INDIANAPOLIS — Monday was night one of two shows that the Eagles are playing at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as they continue on their “Long Goodbye” Tour as the band bids farewell to a 51 year career filled with number one hits and world tours. Hoosiers from across the state gathered for their final chance to hear staples of rock and roll like “Hotel California” and “Take It To The Limit” echo throughout the arena one last time.
To start, this show was a prime example of the “card subject to change” phrase. Steely Dan was the announced opener for the Eagles farewell shows, however as Don Henley would announce during their set, Donald Fagen would come down with an illness prior to their Indianapolis shows keeping him hospitalized for a few days. Henley revealed that Fagen had been released from the hospital but the frontman along with the rest of Steely Dan would not be joining them for any of their remaining October dates.
With that cancelation came the announcement of a replacement opening act in The Steve Miller Band. Stepping onto a barren stage at 7:30, the Steve Miller Band opened with three songs before acknowledging the audience and the fact that they weren’t the originally advertised act. Miller would then acknowledge the audience by saying he hoped no one was disappointed they were playing instead of Steely Dan. The crowd reassured Miller and his bandmates that they were welcome in the arena with a raucous applause. The front-man then proceeded to dedicate the next song too all the audience members in the top level seats before breaking out into “Abracadabra.”
Source: Olivia Kremer / Matt Kryger / Gainbridge Fieldhouse
To his credit, Miller has not lost a step on the guitar for being 80 years old. During his performance he performed a variety of blues solos that received cheers and applause across the audience. One downside that might not necessarily be attributed to age was the frequency with which he would move his mouth away from the microphone while adjusting the setup around him. While never ruining the overall mood of a song it was distracting at time to see how enthusiastically he was singing a song only for the lyrics to occasionally fade due to a guitar pedal needing to be hit or cord moved. Of course this could possibly just be the fact that the band had a few days notice to even get together for the gig and perhaps not everything was set the way a seasoned veteran like Miller would have had it traditionally.
The band ripped through all the hits, one of them they even went through twice. “Jet Airliner” was performed in its original style earlier in the night with a dedication to Miller’s godfather Les Paul. He would introduce the song a second time only four songs later but this time the song was performed in an acoustic and slowed down style. The choice seemed to confuse the audience at first but when it came time to hit the chorus, all confusion was put aside and the audience roared along with the singer. This was one of those times where choosing to remove my ear plugs and take in the moment for what it was became an extremely rewarding experience. Being seated in the 100 level and right between the bulk of the audience and the band it was the perfect combination of hearing the audience and the lead singer’s voice come together for the song.
For their final three songs the Steve Miller Band would bust out their biggest hits as they played “Take The Money and Run”, “The Joker”, and “Rock’n Me” with the final song involving a little call and response with the audience. One thing that I personally applaud Miller for is that he doesn’t play any radio-edit versions of his songs. Fans of the band may know that his hits like “Take The Money and Run”, and “Rock’n Me” have longer bluesy intros than what you normally would hear on the radio. Live, he gives you the full song and it certainly adds to the overall rocking vibe of his performance. As the final notes of their set finished ringing the band gathered at the center of the stage and bowed to the crowd who was giving the last minute replacement act a standing ovation. I could be wrong, but I think opening for the Eagles is big for the Steve Miller Band, I think that kid is going to go places.
Source: Olivia Kremer / Matt Kryger / Gainbridge Fielhouse
After a short break involving a 10+ man stage crew working to get the main event’s gear set up the lights went out and video began playing on the jumbotron. Pictures and videos flashed upon the screen spanning decades of Eagles performances. The crowd got up on their feet as the lights went dim again. All at once the voices of Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit, Vince Gill, and Deacon Frey rang out with the opening lines of “Steven Bridges Road” a song originally performed by Steve Young.
Usually when writing a review, I’d try only to include newer songs, or the biggest hits from a classic rock band like the Eagles. The issue here is, how do you do that with a band where every song played is a hit. There is no exaggeration when stating that the audience was singing along for every single song from beginning to end. From “Take It Easy” to “Witchy Woman” the crowd was never silent. Even when the band was not performing music, interacting with the audience between songs, audience members were still shouting pleasantries at the band. One time while Don Henley was introducing “Take It To The Limit” (a song he would dedicate to former bandmate Randy Meisner) a woman screamed out her love for Henley so loudly that he had to pause for a moment before instructing security to “get out the tranquilizer dart.” Vince Gill would even receive a round of applause as he was just being introduced to sing the next song. The respect Indianapolis showed for these rock legends last night was apparent through and through.
Source: Olivia Kremer / Matt Kryger / Gainbridge Fieldhouse
Henley, Gill, and Deacon Frey (Who is the son of former Eagles band member Glenn Frey. Deacon would tour with the group following his father’s passing in 2015.) would trade singing duties for first half of the set which was a bit more ballad focused. The second half of the set allowed other members in Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmitt to shine with their songs. Walsh would debut vocally with “In The City” followed by Schmitt’s “I Can’t Tell You Why”. Walsh, who has not lost his trademark mannerism and sense of humor, delivered a few remarks to the audience before going into “Life’s Been Good.” Stating that he remembers liking Indianapolis so much that he “spent three days there one night” on a previous tour. In what might have been the line of the night Walsh stated that he “had a lot more fun being 20 in the 70’s than being 70 in the 20’s.” Even cooler is that Walsh got to play the big hit from his other band, James Gang, with a rendition of “Funk #49”.
The 18 song set was filled with standing ovations, dedications to those no longer with us, (the aforementioned Randy Meisner, Glenn Frey, and even a dedication to Jimmy Buffett) and thrilling guitar solos. The band bowed to the crowd following their performance of “Heartache Tonight”. Applause continue to ring, and phone lights came out as the crown begged for an encore. The band obliged returning to the stage and finishing off the night with “Rocky Mountain Way”, “Desperado”, and of course the essential “Hotel California.” Finishing off with their biggest hit, the band bowed one final time and Indianapolis continued to applaud until sound came back over the Gainbridge Fieldhouse speakers. It is hard not to feel emotional knowing this is the final time one will get to see one of the most noteworthy rock and roll acts of all time. (Sure, one might be lucky enough to have gotten tickets for both nights. For the average fan however, this was the end)
What makes last night so astounding is that if you listened with your eyes closed there is no way one could tell if that show took place in 1973 or 2023. Every note, every vocal, every moment sounded perfect. It almost makes it hard to believe this could be a farewell tour for a 51-year career when the band operated with such a level of professional musicianship you’d swear they could do this forever. Joe Walsh might not move like he used to, Don Henley may not hit the drums as hard as he did previously, but even if so that truly doesn’t make a difference when a band can sound this good after this long. If it is true and this is the final goodbye for a band with five #1 hit singles and six #1 hit albums, then it is the literal definition of going out on top.
Who Else Is Playing Indy:
Toad The Wet Sprocket – Thurs, Oct. 12th
Patti LaBelle – Sun, Oct. 15th
Bob Dylan – Mon, Oct. 16th
