Finally!

In 1977, I was working at a Braum's Ice Cream store in Grand Prairie, Texas - my first after-school part-time job.  Yeah, I was a soda jerk.

Through some connections with a former neighbor who was a regional executive for Warner-Elektra-Atlantic records, I had tickets available to me for The Eagles.  The Eagles!  Only my favorite band at that time (and possibly still), on the Hotel California tour, no less!

Unfortunately, I was scheduled to grill burgers and make banana splits that evening.  Couldn't find anyone to take my shift.  Lots of folks since then have asked: "Why didn't you call in sick?", but my parents had instilled in me the work ethic that if you are sick, you stay home, and if you're not sick, you work if scheduled.  So no go.

A month ago a friend of mine for the past nearly 40 years called and invited me to the Eagles show at the AAC.  So thanks to his and his wife's generosity (not to mention swimming and a delicious pre-concert dinner at their home), I finally got to enjoy that show I'd missed over three decades earlier.

Except that this one was probably better than the '77 show, when they had five studio LPs in their repertoire.  Now, with 2-1/2 CDs of new material, plus Don Henley's solo work, they were able to put on a nearly three hour show and still leave the audience wanting more.  Befitting a show before a hometown crowd, Henley had more turns on lead vocals than the others.  Of course, that could just be because he's one of the best singers in the business, sharpest writers, and, as well, attended NTSU (about a dozen years before I did).

Despite the notion that this band has always been dogged by interpersonal conflicts, I got the impression that at an average age of 63, they're in their prime and with the wisdom that follows maturity, comfortable with one another playing a set that, by my unofficial count, included about 33 songs.

Saturday night's show was pretty much flawless - an ensemble cast of consummate professionals.  I listened to a Redbeard interview over the weekend in which Henley spoke of his commitment to giving fans their money's worth, whether on his CDs or in concerts.  It's clear he practices what he preaches.  Even if I'd had to buy my own ticket, I'd have gotten my money's worth.

And my clothes didn't smell like I'd been riding around with Cheech and Chong...