REVIEW: Eagles take it easy

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/06/2010 (5767 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

That peaceful easy music coming from Canad Inns Stadium Tuesday was courtesy of the Eagles.

The rock ’n’ roll? Thank guitarist Joe Walsh for that.

With laid-back grooves, soulful harmonies and hits galore, the mellow California country-rockers can soar along nicely, but when they let secret weapon Walsh loose they truly take flight.

25,000 hear Eagles, Dixie Chicks

Making their second appearance in the city in just over a year, the veteran group — Walsh, singer-guitarist-keyboardist Glenn Frey, singer-guitarist-drummer Don Henley and singer-bassist Timothy B. Schmit — offered a similar set to their MTS Centre show last May, but instead of a three-hour concert filled with plenty of new material, it was a two-hour show of greatest hits and highlights from Walsh and Henley’s solo careers.

And, of course, it was immaculate with not a bum note to be heard. You want spontaneity? You want surprises? Not with the Eagles. This is a tight running machine. Everything was precise with nothing left to chance, almost to the point of it being sterile.

It’s hard to complain about, but equally hard to get too excited about. Even the production was sparse with three video screens.
But it’s not as though soft-rockers like Take it to the Limit, Peaceful Easy Feeling, Lying Eyes and One of These Nights leave much room to mess around with. That’s where Walsh comes in and throws some fun into the show with Walk Away and Funk #49 from his pre-Eagles outfit the James Gang; Rocky Mountain Way, Life’s Been Good and In the City, from the Warriors soundtrack. Can you dig it?

The crowd did, and Mother Nature even helped out. After a day of extreme weather warnings, the storm system missed the Polo Park area and the audience was treated to a warm night with no rain.

An official attendance figure wasn’t provided, but pre-show estimates of between 23,000 and 25,000 appeared to have held up.

The Eagles were backed by a five-piece band and four-member horn section whose numbers rose and fell depending on the song.
The extra musicians added texture and punch to tunes like the trippy Hotel California — the dual harmonized guitar solo climax courtesy of Walsh and Stuart Smith was an early highlight — the Boys of Summer, Witchy Woman and Heartache Tonight.

The Eagles had a tough act to follow, too.

Country group the Dixie Chicks opened the show with a powerful one-hour set that proved they haven’t lost a step since taking a hiatus four years ago.

Lead vocalist Natalie Maines has shaved her head, offering a striking contrast to her bandmates, sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire.

The talented trio and their six-piece backing band opened their one hour set with the breezy Wide Open Spaces before the melodic Truth No. 2. They hit all the touchstones from their 12 years together, with almost every song a highlight, including the bluegrass rave-up Sin Wagon, a rockin’ version of Bob Dylan’s Mississippi and the twangy back porch banger Long Time Gone.
They wrapped up their time with a defiant trio of the anthemic Not Ready to Make Nice, Ready to Run and murder/revenge fantasy Goodbye Earl.

rob.williams@freepress.mb.ca