The Eagles @ First Niagara Center, Buffalo, New York 7-18-15

Everyone has a bucket list of artists they would like to see at some point in their life. At the top of mine for years were The Eagles. When it was announced they were playing Buffalo for the 1st time since the “Hell Freezes Over” tour in the early 1990’s, I was excited to say the least. The show was sold out and packed with fans thrilled to see one of the biggest selling bands of all time.The show was separated into two parts. The first set primarily being the early part of the Eagles history (pre Hotel California).

Multi-instrumentalist Don Henley and guitarist/keyboardist Glen Frey took the stage at about 8:30 pm. They each walked out on opposite sides and met in the middle and fist bumped. Henley & Frey then sat down to play their acoustic guitars on the first track of the evening called “Saturday Night” without any supporting cast. The next track was with original guitarist Bernie Leadon for “Train Leaves Here This Morning.” For the next few tracks each member came out one by one. Next up was Timothy B. Schmidt and then crowd favorite Joe Walsh came out as well. For the song “Tequila Sunrise, the full band was onstage and all played behind Frey’s vocals. The song ended with a beautiful sunrise backdrop.

The crowd was instructed that they were not to take photos or video at all during the performance and that their cooperation was greatly appreciated by the Eagles. Well only a few songs in, a woman who was texting tested Frey’s patience and Frey stated “he would continue on with the next song but will wait until the woman was done texting.” It was very embarrassing for the woman to say the least. They really stuck to their policy.

The Eagles are known for their amazing harmonies and musical prowess. They each took turns in the spotlight. Schmidt talked about playing Buffalo on his first tour with The Eagles back in 1978 as he went into his hit song “I Can’t Tell You Why.” Walsh also took a few turns at the microphone, his first being with James Gang cover “Funk #49.” I will say every time Walsh sang or was introduced, he did garner the loudest response. He also got the people out of their seats dancing for the most part. It was a very tame crowd sitting for the majority of the first set.

For the start of the 2nd set, Frey thanked the crowd for being attentive and it was time to take it up a notch. For most of the 2nd set, people were standing. Leadon did not appear in this set until the encores. The two songs that got the most attention were again the Walsh lead vocal tracks of “In the City” and his one encore “Rocky Mountain Way.”

I was very impressed all night with Henley as he played both a small kit and large kit, moving from a small kit at the beginning of the show that was positioned on the side to a large kit behind. He also played acoustic and electric guitars and also did some keyboard work as well. His vocals were spot on and really was the musical highlight for me of the band’s entire performance.

The show as it was titled “A History of The Eagles” surely lived up to its billing. It took a long time for the band to finally come to Buffalo and hopefully it won’t be too long before they will reappear again.

Set 1:

Saturday Night
Train Leaves Here This Morning (Dillard & Clark cover)
Peaceful Easy Feeling
Witchy Woman
Doolin-Dalton
Tequila Sunrise
Doolin’-Dalton/Desperado (Reprise)
Already Gone
The Best of My Love
Lyin’ Eyes
One of These Nights
Take It to the Limit

Set 2:

Wasted Time (Reprise)
Pretty Maids All in a Row
I Can’t Tell You Why
New Kid in Town
Love Will Keep Us Alive
Heartache Tonight
Those Shoes
In the City (Joe Walsh song)
Life’s Been Good (Joe Walsh song)
The Long Run
Funk #49 (James Gang cover)
Life in the Fast Lane