July 4th's concert by the Eagles was, I suppose, the anticipated social event of the summer for a lot of folks around here, but some things about it were kind of strange. The ticket prices were ridiculous - $95 - but the packed venue indicated many thought nothing about paying this in advance. Not me.
There were some obvious reasons for the high ticket price. First, the back-up band and road crew brought 4 large tour buses to one downtown hotel. The group itself (Don Henley, Glen Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit) flew into town and arrived at the venue in four separate vehicles, either a limo or van. With a July 5 date for Louisville, KY, we assumed they'd leave immediately after the show, but they stayed overnight at a separate hotel from the back-up band.
Why? Because this hotel blocked off two rows of parking spaces for the band to enter and exit, presumably to give them privacy from the 'mobs of fans.' Uh -- what mobs? The only people who bothered to drop by were myself and 5 of my autograph collecting friends. Hardly worth the fuss.
Anyway, we left our impromptu cookout and arrived at the venue (a University basketball arena) 15 minutes before show time.
People were all over the place trying to get rid of tickets. One guy with floor seats practically chased up down the street (he wanted $40/ticket). We ignored him, talked to 3 other sellers and accepted an offer of 5 tickets for $50! That's right, each of us saved $85 by not buying advance tickets. In all my ticket-scalping years, this is the best we've ever done.
Oh - a word about the show. Very nice, not very loud, but not a lot of energy from Henley and Frey. They seemed to be going through the motions. Frey introduced "Take it to the Limit" by dedicating the song to his ex-wife's treatment of his VISA cards. Made me wonder if the ex-wives, alimony and child support were the sole reasons for the tour.
Joe Walsh was the bright spot, performing his James Gang tune "Walk Away" and solo hit "Life's Been Good." Added to the usual staple of Eagles tunes were Henley's solo material (ex. "Sunset Grill") and Frey's ("You Belong to the City").
There was considerably less publicity for this tour than the previous HELL FREEZES OVER tour of a few years back. And I wondered how the guys wound up spending July 4 in our backwater instead of a more exotic locale.
Overall, their loss was our gain.
JB
PS: Walsh graciously signed for us, and a friend reported meeting Schmit (who the rest of us missed). Henley and Frey managed to dodge us - what few of us there were.
There were some obvious reasons for the high ticket price. First, the back-up band and road crew brought 4 large tour buses to one downtown hotel. The group itself (Don Henley, Glen Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit) flew into town and arrived at the venue in four separate vehicles, either a limo or van. With a July 5 date for Louisville, KY, we assumed they'd leave immediately after the show, but they stayed overnight at a separate hotel from the back-up band.
Why? Because this hotel blocked off two rows of parking spaces for the band to enter and exit, presumably to give them privacy from the 'mobs of fans.' Uh -- what mobs? The only people who bothered to drop by were myself and 5 of my autograph collecting friends. Hardly worth the fuss.
Anyway, we left our impromptu cookout and arrived at the venue (a University basketball arena) 15 minutes before show time.
People were all over the place trying to get rid of tickets. One guy with floor seats practically chased up down the street (he wanted $40/ticket). We ignored him, talked to 3 other sellers and accepted an offer of 5 tickets for $50! That's right, each of us saved $85 by not buying advance tickets. In all my ticket-scalping years, this is the best we've ever done.
Oh - a word about the show. Very nice, not very loud, but not a lot of energy from Henley and Frey. They seemed to be going through the motions. Frey introduced "Take it to the Limit" by dedicating the song to his ex-wife's treatment of his VISA cards. Made me wonder if the ex-wives, alimony and child support were the sole reasons for the tour.
Joe Walsh was the bright spot, performing his James Gang tune "Walk Away" and solo hit "Life's Been Good." Added to the usual staple of Eagles tunes were Henley's solo material (ex. "Sunset Grill") and Frey's ("You Belong to the City").
There was considerably less publicity for this tour than the previous HELL FREEZES OVER tour of a few years back. And I wondered how the guys wound up spending July 4 in our backwater instead of a more exotic locale.
Overall, their loss was our gain.
JB
PS: Walsh graciously signed for us, and a friend reported meeting Schmit (who the rest of us missed). Henley and Frey managed to dodge us - what few of us there were.
