Eagles at the Forum

(I wrote this over a week ago, on January 23rd. I've been waiting to post it until I posted pictures ...however, I haven't gotten around to the pictures yet. I'll add them soon!)

The Eagles. The mother fucking Eagles. The first time I saw them was five years ago in Hampton, Virginia. At a venue that held less than 10,000 people, I got to see my favorite song in the entire world, Hotel California, live for the first time. That night was great, but nothing will compare to the performance that was put on by the Eagles at the "Fabulous Forum" in Inglewood, California last night. 

The Forum just re-opened their doors last week after a $70 million renovation. For those of you that don't know, The Forum was the old home of the Lakers, and some of the greatest musicians have played there over the years (Cream, Jackson 5, KISS, Led Zeppelin, etc.). The Eagles are putting on a six night residency to kick-start the grand re-opening, and Charlie & I had the opportunity to see show number four. 

A little background on my love for the Eagles. It all started when I was about 10 years old. My sister and I were up in the Bay Area visiting my dad and Lisa (who lived there at the time). They took us to Lisa's friend's house for the evening where we watched a live Eagles DVD on a big projection screen. This was the first time I had ever really heard of the Eagles, and it was the first time I had ever heard the song Hotel California. As a child, California held such a huge piece of my heart. I knew I'd live here someday, but that's another story for another time. Anyway, after hearing Hotel California, I was hooked. Since my dad had such great taste in music (and still does), I was raised on some of the greats (the Eagles, Clapton, Heart, Zeppelin). I've had various Eagles CDs over the years and am a huge fan of quite a few of their songs. I mean, they have so many hits, how can you NOT like them?

This year, right before Christmas, I was scrolling through Showtime OnDemand when I ran across "History of the Eagles". It was a two-part, three-hour documentary about the band. A lot of it shows footage from their early days as a band in the 1970's, and throughout the film, they interview all of the band members (past and present). After watching this, I was even more excited to see the Eagles again! I am infatuated with the 60's & 70's and feel like I grew up in the wrong era, so watching this film, I felt like I really connected with the group. It was so cool to get to see the band's background. If you're an Eagles fan, I highly recommend you go watch this DVD right now. 

Wheww all of this, and I haven't even gotten to last night's show. I didn't know how to start this blog post, and now I don't know when to shut up. 

So, the show starts out with Don Henley and Glenn Frey (the only two original members) playing Saturday Night on their acoustic guitars side by side on stage. Next, Frey explains that they started the show this way, because that's how the Eagles started ...with Henley & Frey just jamming together. Next to walk out to the stage is Bernie Leadon. Bernie is no longer with the Eagles, however, he was one of the original members. How awesome that they got him to come play for their Forum residency. Henley, Frey, & Leadon performed Train Leaves Here this Morning. Timothy B. Schmit was the next Eagle to appear on stage, and finally, out comes Joe Walsh (and the crowd goes WILD). They played all of their greatest hits: Witchy Woman, Tequila Sunrise, Take it Easy, Already Gone, One of These Nights, Take it to the Limit, I Can't Tell You Why, The Long Run, Joe Walsh's Life's Been Good & Rocky Mountain Way, New Kid in Town, Love Will Keep Us Alive, and the list goes on. They played two sets, ending their second set with one of my personal favorites, Life in the Fast Lane. First up on their encore bill was Hotel California. I cried like a baby the entire song. I cried the first time I saw it live too. I can't explain it, I just love that song so much and seeing it live is just the most incredible feeling. The final song of the second encore and of the evening was Desperado. They played for over three hours!

My favorite part of the entire show was that these guys were just jamming. Just straight jamming. It was a bunch of old friends from years ago getting together on a stage and doing what they love. To me, that was just the best. Sure, the band has been through so much in the last 43 years, but at the end of the day, all they want to do is play music with their friends.