I first heard the Eagles on a transistor radio way back in 1972, when I rode my bike all over Springboro — while delivering newspapers, going to football practice, or heading to the K&W for a milk shake. I was 12 and life was simple. “Take It Easy.”
A couple of years later, I would hear their newest song on the radio in my new bedroom. Our family moved to nearby Franklin, and I was a teenager learning to adjust to a new school and a whole new set of friends. It all turned out great for me, but at the time, the Eagles let me know I was not alone. “The New Kid In Town.”
By 1977, they were on an 8-track tape player in my 1971 VW Bug, given to me by my parents so long as I chauffeured my brothers and sisters wherever they needed to go. I played the “Hotel California” album every day for months — to and from school, to Mr. Frosty’s to pick up my sisters from their part-time jobs, to my baseball and basketball games and practices, and to my friends’ houses for late-night card games. “Life In The Fast Lane.”
The Eagles have a featured spot on the soundtrack of my life.
So, imagine my excitement when I learned a month ago that the Eagles were playing at The Sphere in Las Vegas, a technological marvel with 167,000 speakers and a five-story high, 500-foot-wide video screen. The show promised not only the sounds of a dark desert highway, but also the sight of one, which we could feel and experience. We had to go.
My wife Kim is wonderful. She had planned a quieter, simpler trip for our long weekend getaway. But instead, we headed west to the neon capital of the world, where it seems no one sleeps. “In The City.”
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KIM WAS 7 MONTHS pregnant with our daughter Chloe when we first saw the Eagles in 1995. We had a house and bills to pay and careers to manage. Still, we rocked with a sold-out crowd at Riverbend Music Center to Don Henley and “One Of These Nights” the same as we had years earlier.
Our son Adam lived in California and Chloe was a junior at Ohio State University by the time we saw them again in 2015. By then we were essentially empty nesters. But when Glenn Frey sang about a “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” at the Nutter Center at Wright State University, it had the same soothing effect it always has.
The Eagles have always allowed me to put the world away for a little while. They are known for their songwriting, luxuriously layered guitars, and the quality of their vocal harmonies. Many of their songs embrace the value of a simple life, free of the trappings that come from adulthood and success. I need that reminder.
Like in the song “Already Gone”:
“So often times it happens /
That we live our lives in chains /
And we never even know we had the key.”
After Glenn Frey passed away in early 2016, the band did a great job in adding Glenn’s son Deacon. They also added a singer-songwriter who was already known as one of the finest performers in country music -- Vince Gill. I liked that choice. And Kim LOVED it.
I say this jokingly, that if given the chance, Kim would refer to the Eagles as “Vince Gill & Those Other Guys.”
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WE ARE GRANDPARENTS now, and every month some new ailment or ache makes us chuckle and wonder will happen next. People ask when we plan on retiring. I’m not sure how we reached this age so fast, but we like to think we are still hip and cool, mostly.
We’ve seen Bruce Springsteen; Earth, Wind, & Fire; John Fogerty; Jimmy Buffett; Toby Keith; John Mellencamp; and a hundred other performers. So we can still get jiggy with it, to quote Jerry Seinfeld.
This show was sensory overload. Kim called it the best concert she had ever seen, something that should be on everyone’s bucket list. I agree.
While I continue to love all the songs, my absolute favorite is now sung by Vince Gill, and it reflects on the many years and aspects of our lives, and the joys along the way. Like what we hear in a message on Sunday morning, the song is a reminder of how we are blessed by our loved ones and the memories we share.
We are all given this time and place to be a positive influence on the people who surround us. Life’s purpose and fulfillment goes beyond a job title or an expensive house or a certain amount of income. Instead, it is found in embracing who and what we have, and making the best of all of it, every day.
“Take It To The Limit.”
“Go on and take it to the limit…one more time.”
I will. Because the Eagles sure did.
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(We sat in section 108, row 32, which means we had what was termed an “obstructed view.” We could not see all the way to the top of The Sphere, and I know now that’s why the price of our tickets was lower than others. But Kim and I have no complaints. Our view was just fine. See?)