Eagles @ KeyBank Center Buffalo, NY 4-21-22

The Eagles made their 2nd stop in less than 4 years in the Queen city this past Thursday night. This tour was built on playing the iconic album ‘Hotel California’ in sequential order and its entirety. There are few bands with the history of the Eagles. Being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, receiving the Kennedy Honors and having one of the top 5 selling albums off all time are just a few of the accolades the band has in its illustrious career. The Eagles are still backed by founder Don Henley along with Eagles members Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt. With the unfortunate and untimely passing of its founder Glen Frey back in January of 2016, his son Deacon was invited to tour along with (superstar in his own right) Vince Gil to fill in for Frey. Earlier this month, Deacon Frey decided to bow out and forge his own musical career path. Taking on extra guitar duty was longtime Eagles touring musician Steuart Smith. He was accompanied by touring musicians Scott F. Crago on percussion, Will Hollis on keyboards and synthesizers and Michael Thompson on keyboards and piano.

The show started with a gentlemen walking across the dim light stage and puling out the record ‘Hotel California’ and dropping the needle on it. Once that happened. The band appeared and the opening chords of Smith’s guitar of “Hotel California’ were played. Henley sang lead vocals on this behind his DW kit. Most of his lead vocals were handled from the front of the stage as he also played rhythm guitar throughout the set (going back and forth between playing the drums and rhythm guitar). Henley also jumped in on percussion on occasion including the track “In the City.” What was special was the band also had a 38 piece orchestra which was made mostly of local musicians and the Westminster Presbyterian Church Choir. They closed the 1st set using the orchestra for “The Last Resort.” The band took a 20 minute intermission before they returned.

The band returned to do the harmonic “Seven Bridges Road.” They followed up with a slew of greatest hits that wetted the appetite of the bands fans for the next 2 hours. Lead vocals for the 2nd set were handled by Henley along with Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt. It was a nice mix of ballads and upbeat tempo tunes that included the Joe Walsh written “Rocky Mountain Way” and “Funk #49.” Just like in 2015, when we reviewed the show back then, Walsh again drew the biggest round of applause out of any members of the band. He comes off the most loveable and down to earth. At one point he said, “I rather be in my 20’s in the 70’s then in my 70’s in the 20’s.” That drew a lot of laughs. He asked for crowd participation in “Life Has Been Good.” He wasn’t the only one who played a few songs of non Eagles material. Henley incorporated the classic “Boys of Summer.” It was a great mix of overall songs that encompassed the Eagles along with some of the various works of both Walsh and Henley.

The overall sound was exquisite. All vocalists sounded fantastic (especially Henley). No machines or auto tuning going on here. By adding the orchestra, the band didn’t spare any expense and stayed true to playing the parts to as much as possible. That deserved a round of applause in itself. Not adding another musician to fill Deacon Frey’s parts was risky. The band pulled it off though. Another Eagles gem locked in the books. They still have it and are still a must see if they are heading your way.

Setlist:

1st set:

Hotel California

New Kid in Town

Life in the Fast Lane

Wasted Time

Wasted Time (reprise)

Victim of Love

Pretty Maids All in a Row

Try and Love Again

The Last Resort

2nd set: