You have heard about that “darkish desert freeway” for many years. However have you ever ever seen it?
For greater than 50 years, the Eagles have been portray vivid footage with their music, from the darkish desert freeway of “Resort California” to the billion stars throughout of “Peaceable Simple Feeling” to the chilly, chilly metropolis of “Life within the Quick Lane.” On Friday evening (Sept. 20), these photos got here to intense life at Las Vegas’ Sphere, the place the know-how of 2024 lastly caught as much as the band’s enduring artistry and created a technicolor show worthy of their basic, illustrative songs from the Nineteen Seventies and past.
The California country-rock group – shaped by Don Henley and the late Glenn Frey in 1971 – might have by no means imagined this future for itself as a result of this sort of game-changing venue merely didn’t exist of their heyday. The primary evening of the Eagles’ five-month Sphere residency proved there’s one thing significantly enchanting about pairing songs which have this deep of a historical past with a brand-new medium to expertise them. Lots of the followers within the constructing for opening evening may need checked out a cease of The Lengthy Goodbye Tour over the previous year-plus, however regardless that the setlist wasn’t too far off (with some notable swaps – extra on that beneath), this present was worlds aside from any Eagles live performance earlier than it. The group nonetheless boasts the pristine harmonies, tight guitar licks, and total ardour that belies their veteran standing; it’s simply that now you may as well take a literal journey right into a spooky forest for the otherworldly “Witchy Girl,” so it’s not simply the unnerving manufacturing setting the macabre temper.
The band – made up of Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Vince Gill and Glenn’s son Deacon Frey, in addition to a workforce of longtime touring musicians – was by no means overpowered by the Sphere’s floor-to-ceiling visuals as a result of the 20-song set made up solely of hits at all times held its personal in opposition to the immersive spectacle. Seeing the Eagles catalog backed by this dazzling show solely enhanced simply how timeless and impactful these songs are.
Under, discover Billboard’s greatest moments from Eagles’ opening evening at Sphere.
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Beginning With ‘Resort California’
Is there any greater flex than kicking off a live performance along with your signature hit? Some followers may need anticipated the Scorching 100-topping title monitor of their 1976 album to come back later within the present, or perhaps whilst the ultimate encore music, however as soon as the countdown clock crept to zero simply after 8:30 p.m. PT, it was the acquainted strains of the 6-minute-plus radio staple that rang throughout the Sphere. The visuals set the tone for the night, starting merely with headlights touring down that infamous “darkish desert freeway” earlier than opening up into the haunted halls of the lodge, filled with faceless figures at a protracted dinner desk and white masks peeking down ominously from the ceiling.
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Deacon Frey Comes Into His Personal
Glenn Frey’s 31-year-old son Deacon first performed with the band at 2017’s Traditional West live performance, stepping in after his dad’s 2016 dying at age 67. Now, greater than seven years later, Deacon is a full-fledged member of the group, seamlessly harmonizing with peerless vocalists like Henley, Gill and Schmit and confidently taking up lead on Glenn’s beloved signature songs, together with “Peaceable Simple Feeling,” “Already Gone” and “Take It Simple.” Most telling is Deacon’s willingness to flip up his dad’s well-worn melodies to place his personal spin on the classics, displaying his consolation degree onstage with a band full of legends.
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Paying Tribute to Jimmy Buffett & JD Souther
The Eagles took a second on opening evening to carry out a twofold tribute for fallen associates, beginning out with Henley’s solo hit “Boys of Summer time” for the late king of summer season Jimmy Buffett, who died in September 2023 at age 76, after which shifting on to “Heartache Tonight” to recollect the music’s co-writer JD Souther, who died Tuesday at age 78. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge a few individuals, considered one of whom we misplaced a 12 months in the past this month, Mr. Jimmy Buffett,” Henley started the tribute. “We’re dedicating this subsequent music to him. After which the music we’re going to do after this subsequent music, I wish to acknowledge the co-writer of that music, who we misplaced three days in the past, Mr. JD Souther. JD, as a few of you might know, performed a pivotal position within the Eagles. He wasn’t within the band, however he definitely co-wrote a few of our greatest hits, together with ‘Better of My Love,’ ‘New Child in City’ and the one we’re going to play after this subsequent music referred to as ‘Heartache Tonight.’ So these songs exit to these boys, Mr. Buffett and Mr. Souther. Sing it to allow them to hear you.”
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From Underwater to Outer House
The way in which the Sphere display screen actually envelops the stage permits the gang to be transported each musically and visually, and the Eagles’ present took a journey from below the ocean to above the clouds (with some terrestrial stops in between). A number of the most gorgeous visible shows included a pair’s attractive underwater choreography for “Boys of Summer time”; a towering cityscape rising over the gang earlier than collapsing down into the bottom for “Within the Metropolis”; and a bus driving all the way in which into the cosmos and right into a meteor bathe for “Take It to the Restrict.”
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The Becoming Lyrics
For “Lyin’ Eyes,” one of many Eagles’ purest nation tracks, the large display screen put the deal with the music’s storytelling, isolating every lyric line by line and raining the phrases down onto the gang. The main target was additionally on the lyrics later within the evening, when two traces surfaced that felt like excellent matches for the once-in-a-lifetime residency: “We’ll by no means be right here once more” from “Take It Simple” and “This evening is gonna final perpetually” from the ultimate music of the night, “Heartache Tonight.”
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The Troubadour Involves Vegas
Like U2 and Useless & Firm did earlier than them, there’s additionally a fan expertise for Eagles concertgoers within the adjoining Venetian Resort – with this one re-creating the vaunted Troubadour membership in West Hollywood the place Henley and Frey acquired their begin within the early ’70s. There are quite a lot of particular treats on the Vibee-created Third Encore fan expertise, together with Henley’s first-ever drum package from when he was a child (emblazoned with the identify of his teenage band Felicity) in addition to jerseys, posters and different memorabilia from the band’s private assortment and unique merch solely obtainable on the pop-up.
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Night time 1 Setlist
Resort California
One among These Nights
Lyin’ Eyes
Take It to the Restrict
Witchy Girl
Peaceable Simple Feeling
Tequila Dawn
Within the Metropolis
I Can’t Inform You Why
New Child in City
Seven Bridges Street
These Sneakers
Life’s Been Good
Already Gone
Boys of Summer time
Life within the Quick LaneENCORE
Take It Simple
Rocky Mountain Method
Desperado
Heartache Tonight -
Eagles’ Remaining Sphere Dates
Sept. 21
Sept. 27
Sept. 28
Oct. 11
Oct. 12
Oct.18
Oct. 19
Nov. 1
Nov. 2
Nov. 8
Nov. 9
Dec. 6
Dec. 7
Dec. 13
Dec. 14
Jan. 17
Jan. 18
Jan. 24
Jan. 25
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