Eagles perform night away in Tulsa

By Aleisa Rhoades

Published: September 7, 2008

Long was the central theme Saturday night as the Eagles took the stage at Tulsa’s sparkling new BOK Center.

The Eagles opened their show at 7:45 p.m. with the song “How Long,” the first single released from their latest album, “Long Road out of Eden.”

Later, bandmate Don Henley introduced the song “The Long Run,” as the band’s theme song — after a 37-year musical career.

“We’re still here and so are you,” he told the crowd, estimated to be more than 18,000 people.

The venue proved to be the perfect backdrop for the classic rock band.

The Eagles, dressed in suits, started their more than 3-hour show taking turns singing lead on songs from “Long Road Out of Eden.”

Henley sang “Busy Being Fabulous.” Timothy B. Schmit sang “I Don’t Want to Hear Anymore,” accompanied by Henley on congas. Joe Walsh belted out “Guilty of the Crime” while playing slide guitar. Jail bars flashed on giant video backdrops.

The Eagles played their own instruments — all taking turns on guitar, while Henley also rotated to drums, percussion and piano. Walsh switched guitars for every song, even playing two on the song “Rocky Mountain Way.” It seemed he brought much of his famed collection to the show. The Eagles were accompanied by other band mates on piano, organ, drums and percussion, five guitars and four horns.

Glenn Frey hosted much of the show, starting with “Hello Tulsa” and welcoming everyone to the Eagles “Assisted Living Tour,” for which he earned a good laugh.

The fifth song on the lineup was the classic favorite “Hotel California.” The song opened with Al Garth on saxophone and included Steuart Smith, sometimes called the fifth Eagle, on an 18-string guitar — the instrument always played on this song. All four horns played on this song as well. Saturday night’s version was kind of bluesy, versus other times when the sound has ranged from Spanish guitar to reggae. The backdrop matched the album cover.

Perhaps the best part of the show was the incredible harmony as all band members sang together on many songs. A particular favorite was Schmit’s “Love Will Keep Us Alive,” from the “Hell Freezes Over,” CD.

The Tulsa crowd was rowdy, clapping along to some songs, singing loudly to others. They showed appreciation for the band with deafening applause on songs like “I Can’t Tell You Why” and Walsh’s “In the City.”

Frey introduced the song “Witchy Woman” as part of the band’s “Satanic country rhythm and blues era.” Henley made sure to squarely hit every high note on the song.

As in every show, Frey dedicated the song “Lyin’ Eyes” to his first wife. He also added, “Now it takes us about four years to write a song, but it took Don and I two nights to write this one.”

Frey called “Take it to the Limit” the wives’ credit card song.

The band played plenty more hits from their storied career, such as “One of These Nights,” “Heartache Tonight” and “Life in the Fast Lane.” But Henley and Walsh played several songs from their careers apart from the Eagles. Henley sang “Boys of Summer,” “All She Wants to Do is Dance,” and “Dirty Laundry.” Walsh sang “What You Tryin’ to Hand Me,” and “Walk Away,” several songs from The James Gang.

The band took a break about 8:45 p.m. and came back on stage at 9:11 to sing a capella “No More Walks in the Wood,” followed by the sad ballad “Waiting in the Weeds” accompanied by a mandolin, piano and four guitars.

After the song “Long Road out of Eden” the Eagles took off their jackets and really started rocking and rolling with the song “Somebody.”

At that point, the band started adding longer instrumental jams to their songs. Walsh put on his microphone hat, pulled out his lime green guitar and voice box and started truly entertaining the crowd with his goofy antics.

“Glenn tells me I wrote this song, but I don’t know,” Walsh said before launching into “Life’s Been Good to Me So Far,” while early band photos flashed on the backdrops.

At 10:40 the band left the stage, but returned for two songs — “Rocky Mountain Way” and “All She Wants to do is Dance.” After walking off stage a second time they came back for two final songs, “Take it Easy” and “Desperado.” As customary, Henley soloed the song before being joined in harmony by his three other Eagles. He held the last note and they all took a bow at 11:07 p.m.

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