On July 15, 2017, the Eagles played Dodger Stadium, on an emotional night as it was their first performance without co-founder Glenn Frey.
The 67-year old musician died in 2016 from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia after spending several months in the hospital trying to recover from stomach surgery.
"He was in a coma, and he'd come out, but then he couldn't breathe. They'd put him back into the coma. They were trying like hell to keep him alive," his longtime friend and fellow Michigander Bob Seger said. "They had the eight best specialists working on Glenn."
Frey was key to the success of the Eagles. He played guitar, keyboards, and sung lead on all-time favorites like "Take It Easy", "Peaceful Easy Feeling", "Tequila Sunrise", "James Dean", "Lyin' Eyes", "New Kid in Town", and "Heartache Tonight," among others.
He also co-wrote the majority of those great Eagles tunes with drummer Don Henley. Counting the classics he co-wrote with the Eagles plus his solo hits, Frey tallied 24 Top 40 singles over his award-winning career. Tough shoes to fill.
So on that summer night at Chavez Ravine as part of a two-day music festival, the Eagles chose not one, but two gentlemen to do their best to fill the void: Frey's 24 year-old son Deacon, and country superstar Vince Gill.
The band played all of hits that had helped them sell over 200 million albums. A few rockers fronted by Joe Walsh added spice, but all eyes were on Gill and the younger Frey to see if they could fill in the gaps.
"These last couple years have been pretty tough, and the only remedy for something like that is love," Deacon told the LA crowd nine songs deep into the set. "And I’m feeling it from you tonight," he said and began to play and sing "Peaceful Easy Feeling."
The LA Times' Mikael Wood noticed that one thing that was missing was Glenn Frey's knack of providing some off-the-cuff levity in between songs. When it was time to rock, however, the new lineup delivered.
"As they played the songs that made the Eagles superstars, the moneyed optimism and twisted romance that have always defined the band’s music came fully to life," Wood wrote.
One track they resurrected from the past was the Hotel California closer, "The Last Resort," which the band hadn't played since Deacon had barely turned a year old.
Chris Willman of Variety thought it was a perfect time to put it back in the set, not just because the band had hired horns and a string section, but because its lyrics were especially apropos.
"A meditation on land grabs, religion, and the California dream, 'The Last Resort' is even more elegiac now than it was in 1976, whether it now put you in mind of global warming or the recent passing of a certain California dreamer," Willman wrote.
Another addition to the band, if only for one song, was Seger who sang the little-on-the-nose "Heartache Tonight." The 1979 song he co-wrote with Henley, Frey, and J.D. Souther, was the first single the Eagles had that went #1.
Deacon toured with the Eagles through 2022 and then left the group to pursue his own music. Gill has remained but has shown signs of strain from longtime fans who never warmed to his inclusion.
To a point, he agrees with them.
“It’s different. It’s not as good as the original,” Gill said during an interview in 2020. “I don’t sing like Glenn, and don’t pretend to. I see a lot of people making negative comments about me being in that band, and I get it. It’s my favorite band too. I don’t want to hear me sing ‘New Kid In Town.’ But the other option is not possible.”
The Eagles are gearing up for the first leg of their final tour, The Long Goodbye. Gill is still a part of the group, but shouldn't be too surprised if the younger Frey makes an appearance or two before it's all over.
As the song goes, you can check out, but you can never leave.
The Long Goodbye Tour begins with two nights in Madison Square Garden in September. Tickets are available on the Eagles website.
