I'm not sure if this is the place I should be posting this, but I figured it was the best option I could find.
We saw Glenn Frey last night in New Jersey and he put on a fantastic show. Other than a few incidents of vocal pitch issues (most notably in the Beach Boys "Caroline No" and "You Belong To The City," he was in excellent vocal form and played a 105 minute set without any breaks except for the encores. The band was a combination of Eagles touring band members (Crago, Thompson, Davis and Hollis) plus Frey's own touring guitarist Danny Grenier. The four members I wasn't familiar with, but they played various horns, percussion, pedal steel and bass.
The setlist was odd and had I not seen it posted from previous shows, I probably would've been disappointed, but after seeing the show, any potential disappointment was dispelled. Here is the set list with a few comments:
1)Peaceful Easy Feeling
2)Tequila Sunrise
3)Lying Eyes
These three were odd openers for me as I expect something upbeat, but Glenn sung them well and the harmonies were spot on. Also, all prominently featured the pedal steel was a real treat, not having heard one in many Eagles songs before now.
4)Route 66
5)For Sentimental Reasons
6)The Shadow Of You Smile
7)Same Girl
8)Caroline No (this started off badly as he was off pretty much during the first few words, but then got back and nailed the rest of the song)
9)Worried Mind (he played acoustic guitar on this one)
10)The Look Of Love
This was the big new album push. I was kind of surprised that he played seven of these in a row)
11)The One You Love-He strapped on his Les Paul and nailed this one to perfection playing a little bit of guitar solo work at the end along with the sax. This very may have been the best of this I've ever heard.
12)After Hours-I was hoping he'd do this one and it sounded great. I can't help, but noticing how much the beginning intro to this sounds like the 70s Billy Paul hit "Me and Mrs. Jones."
13)The Heat Is On-This was done up in big band/swing style and was a total surprise and it really worked. Glenn just stood at the microphone and sang. It was a dynamic reworking for sure
14))Smuggler's Blues-A different take on this one too although it was still pretty rocking. A bit more bluesy and he played acoustic on this while Danny Grenier did the slide work.
15)You Belong To The City-Probably the weakest song of the night as Glenn struggled to hit the high notes even with Danny singing along with him. However, the music was perfect. Glenn played the Les Paul again, rhythm only,
16)Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?-This was fun and rocking and light and Glenn actually played lead guitar. Quite frankly, I don't know why he doesn't do more of it because he's very capable.
Encores1
17)Take It To The Limit-I think this might be the best live version I've ever hear of this with Glenn singing. He nailed it and the harmonies were amazing.
18)Desperado-He just stood at the mike and sang this. Great job, but not the best I've ever heard him do.
Encore 2
19)On The Way Home (The Buffalo Springfield classic)-While introducing this, he said he was trying to talk the other guys into doing some cover songs for the dvd set from bands who influenced them and he chose this one. I was floored by how well he sang this and how much he now owns this song! A complete surprise1
20)Take It Easy-Great closer.
A few other odds and ends worth mentioning:
1)After he came out for the first encore, he seemed choked up by the thunderous response from the audience. It wasn't a sold out show (maybe 3/4 full), but the crowd was really into it. He brought up how rabid the New Jersey people were for the Eagles when they first started out and mentioned the Capitol Theater as they had played a half dozen times or so up until the mid 70s when they needed to do larger halls.
2)He seemed to have a cold or allergies as he had to stop to use tissues for a running nose.
3)He told a lot of good stories and really is the consumate showman. This was one of the best shows I've been to in the last twenty years.
