The Eagles came back to Charlotte’s Spectrum Center last night.  Supposedly, this was for the last time.  After more than 50 years, one of America’s greatest rock bands has embarked on what they’re calling “The Long Goodbye Tour.”  I mean, both Don Henley and Joe Walsh are in their mid-late 70s, how much more can they have in them, right?  Apparently, quite a bit.  This farewell tour will be back in town next year.  So if you missed last night…

Anyway, when you’re a band like The Eagles, you have a problem that every performing artist would love to have.  As far as songs you play, it’s not what’s on the setlist, it’s what is conspicuous by omission.  First, let’s establish what IS being played.  This is last night’s setlist.

1. “Seven Bridges Road”
2. “Take It Easy”
3. “One of These Nights”
4. “Lyin’ Eyes”
5. “Take It to the Limit”
6. “Best of My Love”
7. “Witchy Woman”
8. “Peaceful, Easy Feeling”
9. “Tequila Sunrise”
10. “In the City”
11. “I Can’t Tell You Why”
12. “New Kid In Town”
13. “Life’s Been Good”
14. “Already Gone”
15. “The Boys of Summer”
16. “Funk #49”
17. “Life in the Fast Lane”
18. “Heartache Tonight”

Encore:

19. “Rocky Mountain Way”
20. “Desperado”
21. “Hotel California”

Although I could have done without Joe Walsh’s (James Gang) “Funk 49,” every one of these songs is an American rock and roll classic.  However, as an Eagles’ UBER fan, I left the Spectrum Center wistful for not hearing some of my favorite songs one more time.  And some of these, I heard them play before.  I would tell you these are in no particular order, but I’m going to begin with what I consider is the most egregious omission from last night’s Eagles setlist in Charlotte, North Carolina.

• "Wasted Time"

  For me, this is the one.  This song is a part of the group’s legendary opus, “Hotel California.”  There are some artists that sing a great love song.  The Eagles sing great love songs about love failing.  “Wasted Time” is like a farewell love letter from a man to the woman that together, they just couldn’t make it work.  This song got me through more than one breakup in my life.  It means a lot to me.  “So you can get on with your search baby, and I can get on with mine.  And maybe someday we will find…that it wasn’t really wasted time.”  Gosh, I missed hearing this last night.  “Wasted Time” is a HUGE song missing from The Eagles Long Goodbye Tour setlist.

• "The Long Run"

  One of the hardest things for any musical artist to do is to follow up an amazing album with another.  Most have that one that stands apart and nothing else they ever record is close.  The Eagles, well, they’re special.  “Hotel California” is unarguably one of the greatest albums in rock history.  However, the next Eagles’ album, “The Long Run” is its equal masterpiece.  The screaming Joe Walsh guitar lick that opens the title cut is iconic.  “Who is gonna make it?  We’ll find out in the long run.”  This song didn’t make it last night.  “The Long Run” was conspicuous in its absence from The Eagles setlist in Charlotte, North Carolina.

• "Love Will Keep Us Alive"

  When The Eagles finally reunited in the 1990s (after disbanding for more than a decade) they couldn’t just make it about the classics.  No, the group got together 4 brand new songs.  One of which was a rarity:  a hopeful love song.  “I would die for you.  Climb the highest mountain.  Baby, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do.”  Bassist Timothy B. Schmidt’s “Love Will Keep Us Alive” has always been a second concert showcase for his vocal skill (along with “I Can’t Tell You Why”) since.  However, “Love Will Keep Us Alive” was missing from The Eagles setlist last night in Charlotte, North Carolina.

   

  https://youtu.be/bGrkZge2BYc

• "After The Thrill Is Gone"

   

  Granted, this would be a big ask, but I don’t care.  “After The Thrill Is Gone” has always been one of my favorite Eagles songs for a couple of reasons.  First, again, it’s a “love failing” love song and no one is better at delivering these than this band.  Also, it’s one of the few songs that featured both Don Henley and Glenn Frey on lead vocal.  “You’re not quite lovers and you’re not quite friends, after the thrill is gone.”  Gosh, I love this song and it was really missing for me from last night’s Eagles setlist in Charlotte, North Carolina.

• "Pretty Maids All In A Row"

  I mentioned earlier that I could have done without “Funk 49” last night.  In fact, along with that selection, the only showcases for Joe Walsh’s vocals in the concert last night were songs from his solo career “Life’s Been Good” and “Rocky Mountain Way.”  You mean to tell me this classic from “Hotel California” wouldn’t have brought down the house?!   “It’s nice to hear from you again. And the storybook comes to a close. Gone are the ribbons and bows.  Things to remember, places to go. Pretty maids all in a row” For the Joe Walsh faithful, this song was definitely missing from the Eagles setlist in Charlotte, North Carolina.

   

• "Please Come Home For Christmas"

  Legend has it that trying to get the band together for “The Long Run” sessions was a chore in itself.  In-fighting, drugs, and other personal issues were doing their best to rip the band apart (they eventually prevailed).  However, one day, whimsically, the band whipped up their version of this holiday staple.  No one has ever done it better before or since.  In fact, the Eagles version is so definitive that many don’t realize they didn’t write it.  I wouldn’t have missed this song in say, July, but we’re now in the holiday season.  So, “Please Come Home For Christmas” was missing from the Eagles setlist in Charlotte, North Carolina.

   

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