Eagles Kick Off 2023 “Hotel California Tour” with a Few Surprises: Review, Photos, and Setlist
The post Eagles Kick Off 2023 “Hotel California Tour” with a Few Surprises: Review, Photos, and Setlist appeared first on Consequence.
With over five decades of collective and individual achievements among them, Eagles have reached rarified air. Nearly all the original members of the country-rock group that are on speaking terms with founding member Don Henley are still alive, still in remarkably good health, and somehow looking far younger than their actual ages. Their music still sells at a comfortable clip as well as popping up with regularity on classic rock radio and streaming playlists named “OK, Boomer.”
In 2023, the Eagles are now more an institution than a musical group. And like most artists of their vintage, seeing the group live becomes a matter of both excitement and trepidation. How well or poorly can these men replicate the songs of their youth?
The answer to that question: impressively well. On Sunday night at Portland Oregon’s Moda Center, as the band opened up their 2023 North American tour (get tickets here), they hit nearly every mark and still managed to toss a few surprises into their three-hour set.
First, though, Eagles needed to deal with the business at hand. As this run of shows is dubbed the 2023 “Hotel California Tour,” the band got underway by playing their 1976 album in full. This included a corny bit of stagecraft with a wizened looking gent opening the night by traipsing slowly across stage with a copy of Hotel California under his arm before laying the LP on a turntable and dropping the needle. (The side flip was handled later by a buxom blonde in a suggestive black dress.)
From there, the Eagles — these days consisting primarily of Henley, bassist Timothy B. Schmit, guitarist Joe Walsh, and fantasy camp lottery winner Vince Gill — steadily knocked out each song on the record in order, with every moment recreated with care and accuracy. That meant pulling in members of the Oregon Symphony and a choir from the University of Portland to augment the lusher moments of “Wasted Time,” “Pretty Maids All in a Row,” and “Last Resort.” The album’s status as an all-timer is secure.
After a short break, the band returned to play, as Henley put it, “everything we know.” It was in the second set that the pleasant surprises and light stumbles came into play. The biggest moment of the night came when Henley introduced guest Deacon Frey to the stage.
The son of the late Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey, he was brought into the fold following the death of his father in 2016 but last year announced his departure from the group in order to, according to the press release, “forge his own path.” Yet, here he was again, lending his youthful glow to a few songs — “Already Gone” and “Take It Easy,” among them — once sung by his dad. It gave a welcome lift to an already elevated arena show.
Then there was Joe Walsh. The 75-year-old’s pact with Satan, which has helped him survive all manner of chemical dependencies and much personal turmoil, seems very much in place. His face was still an amoebic mass, warping and distending in response to his aqueous guitar solos and his own vocals, but what came out of it was lucid and strong. Walsh took an impressive amount of the spotlight, knocking out his Hotel California song, “In the City,” and a trio of tunes from his life outside Eagles with a supremely joyful countenance. If, at times, it looked like he was pulling it all out from deep within his core as he sang “Life’s Been Good” and “Rocky Mountain Way,” his performance never diminished.
Only Schmit revealed the effects of aging on his voice. His previously angelic tones on “I Can’t Tell You Why” sounded far more earthbound but no less pleasant to hear. Henley, too, has lost a little bit of the punch in his drumming, something that became apparent when the band’s touring percussionist took over the kit.
The show itself was remarkable enough, but what came out of the evening was a sense of how dedicated the remaining Eagles are to one another and to the people in their employ. As Henley noted when introducing the members of the Oregon Symphony, the white-haired gentleman leading those players was Jim Ed Norman, an arranger and producer who had worked on most of the band’s studio albums. Seated next to this writer in the arena was the son of Henley’s personal assistant, who told me that his dad had been working with the artists for the better part of 50 years. The band’s tour manager has been with them since the beginning. It seems that if you can stick it out with the Eagles, you’re in for life.
That was certainly the case for their many fans who swarmed the arena. For many, they’ve been listening to and loving the Eagles for their entire lives. Their dedication to the group is strong and unyielding. Neither the small hiccups in the show nor the recap of an exhausted writer will ever change that. Maybe nothing more need be said about the band other than a fervent hope that they may continue to tap into that peaceful, easy feeling for as long as they are able.
Eagles’ “Hotel California Tour” runs through April; get tickets here.
Setlist Part One:
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
Setlist Part Two:
Seven Bridges Road
Take It Easy
Peaceful, Easy Feeling
One of These Nights
Take It to the Limit
Witchy Woman
In the City
I Can’t Tell You Why
Lyin’ Eyes
Tequila Sunrise
Life’s Been Good (Joe Walsh cover)
Boys of Summer (Don Henley cover)
Funk #49 (James Gang cover)
Heartache Tonight
Encore:
Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh cover)
Desperado
Already Gone
Best of My Love
Eagles 2023 Tour Gallery:
Eagles, photo by Kent Edwards/Moda Center
Eagles, photo by Kent Edwards/Moda Center
Eagles, photo by Kent Edwards/Moda Center
Eagles, photo by Kent Edwards/Moda Center
Eagles, photo by Kent Edwards/Moda Center
Eagles, photo by Kent Edwards/Moda Center
Eagles Kick Off 2023 “Hotel California Tour” with a Few Surprises: Review, Photos, and Setlist
Robert Ham
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