After writing my Eagles post, I realized I started a draft for the Pearl Jam show back in September, but never finished it off. Colleen has been in the Ten Club for a very long time and Setlist says we’ve seen them ten times now, tied for the most of any artist. Every time they go on tour, fan club members are offered the opportunity to buy tickets and we would’ve gone to both Saint Paul nights if it hadn’t been for our conflict with Duran Duran at the state fair grandstand.

On this tour, Pearl Jam was doing two shows in each city, with a night off in between. Since we couldn’t do the first night, we ordered two tickets to the Saturday show (reviewed by Jon Bream of the Star Tribune). Tickets are supposed to be assigned via seniority in the club, but we’ve never received great spots in the past. This year was not a great experience – they moved us *three* times before telling us that was our actual spot (each time we got farther and farther from the stage, unfortunately).

After reading Ron Hubbard’s review of the Thursday show, I had some serious FOMO that I missed this:

The volume and adrenaline gradually rose with each song before lead guitarist Mike McCready kicked his folding wooden chair aside during the fifth number and rose to launch into a soaring guitar solo on “Black” from the band’s 1991 debut album. Soon Vedder was up, then guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament, and the rocking had clearly begun.

Black is my favorite PJ song and of course they didn’t play it again on Saturday. Our show overall turned out to be just fine (as they always are) – just different (setlist and pics after the jump). I’m sure there are lots of Saturday fans that were happy we got Jeremy, Better Man and I Am Mine that the Thursday crowd did not. Wasn’t crazy about the Purple Rain cover, but a lot of people liked that we got that one (I believe for the first time in Minnesota). My highlight was definitely McCready playing the solo in Alive behind his head. I guess the lesson is to just go to both shows in the future – competing shows be damned.

The other lesson is to buy your merch ahead of time (even outside before the shows, as was offered for this tour). We got there when doors opened, skipped the outside trailer and got right in line. They had date-specific shirts, posters and stickers for each night and our shirt was already gone by the time we got to the front of the line (I did get the sticker, pictured above). It was sad to see them listed on eBay after we got to our seats (and not available for purchase on the PJ website like other bands do). The Saint Paul hockey jerseys looked cool, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger at that price. Props to the band for selling “authorized bootlegs” of every show, though – just downloaded that tonight…

Setlist (first five songs seated)

• Pendulum
• Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
• Off He Goes
• Nothing as It Seems
• Daughter
• Do the Evolution
• Last Exit
• Once
• Who Ever Said
• Brain Damage (Pink Floyd cover)
• I Am Mine
• Take the Long Way
• Even Flow
• Severed Hand
• In Hiding
• Unthought Known
• Corduroy
• Porch
• —
• Encore:
• —
• I Won’t Back Down (Tom Petty cover)
• Last Kiss
• Got Some
• Jeremy
• Better Man
• Alive
• Purple Rain (Prince cover)

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

• Seven Bridges Road
• Take It Easy
• One of These Nights
• Lyin’ Eyes
• Take It to the Limit
• Best of My Love
• Witchy Woman
• Peaceful Easy Feeling
• Tequila Sunrise
• In the City (Joe Walsh song)
• I Can’t Tell You Why
• New Kid in Town
• Life’s Been Good (Joe Walsh song)
• Already Gone
• The Boys of Summer (Don Henley song)
• Funk #49
• Life in the Fast Lane
• Hotel California
• —
• Encore:
• —
• Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh song)
• Desperado
• Heartache Tonight

The Doobie Brothers Setlist – Friday, November 17, 2023

• Rockin’ Down the Highway
• Here to Love You
• Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)
• It Keeps You Runnin’
• Jesus Is Just Alright
• Minute by Minute
• Black Water
• What a Fool Believes
• Takin’ It to the Streets
• Long Train Runnin’
• China Grove
• Listen to the Music

Hurray! Today marks bonus birthday number FIVE after the big brain experience on the U.S. Bank Stadium train platform in 2018 (here are links to the previous bonus time posts: year one, year two, year three and year four). The whole episode now seems so distant – very happy to have this history here (and still so, so thankful to everyone involved).

Everything health-wise continues to be good – don’t need to go back for any follow-up for another two years and my eyesight has evolved to the point where I can even play golf again without glasses. I do still tend to wear them while driving at night, but that’s about it. My old TBI eye specialist has moved on, so I started seeing the regular family eye doctor this year. He said my prescription has changed slightly, but gave me the option to hold off on a new order.

Feeling more fit since I started a real training plan for the recently cancelled TC 10 Mile and the activity logs for the past year have all been active. Didn’t bike as much this year, but played more golf and logged more real running miles. Bought some actual hiking shoes this year and spent a lot of time at nearby Afton State Park (and almost signed up for the Afton 25K – hope to do that next year, along with Get in Gear and the Milk Run). Still throw my name in the annual London Marathon drawing, but have never been picked. Disney 2025?

Speaking of Florida, we attended our first ever spring training games in Fort Myers this year and had a great time. My brother and his wife drove over from Orlando for some of the games, which was wonderful. Not a lot of other travel this year, but we continued to cross new restaurants off the list, went to a lot of Twins and Saints games and had a good year of concerts (Smashing Pumpkins, Jerry Harrison, Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Duran Duran, Pearl Jam and Peter Gabriel, among others).

And speaking of concerts, I’ve recently returned to the sports and entertainment world in a newly created technology role at Target Center. I’m excited to learn a new league and learn how arenas operate compared to stadiums. While there are a lot more events, the technology infrastructure is smaller and it will be a fun challenge to optimize the operation. Also excited about the Life Time Fitness facilities in the basement of the building – what a great thing to have for Minnesota winter workouts.

Go Wolves! 🏀