The Eagles
Intrust Bank Arena
Wichita, Kansas
June 30, 2010

By Jeb Wright

Set I
Seven Bridges Road | How Long | I Don't Want to Hear Anymore | Guilty of the Crime | Hotel California | Peaceful Easy Feeling | I Can't Tell You Why | Witchy Woman | Lyin' Eyes | Boys of Summer | In the City | The Long Run

Set II
No More Walks in the Wood | Waiting in the Weeds | No More Cloudy Days | Love Will Keep Us Alive | Best of My Love | Take It to the Limit | Long Road Out of Eden | Walk Away | One of These Nights | Life's Been Good | Dirty Laundry | Funk #49 | Heartache Tonight | Life in the Fast Lane

Encore I
Take It Easy | Rocky Mountain Way

Encore II
All She Wants to Do is Dance | Desperado 

The Eagles flew into the Heartland on June 30^th and gave the best performance of Wichita’s newly opened Intrust Bank Arena -- 30 songs on the 30^th and a packed house to boot! 

The band is comprised of founding members Glenn Frey and Don Henley, longtime members Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit and lead guitarist/sideman Steuart Smith.  Joining the band onstage were a horn section, several percussionists and a couple of keyboard players.  The wall of sound gave many songs a rich texture and actually added to the show.  Surprise horn parts pleasantly supplemented both “Heartache Tonight” and “Rocky Mountain Way”.  The addition of the extra musicians meant that every sound, note and harmony was expertly reproduced making this one of the best concerts this writer has ever attended. 

The show began with “Seven Bridges Road.”  It was clear from the opening harmonic note from the main four that this was going to be a great evening of rock n roll.  The band followed with two tracks from the Eagles’ newest release Long Road Out of Eden.  The new tunes were performed well, and the crowd enjoyed them, but even the band knew they were merely a prelude to an amazing set to follow. 

Frey addressed the crowd and stated, “Welcome to the Assisted Living tour.  We are the Ancient Ones.”  The humor was sprinkled in throughout the night.  Before ending Set I, Frey said, “We are going to play one more and then take a break -- because you probably need to rest.” 

The iconic “Hotel California” was trotted out early in the set, and introduced with a trumpet solo.  Any band that can bring out a song like this within the first half hour of a 180-minute concert has guts -- either that or an amazing set list!  Smith and Walsh handled the intricate guitar solo with precision, driving the capacity crowd into frenzy. 

The Eagles ended the first set with several classics including “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” “In the City,” “The Long Run,” “I Can’t Tell You Why” and “Witchy Woman.”  Thrown in the middle of this run was the Henley solo gem “The Boys of Summer.” 

After the intermission, the band came out and performed an acoustic set featuring three songs from Long Road Out of Eden, the best of which was “Waiting in the Weeds.”  Timothy B. Schmit then introduced, and sang, “Love Will Keep Us Alive” from Hell Freezes Over.  Once done, Frey took the microphone and informed Wichita that the band had not played the next song for over a decade.  “Best of My Love” was then played, sounding identical to the studio recording.  At one point, Frey went into the Glen Campbell classic “Wichita Lineman.” The crowd hooped and hollered until Frey began laughing, admitting the song had too many chords. 

One of the biggest surprises of the night was the inclusion of the song “Long Road Out of Eden.”  The song, which features an eerie rhythm and haunting vocals, delivers both a musical and philosophical punch.   

When the band was introduced, Frey said he was from Detroit, “Where ‘mother’ is only half a word.”  He saved Joe Walsh for last, as Joe was born in Wichita.  The crowd went nuts and the rest of the evening Walsh had them eating out of his hand as he delivered several songs from his past, including two James Gang classics, “Walk Away” and “Funk 49.”  He dedicated “Life’s Been Good” to his birthplace and the band put on an elongated version of the classic song as the movie screen showed a montage of Joe’s wild and reckless past, complete with Joe reading a Playboy magazine underwater, sitting on a tank and, of course, wrecking a hotel room.  Henley, not to be outdone, sang “Dirty Laundry” from his debut solo album I Can’t Stand Still.  The band jammed the song up and threw in thunderous guitar solos, building the beast to a huge crescendo.  

The second set ended with “Life In the Fast Lane.”  The band left the stage but soon retuned for the first of two encores and went into “Take It Easy.” What followed brought the house down.  Walsh, once again, became the star of the show as the Eagles performed “Rocky Mountain Way.”  He delivered a Talk Box solo and the band had fun jamming wildly. 

All in attendance knew the night was not over when the band vacated the stage for a second time. They knew Henley had to return to sing “Desperado.”  Well he did, but not before delivering a dancing-in-the-aisles version of his solo tune “All She Wants to Do is Dance.”  

Just when you thought there were no more classics to play the Eagles came up with another one.  Only “New Kid in Town,” “Tequila Sunrise” and “Already Gone” were absent, the rest of the classics were played.  Henley ended the evening by taking center stage and singing “Desperado” as the crowd sang along with each word, ending the night as one with the band.   

Individually, the Eagles are talented performers.  Timothy B. Schmit plays the low end, sings the high end and is visually stunning.  He comes across as a gentle soul who is there for no other reason than to share his gift of music.  Glenn Frey is the emcee and relates to the everyman in the crowd with his humorous approach and flannel shirt and blues jeans style.  Joe Walsh is the Wildman, the rock star, so to speak, while Don Henley is the muse.  Henley plays guitar, percussion, drums and handles the majority of the vocals and songwriting.  He sounds as good as ever and his intensity for the music is evident, both musically and physically.  He is the unspoken leader of the pack and his tribe follows him wherever he goes. 

Collectively, however, the Eagles become the sum off all of the parts and a larger than life conglomerate is born.  The band have the songs, the lyrics, the humor, the craziness, the emotions, the talent and the ability to share the spotlight with each other and still allow the crowd to become part of the show. 

At the end of the day, one can only hope there is enough magic to keep the music coming and enough desire to keep the performances spectacular.  For tonight, in Wichita, the Eagles soared.