The Eagles Formed the Soundtrack to My Life
Seeing the Eagles in The Sphere in Las Vegas was a lot like going to a concert in my youth, only much more sedate, technically amazing, and outrageously expensive. The show encapsulated the arc of my life. As a Boomer, many of my defining memories were captured in the music of my generation.
The trip and tickets were an early birthday present from Jon, my husband of forty-five years plus (‘plus’ because we lived ‘in sin’ for a few years to make sure we’d get along well enough to stay married). My birthday is not until June, but this is a big one and I am stretching out my personal celebration for the entire year. Seeing the Eagles, possibly for the last time, was a highlight.
Seeing The Eagles in the Sphere was unforgettable.
I’m about to turn seventy. I’ve had time to get used to the idea of starting a new decade because I always round up when it comes to my age. I started doing that way back when I was a teen trying to appear older than I was. It’s been a while since I felt the need to act like anything but what I am, but rounding up’s a habit now.
In May 1972, the Eagles’ first hit, Take It Easy, was released. That spring, my family of fourteen lived crammed into a two-bedroom trailer outside Salinas, California. I was fifteen. It was a tense and chaotic time. I struggled—emotionally, academically, physically—to the point that I dropped out of school and ran away from home. I hitchhiked and slept on the streets for weeks before finding a safe place to live. I worked low-paying jobs, moved around a lot, and eventually got my GED. I went to my first concert, at Winterland in San Francisco. I don’t even remember who played that night. My life was a bit blurry at the time.
But I clearly remember feeling the Eagles understood me. It was reassuring that I wasn’t the only one with “a world of trouble on my mind.” Plus, even this non-singer could belt out their tunes, though only when I was alone.
I did not see my family again until my father’s funeral in 1976. Dad drowned saving my sisters who had fallen into a fast-moving river. The greatest sadness of my life is that I never saw him again. We never spoke as adults. I never got to reconcile, never got to hug him and tell him how much I loved him. I believe he would be happy to know that Mom and I and the rest of our family grew close.
That year, the lyrical gloom of Hotel California played everywhere. When the band played the song in the Sphere, amid cinematic video and truly spectacular effects, I cried, feeling again the memories of my teenage struggles.
The Eagles were the soundtrack of my life in the seventies. Many of their songs captured the essence of California, not all of which was sunshine, beauty, and freedom, though that was and still is the soul of my home state. I took many long road trips with friends and Peaceful Easy Feeling or Desperado playing on eight-track—the tape deck was built right into the car dashboard!
The Eagles brought back so many memories.
The band broke up in 1980, as bands are wont to do. I didn’t pay that much attention—I had their records and tapes, and they were still on the radio. Besides, I was busy for the next many years with college, marriage, babies, work. Plus, Don Henley was producing some terrific music solo. Dirty Laundry came out in 1982, when I was a cub reporter at KSBW TV8 in Salinas. There’s a lot of painful truth in that song for those of us in the TV news business, but man! what a catchy tune. His 1989 album, The End of the Innocence, is one of my favorites of all time. The Boys of Summer? Wow.
In 1994, the band got back together, as bands are wont to do. That year, we moved to Dallas, Texas when I was hired as Managing Editor at KDFW TV4, the then-CBS (now FOX) station. I got to see the Eagles in concert twice while we lived there. Great performances. They sounded as powerful as they did when I first heard their music.
Fast forward to the Sphere concert. They played all the classics. Every song brought me back to a time in my life. In one of the brief interludes during a truly amazing performance, Don Henley, the one original band member, his voice still strong, said he was delighted to be here for show number 57. He added, “At this stage of the game, we’re delighted to be pretty much anywhere.”
The visuals combined with the music created an awe inspiring experience.
I can relate. No way around it, seventy is not middle age, no matter how you do the math. At best, I’m entering the last quarter of my life. I want to make the most of it. There are many fearsome developments in our world today, including artificial intelligence and other technology. But technology was put to good use to create an amazing experience at the Sphere that I wish everyone could enjoy.
I am blessed to be living the way I am, with the man I met in 1978, in English 1A, when we both decided it was time to get an education and decent jobs. We live near our children and grandchildren, in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. I get to write books. (Oh! By the way, my second mystery, Parallel Peril comes out next week. I hope you’ll check it out.)
I am forever grateful for family and friends and all the other good things in life, including great music and the opportunity to enjoy it in such an amazing venue.
Listening to the songs of my youth, as Henley sang about ‘brown skin shining in the sun,’ it was glorious to feel that way again.
Until next time, take it easy.
Take it Easy by the Eagles was an incredible experience at the Sphere in Las Vegas.