The Eagles Take It Easy On Pittsburgh

The Eagles performed last night at The Consol Energy Center in the heart of downtown to a capacity crowd of die hard fans. As a tie in with the career spanning documentary History of the Eagles, it was announced March 21 an eleven date North American tour in support of the documentary would occur, including Pittsburgh. Henley said that the tour, “could very well be our last…we’re gonna include at least one former band member in this tour and kinda go back to the roots, and how we created some of these songs. We’re gonna break it down to the fundamentals and then take it up to where it is now” (Ultimate Classic Rock).

The band chose to roll through their repertoire chronologically, even so much as starting off the evening with just Don Henley and Glenn Frey on acoustic like they did in the old days when they were part of Linda Ronstadt’s band. They told tales of how the band formed and one by one the members came out progressively as the songs built upon one another. It certainly was amazing to see Bernie Leadon, who is just amazing on guitar, back up there under the lights with them again. They also let part of the documentary do part of the talking on the big screen to fill in some of the gaps so some set and equipment changes could be made.

For most it was a trip down memory lane, a very laid back evening (at least at first) filled with California country rock tunes from an era gone by that have tested time. For whatever it’s worth, the most lively parts of the night were when Joe Walsh shined with his contributions of James Gang material (i.e. Funk 49)…which was just a great example of how some of the dynamics within The Eagles changed within the history of their music with their members: good, bad, or indifferent. Choosing to sit for some of the evening and just jam out, The Eagles provided their fans with a hell of a set list filled with hits and some very deep cuts to chew on:

Pittsburgh 7/23/2012

Saturday Night

Train Leaves

Peaceful Easy Feeling

Doolin Dalton

Tequila Sunrise

Already Gone

Doolin Reprise

Already Gone

Best Of My Love

Lyin’ Eyes

One Of These Nights