Serendipity played a big role in my being able to experience the Eagles first hand in Birmingham a few days ago. Last year, when I lived in the lively city about a couple of hours north of London, I was lucky enough to see my favorite Mark Knopfler and CSN concerts live, reviews of which you may have read in the concert reviews section here. But when I planned my courtesy visit to my previous client this time, for just two weeks, I didn't think that it would be anything other than "All work and no play".. however, to my pleasant surprise, I found that in two days, the Eagles had not one, but two concerts scheduled in the National Indoor arena, literally a ten minute walk from my hotel room. Needless to say, my fingers walked all over the keyboard until I found an online ticket site that promised me that my tickets would be signed, sealed and delivered overnight.. aah, I love the convenience of online commerce !

My brother was my comrade in arms yet again, but because he arrived a little later than planned, as we were entering the arena, we could already here the strains of "Take it Easy" hitting the airwaves. Well, we couldn't take it easy until we found our seats... which we did, in about 15 seconds flat.

I quickly checked with my neighbour and found that it was only the 3rd song of the day, to my relief. As I listened to the winged ones belt out their troubles with being involved with too many women, I took in the ambience. It was awesome. Our seats were about twenty rows from the stage, but the view was very good, that is, if one could persuade ones behind to forsake the comfort of the seat... everyone was standing up. The most amazing aspect of the environment was the huge, brilliant high-definition screen above the stage, almost as big as the stage itself. It was actually about four screens in one, showing either one view of the stage or multiple close-ups of the artists simultaneously. No one in that packed colosseum would miss any part of the action. The background showed a collage of moving images and the lights cast their bright multicolored spells behind the stars on stage, though in a subtle way, compared to some of the flashier concerts... and there was no sign of any smoke anywhere in the vicinity.. it was all crystal clear vision and sounds of the Eagles.

The band then played "One of these nights", with the harmonies and perfect guitar tones sending me to a transcendental experience... and as the base guitarist took over the lead vocals for "I can't tell you why", I began to notice the pattern that was emerging.

At almost all of the concerts that I have been to by the major bands, the key was always improvisation. The link to the original recording, is tenous at times, with the musicians taking their artistic licenses to the extreme, sometimes to great effect. But the Eagles seemed content or even determined to play note, after note, after note, after perfect note, just like it is on the original recording... it led me to conclude that they are, deep in their hearts, still the session musicians who backed up Linda Ronstad once upon a time in the seventies.

A few words about my confusion about the identities of the musicians is due, albeit at the risk of embarrassing myself. The gentleman in the center was making the announcements and singing the lead vocals, so I assumed that it was Don Henley, since he was the frontman of the band, if there was one. And when the base guitarist sang "I can't tell you why" which I believed to be a Glenn Frey staple, I assumed that the band was sans-Frey. However, soon enough the band played a Don Henley solo song, "The Boys of Summer" and it wasn't the guy in the center, but the person to his left, with the lighter blond hair. The voice I immediately recognized as the having the Henley stamp, and though it was at a distance, I could recognize the face as well. Which led me to the mystery of who the "frontman" was, that was singing most of Eagles staples. I have to admit that I couldn't solve it right away. It was not until a few days and a couple of Google searches later that I found out that the mystery man was in fact, Glenn Frey. What had thrown me off was the mistaken notion that "I can't tell you why" was a Frey song, when in fact it was originally sung by bass guitarist Timothy Schmidt, one of the original members of the band ! Like I said, embarrassing for a big fan like me that he can't tell one band member from another, but in my defense, this is such an all-star band, with each member having such a big presence on each album, it is quite possible that some of us who had to wait for almost twenty years to get close to the band to be a little confused.

Back to the action on stage, the legends moved smoothly through the older hits such as "Take it to the limit" which Frey jokingly said his wife referred to as "the credit card song" and "New Kid in Town" all done in studio fashion. And then Mr. Walsh took center-stage to sing "In the city". He opened with the statement "Im just glad to be playing something" referring to his time under the influence of alcohol. I didn't realize the impact of Joe Walsh's contribution to the Eagles until recently. It was he who directed the Eagles' move away from the softer country rock of the "Take it Easy" era to the rocking sounds of Hotel California and Life in the Fast Lane. As a matter of fact, it was Walsh that composed all of, and played some of, the guitar parts on Hotel California. In the City was played classically... though Walsh did show some signs that he didn't fully conform to the studio-musician mentality of the rest of the band.. well, there should be at least one maverick in the band :)

The intermission came too soon, and the second half started with some home made videos of the band in various locations, camping, staging a fake western etc. and then the music started again, with the maestros performing a sit-down version of "Tequila Sunrise" .. like the cocktail, the performance went down smooth.

The next song was a relatively newer one, "No more cloudy day" inspired by September 11th attacks.. while talking about the song, Mr. Frey talked about the "need for better leadership" in America and followed it up with "If you want to make a Dixie Chick out of me, go right ahead" to wild applause from the stands. The reference was to the harsh treatment meted out by American radio to the "Dixie Chicks" for having criticised President Bush for the Iraq war during a show in London.

The concert continued in predictable perfection with Frey making comments like "Just one more song before we turn Mr. Walsh loose", "Farewell 1 tour- that sounds like a set up, doesn't it" etc. The second comment was in reference to how the band had titled this tour. Walsh played a couple of his solo songs as well, which sounded fabulous as well. During one of his songs, Joe put on what was called a "helmet-cam", or, a helmet with a camera in it, using which he got videos of the audience members displayed on the big screen above.

As the concert made its way to its last moments, Walsh again took center stage with a terrific rendition of Life in the Fast Lane, a song that once again is a reminder of his genius of composing with, or for the guitar. The rocking intro to the song is one of my favorites for the guitar, and one which took me years to figure out how it was played. And then they said their first good-byes.

The Encore

The encore started off with the stage going completely dark and upon the big screen the lights drew the outline of a musician in a Sombrero, playing a trumpet like instrument. And in the background, a clarinet solo was playing, though the melody was not familiar. The intent was to create a little suspense, but my ears couldn't be fooled... it was a new-fangled intro to the ultimate Eagles song, "Hotel California". There have been numerous discussions on what is the greatest rock song of all, and though this one features way up on everyones list, the one that most commonly ends up at the top is "Stairway to Heaven". I do love Zeppelin, but on this debate, I have to turn the "Page" on them and pledge my allegiance to Hotel California.

Though the song started off with an air of mystery, it soon stepped into the instantly recognizable. And we stood transfixed through the 7 minutes of auditory pleasure. The only conscious thing I remember doing during the song was to turn my camera on in video mode in time to capture the entire final solo, done by new guitarist Steuart who replaced Don Felder after he left the band in 2001.

After Hotel California was done, we knew the end was near. But the band conitnued with "Already Gone" and then lingered on stage, and I started speculating "Will they end with 'Get Over it'?", one of my new favorite songs by the band. But it wasn't to be, and it's possible that they opened with it. The final song was "Desperado", another Henley masterpiece. It was a fitting finale to their note-perfect performance.

It was time to go, and like my pronouncement on Hotel California being superior to Stairway to heaven, I have one concluding point to make. It has been more than thirty years since they started churning out hits and album after brilliant album. And though they took a "13 year vacation" (to quote Frey during the Hell Freezes Over concert), they are firmly back together now with almost the entire original lineup, and playing masterfully.. so it is high time we give them the respect they deserve and call them the "Greatest Band still performing" .. and when I say that, I'm not afraid at all of any stones that may be rolling menacingly in my direction :)

Moody Blue