In 1980, Don Henley was virtually sure that Eagles would by no means reunite, famously telling a reporter that they’d get again collectively “when hell freezes over.”
In July of that yr, the band got here to a dramatic finish at a present in Lengthy Seashore, California, the place Don Felder and Glenn Frey butted heads so severely there was almost a bodily altercation. As Henley would succinctly put it to Folks in 1982: “1980 was a horrible yr.”
However over a decade later, the temper began to shift. In 1993, an Eagles tribute album, Widespread Thread: The Songs of the Eagles, was launched, that includes covers carried out by numerous nation acts. On the finish of that yr, Henley, Frey, Felder, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit all appeared within the video for Travis Tritt’s cowl of “Take It Straightforward,” and plans had been hatched for a reunion. In April of 1994, they filmed an MTV particular, which resulted within the 11-track dwell album, Hell Freezes Over.
“For the report, we by no means broke up; we simply took a 14-year trip,” Frey joked at that live performance.
Watch Eagles Carry out ‘Life within the Quick Lane’ for MTV in 1994
From there, Eagles determined to maintain the prepare rolling, launching the Hell Freezes Over tour on Might 27, 1994 in Irvine, California, a 30-minute drive from the place the band imploded over a decade earlier.
“It is a reduction,” Frey stated previous to the present. “You realize, we have been rehearsing for therefore lengthy and we have been enjoying for males who do not clap: our crew. So it is like, now we bought paying prospects. … For some cause everybody has an exquisite calm proper now. I feel we’re excited to get out and play. I am truly not nervous but.”
Schmit used the identical phrase that night earlier than the present: “I will let you know, the temper could be very calm. … I feel it’s going to get extra aggressive because it will get nearer to showtime, however everyone’s about as prepared as may be. We have labored actually arduous — actually arduous — six, seven day weeks for the final six weeks, perhaps two months.
READ MORE: Underrated Eagles: The Most Ignored Track From Every Album
“We have all gotten older and wiser,” he continued. “Everyone’s rather a lot clearer, for instance. … We’re not trying again, we’re simply specializing in what’s forward.”
However, as Frey identified, this was simply evening certainly one of an intensive tour, with dates lined up by October: “That is simply the primary of 66 video games we gotta play this season. It is not the Tremendous Bowl but.”
The night’s 28-song set listing featured loads of Eagles classics — “Resort California,” “Lyin’ Eyes,” “Life within the Quick Lane,” and many others. — in addition to some solo picks, together with however not restricted to: Frey’s “Silent Spring,” Henley’s “The Boys of Summer time” and Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good.” (A full set listing may be considered under.) On the finish of all of it, the band performed not one however three encores.
Watch Eagles Go away Their 1994 Live performance in Irvine, California
After the live performance, Henley echoed the phrases Frey has used pre-show. “It is a reduction,” he stated. “As a result of I do not assume we’ll be as nervous now. I used to be actually advantageous till I bought on the market [laughs], and heard the roar.”
Eagles would go on to play 160 exhibits over the course of 1994-1996, changing into one of the profitable excursions in all of rock historical past.
“It is a good feeling to be up there with the fellows,” Henley stated after that first present. “I feel that is simply going to get higher because it goes on.”
Eagles, ‘Hell Freezes Over’ Tour, 5/27/94, Set Checklist:
1. “Resort California”
2. “Sufferer of Love”
3. “New Child in City”
4. “Wasted Time”
5. “Fairly Maids All in a Row”
6. “The Woman From Yesterday”
7. “I Cannot Inform You Why”
8. “Extraordinary Common Man” (Joe Walsh music)
9. “Lyin’ Eyes”
10. ‘One among These Nights”
11. “Silent Spring” (Glenn Frey music)
12. “Tequila Dawn”
13. “Assist Me Via the Evening” (Joe Walsh music)
14. “The Coronary heart of the Matter” (Don Henley music)
15. “Love Will Preserve Us Alive”
16. “You Belong to the Metropolis” (Glenn Frey music)
17. “The Boys of Summer time” (Don Henley music)
18. “Funk #49” (James Gang cowl)
19. “Soiled Laundry” (Don Henley music)
20. “Life’s Been Good” (Joe Walsh music)
21. “All She Desires to Do Is Dance” (Don Henley music)
22. “Heartache Tonight”
23. “Life within the Quick Lane”
Encore:
24. “Get Over It”
25. “Rocky Mountain Approach” (Joe Walsh music)
Encore 2:
26. “Already Gone” (Robb Strandlund cowl)
27. “Desperado”
Encore 3:
28. “Take It Straightforward”
Eagles Albums Ranked
The Eagles have been rightly praised for his or her canny combining of Glenn Frey’s city-slicker R&B with Don Henley’s country-fried rockabilly. However which LP goes this distance?
Gallery Credit score: Nick DeRiso
