Eagles @ Xcel ✅

My mom was a big Hotel California-era Eagles person, so naturally one of my first vinyl albums was Eagles Live (which, damn, was released…November 7, 1980). Pretty sure I also had 1979’s The Long Run as well. Side two of that one had some really amazing songs, but I always thought “The Greeks Don’t Want No Freaks” was one of the funniest songs I had ever heard in my ten years on Earth.

Fast forward to the super-expensive Hell Freezes Over Tour of 1994, which I skipped because, well, money. Don Henley had the original quote, but just saw this Glenn Frey gem: “I just rule out the possibility of putting the Eagles back together for a Lost Youth and Greed tour.” We unfortunately lost Glenn in 2016, so I never got to see the “real” Eagles perform live.

When the current edition of the band announced The Long Goodbye Final Tour, I looked at the prices and thought I’d probably skip it again. But when I found a solo ticket at the lowest price point in the front row of the upper section at Xcel, I decided it was time to go. The closest I had come before was Joe Walsh opening for Tom Petty in the same venue on June 3, 2017 (four months before he passed).

I was also excited that Steely Dan was scheduled to open, as I had never seen them either. Donald Fagan unfortunately was hospitalized with an undisclosed illness and The Doobie Brothers were announced as the replacement opener for the two Saint Paul shows. We saw them at the fair in 2021, but without Michael McDonald (due to covid). This time I got to see him, but Tom Johnston was now out with a bad back. The perils of rocking into your 70s, I suppose…

I enjoyed the opening set, particularly getting to hear McDonald sing lead on “What a Fool Believes,” “Takin’ It to the Streets” and “Minute by Minute.” As Ross wrote in his review, he was “more Michael McDonald-y than ever.” And my internal comparisons to Will Sasso doing Kenny Rogers made me smile too.

The headliners opened with a lovely version of Seven Bridges Road and played hit after hit, including three Joe Walsh solo songs and Don Henley’s solo hit The Boys of Summer. Previous stops had Hotel California as the last song of the encore, so I was surprised when they played it as the last song of the main set. According to Setlist.fm, both acts played the exact same set lists both nights in Saint Paul (Eagles night one, Eagles night two, Doobies night one, Doobies night two).

Nothing personal against Vince Gill and Deacon Frey, but the songs they sang lead on just weren’t the same. Both were solid and sounded great, but those songs to me were just high quality covers. The Vince Gill versions are more twangy and countrified, which is fine, but I wish I had seen the pre-2016 tours. Jon Bream’s review said the duo “did commendable work filling the void left by Deacon’s father” and I think void is the right word.

The Don Henley remark was funny: “There are no balloons, fireworks or butt wagging. Just a bunch of guys with guitars.” There were several really great guitar moments and I liked that they used actual pictures of Saint Paul on the screens during In The City. Almost forgot to mention, personally very emotional to hear Tequila Sunrise too – even if it wasn’t Glenn singing…

Eagles Setlist – Friday, November 17, 2023