What a Saturday night in South Philly! We finally got a break with the weather. The annoying rain showers of last week were gone. It was a warm summer's evening but not muggy or sticky. A full moon hovered over Citizens Bank Park as two legendary acts graced the stage- the Eagles and James Taylor. Here are my thoughts..
- James Taylor is a national treasure, someone to be appreciated before he is gone. Exactly at 7:00 he took the stage, clad in block and wearing his signature cap, easily sliding on a stool with acoustic guitar and doing the gentle opener "Something in The Way She Moves", the song that got Taylor signed to a record company. Beatles George Harrison and Paul McCartney signed him and that record company was Apple.
Taylor has a soft, gentle, easy way about him. Shame that it was hard to hear him speak for much of his generous 90-minute set. It seems like many fans weren't there to see J.T., plus it was noisy in the concourse behind us, as fans were still filing into the ballpark as Taylor's set began.
Speaking of seats, ours were decent, slightly to the right of the stage but back pretty far. Picture this: the stage was set up in center field. We sat just to the right of home plate, on the first base side. We were undercover in case it rained. The accessible seating sections at CBP are great and the ushers are always friendly.
Back to James Taylor: after a slow start, once he started playing some more familiar tunes, the crowd started to get into it. "You've Got A Friend" was nice to hear, and the crowd sang along."Fire and Rain" got the biggest response, and as the set went on, the crowd grew more appreciative of his vast songbook and all the years. "Fire and Rain" was met at the end with a sustained standing ovation from the growing crowd.
I liked the upbeat numbers, such a s"Mexico" which broke up the more mellow songs like "Carolina In my Mind." "Whenever I See Your Smiling Face" and "How Sweet It Is ( To Be Loved By You) ended the 15-song set,. Both had the people up, clapping, dancing and singing along.
I personally liked "Handy Man" and "Up On The Roof." Both sounded as fresh as when they were hits on the radio.
His back-up band was excellent and included a few long-time members For instance, Andre McCullers has sung back-up for Taylor for years.
I would see James Taylor again, especially with his fans who are into his thoughtful lyrics, sensitive songwriting and more mellow songs. Maybe a quieter place like the Mann Music center would be a perfect setting to see James Taylor a this best
. At age 70 he can still sing. In fact, Art Garfunkel says that James Taylor is his favorite singer, and technically, one of the best.I became an even bigger fan after seeing his in concert for the first time.
The Eagles took the stage roughly 20 minutes after James Taylor left, with a much-anticipated set. They played for nearly 2 1/2 hours, a total of 25 songs, as so familiar, as Don Henley said "tunes that have marked your life."
Nice tributes to the late Glenn Frye, along with Henley, one of the lead vocalists and songwriters of Eagles. His son, deacon Frye, only 25, has been trying to fill his dad's big shoes, and Deacon did well Saturday night. Deacon must also be the sports fan of the band, as he sported a home white Phillies jersey and made the only mention of Philadelphia's other Eagles, quipping "So, you guys won the Super Bowl!?"
Of course, that remark got a raise out of the crowd, which gave the E-A-G-L-E-S chant periodically during the concert., probably for both our champion football team and for the legendary band.
Vince Gill was another stand out. Gill is playing with the band this summer, and he did a few Glenn Frye vocals, such as "Lyin' Eyes." Gill, an excellent vocalist and guitarist in his own right, was spot-on all night.
So was icon guitarist Joe Walsh, who not only hit all the right notes on Eagles' songs but played a few of his solo tracks ( including "Life's Been Good To Me So Far"). The crowd loved the wacky, spirited Walsh. I thought his solo stuff was too long, drown-out, and took away from the main core of Eagle songs, but that's just me.
Timothy B. Schmidt, the longtime bassist, was great, doing a few solo vocals, including "Love Will Keep Us Alive" from the "Hell Freezes Over' album.He mentioned that he "really likes Philadelphia." Gill also mentioned Philly, remarking "You make the best cheesesteaks!"
The hits kept on coming all night: "Take It Easy", "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and "Tequila Sunset" were just a few. The lights and videos were stunning behind the band.
One annoying point: after every song the stage went dark for at least 10-15 seconds. I later found out there were so many musicians on stage with the band- a horn section to be exact- musicians were shuffling back and forth, on stage and off, constantly.
I thought the concert was more rocking than expected, as the finale included "Heartache Tonight', and "Life In The Fastlane", two rockers got the crowd really got into. But it was the encore that was the highlights, the amazing rendition of "Hotel California." 40,000 people sang along, as a video of the Hotel California not only played behind the band, on the two big screens alongside the stage, but also on the gigantic Phillies scoreboard. A tremendous guitar solo by Joe Walsh along with a dueling electric guitar section with Gill. The crowd roared at the last note, phones lit up in the darkness.
The second encore was sort of anticlimactic. "Rocky Mountain Way", another Walsh solo, and the tender "Desperado", featuring Henley in the green spotlight with a full moon overnight.
The set probably went two songs too long, otherwise it was a great ending to a memorable night of music. About 5 hours of memories and fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment