Eagles play ‘Hotel California’ in full, the hits at Austin show

If you are going to play a basic album in its entirety, and in sequence, you would possibly as nicely have some enjoyable with it. Thus the opening scene of Thursday’s efficiency on the Moody Middle by the Eagles: A person in a black trench coat slowly strolls from stage left to stage proper, the place he encounters a file participant and a duplicate of the band’s iconic 1977 LP “Lodge California.” He locations the album on the turntable, slips the needle into the groove, and voila! The curtain rises and the band kicks into the title monitor.

It is a good mixture of campy staging and honest nostalgic drama from one of many greatest bands in pop music historical past. And if any basic rock album warrants such start-to-finish therapy, it is in all probability “Lodge California,” by far the biggest-selling of the band’s seven studio albums with greater than 30 million bought worldwide.

Solely the group’s iconic greatest-hits album has bought extra, which explains why the remainder of the live performance (after a 20-minute intermission) surveyed virtually the entire band’s prime singles. Once you’ve had as many hits because the Eagles, that quantities to an extended present: The band took the stage at 8:10 p.m. and did not depart till 11:15 p.m.

The “Lodge California” part was the spotlight. Don Henley, the lone founding member left after the loss of life of Glenn Frey in 2016, started on drums and lead vocals for the title monitor, which set the tone for a sterling efficiency of the album by an eight-piece touring band. The video backdrop cleverly solid California photos as if seen from a lodge’s bay window, full with windowpane grids.

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Nation famous person Vince Gill, who joined after Frey’s loss of life, did a gorgeous job as lead vocalist on the second music, “New Child in City.” Henley got here out entrance for the rocker “Life within the Quick Lane,” becoming a member of Gill and stage-right duelers Joe Walsh and Steuart Smith to type a formidable wall of 4 electrical guitars, together with bassist Timothy B. Schmit.

The actual payoff, although, got here on “Wasted Time,” a extra reflective quantity that closes facet considered one of “Lodge California” and is revisited on a quick orchestral reprise to begin facet two. (Sure, they went by the LP-flipping ritual as nicely; this time a lady with flowing blond locks crossed the stage to show the album over.)

The Eagles spared no expense right here, recruiting about 40 string gamers from the native Violet Crown Orchestra to exquisitely fill out the sound for these two numbers. Conducting the orchestra was music legend Jim Ed Norman, who met Henley at College of North Texas in 1968 and adopted him to California, the place he turned an achieved composer/arranger (and later president of Warner Bros. Information’ Nashville division for 20 years).

Aspect two of “Lodge California” did not have the hits that facet one produced, however its closing monitor, “The Final Resort,” is a sweeping seven-minute epic about paradise misplaced within the title of progress. The orchestra returned for the dramatic finale, this time supplemented by about 20 members of the native choir United Voices. “That was for the Austin I used to know,” Henley stated on the finish, underscoring that the music and album’s loss-of-innocence theme stretches past the Golden State.

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A lot has been manufactured from the Moody Middle’s sonic enhancements over the neighboring Erwin Middle, the place the Eagles made their final Austin look (with Frey) in 2015. This was the primary of the 4 live shows I’ve attended on the Moody in its opening month the place these acoustic upgrades have been gloriously evident: I do not assume I’ve ever heard a band sound as pristine in an area as in Wednesday’s opening set.

As a result of the “Lodge California” album’s run-time is about 45 minutes, and since the Eagles had so many different hits to cowl within the second half, the live performance’s construction was inevitably unbalanced. The following 15 songs (plus a four-song encore) that adopted the intermission lasted greater than twice so long as the primary set.

Not that the almost sold-out crowd minded. They provided thunderous cheers for Gill on a number of events as he did his finest on songs Frey used to sing, together with “Tequila Dawn,” “Already Gone” and “Lyin’ Eyes.” Walsh bought his time to shine towards the tip, serving up his Seventies solo hits “Life’s Been Good” and “Rocky Mountain Approach” in addition to “Funk #49” from his early years within the James Gang. “I had extra enjoyable being 20 within the ’70s than I’m being 70 within the ’20s,” he cracked, incomes his distinction because the Eagle with a humorousness.

Henley continued shifting backwards and forwards between taking part in guitar out entrance and drums (or percussion) behind. His distinctive excessive tenor stood out on memorable hits equivalent to “Considered one of These Nights” and “Desperado.” The band additionally properly included his 1984 solo smash “The Boys of Summer time” within the encore. He additionally sang the show-closing ballad “The Better of My Love,” acknowledging co-writers Frey and J.D. Souther because the music started.

Bassist Schmit bought his traditional vocal highlight on “I Cannot Inform You Why” and in addition took the vocal lead on “Peaceable Straightforward Feeling,” a Jack Tempchin music from the band’s 1972 self-titled debut that Frey sang on the album. A number of modifications in vocalists have occurred lately; Frey’s son, Deacon Frey, toured with the group for a number of years after his father’s loss of life however departed final month to pursue a solo profession.

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They did it yet again on Friday evening on the Moody, which was constructed partially by the band’s supervisor, legendary music trade govt Irving Azoff. Pre-show leisure on Thursday included a set by native rockers the Raccoon Brothers on the plaza stage on the area’s west entrance.

Eagles in Austin 5/19 set checklist:

1. Lodge California

2. New Child in City

3. Life within the Quick Lane

4. Wasted Time

5. Wasted Time (Reprise)

6. Sufferer of Love

7. Fairly Maids All in a Row

8. Attempt to Love Once more

9. The Final Resort

Intermission

10. Seven Bridges Street

11. Take It Straightforward

12. Considered one of These Nights

13. Peaceable Straightforward Feeling

14. Witchy Girl

15. Take It to the Restrict

16. Tequila Dawn

17. Within the Metropolis

18. I Cannot Inform You Why

19. Lyin’ Eyes

20. These Sneakers

21. Life’s Been Good

22. Already Gone

23. Funk #49

24. Heartache Tonight

Encore

25. Rocky Mountain Approach

26. Desperado

27. The Boys of Summer time

28. Better of My Love