a moving version of "I Can't Tell You Why," huge forty foot balloons of Frey and Henley were inflated and got into a slap fight.  All the nuances of the performance were captured on an array of massive video screens mounted around the stage though it was somewhat distracting to see commercials for the tour's corporate sponsor Taco Bell playing in between songs.  Still, when the lights were brought down low and the band, assisted by their six background singers, broke into their trademark harmonies during "Lying Eyes" you could just close your eyes and imagine you were actually back in the studio in Los Angeles in 1972  when it was just Don, Glen, the boys, their accountants, the business mangers, and their corporate lawyers making magic just like when they first got started.

    After romping through rousing versions of "Already Gone" and "Witchy Woman" that didn't actually feature any of the Eagles performing, the band came back onstage for a moving encore of "Desperado."  Like all the other hard core fans present, I have probably heard the song a million times so I was surprised when they did a radically different version of the classic song re-titled "Beef Burrito" and featuring lyrics about the new 99 cent value menu  that is part of Taco Bell's "Goin' Down South With the Eagles" promotional campaign.  By the time the last pre-recorded vocals faded out and the roadies carted a gently snoring Joe Walsh off stage in his recliner, the crowd was satisfied. 

    By the way, it is worth noting that the show was opened by a hot set from the classic rock super group B.T.REM Overdrive.  The former members of Bachman Turner Overdrive and REM played an enthusiastic and accomplished collection of their hits highlighted by an unplugged version of "Takin' Care of Losin' My Religion."