The Eagles and James Taylor at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. (June 26)
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This concert was actually my wife and my Christmas gift to each other. It was the most (by far) we had ever spent on a concert ticket, and it wasn’t nearly the highest price ticket for the concert. And it turned out to be one of the best concerts we have ever been to – and we’ve been to a lot of them over the years.  Back in the late 1970’s we saw Fleetwood Mac and were stunned at the ticket prices – at the time they were $20 each.  My oh my how times have changed.
James Taylor is one of our favorite artists. We have seen him in concert several times, and he’s always outstanding. He was the “opening act” on this warm and humid night at the packed home of the baseball Nationals in our nation’s capital. “JT” was backed by his “All-Star Band”, and they all got an opportunity to show off their many talents. Taylor and the band were clearly having a great time during their 90-minute set (as an opening act, somewhat shorter than his usual set). The only disappointment was that surprisingly, Taylor didn’t play any songs from his 2015 comeback album Before This World.  Instead, he focused on his more popular songs from his catalog, beginning with “Something in the Way She Moves”, from his 1968 debut album on the Beatles’ Apple Records.
Taylor started his set precisely on time at 7:00 pm, as the music on this evening would not end until 4 and a half hours later. Check out Taylor’s setlist here.
I had last seen the Eagles more than 38 years ago when they played the Alpine Valley Music Theatre about 45 minutes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in June 1980, with Christopher Cross as the opening act. I had just started my career the month before, and that concert was on a weeknight. Despite the three-hour drive home (after getting out of the parking lot), I still went to work as scheduled the next morning. Oh, to be young!
After the death of Glenn Frey in 2016, I doubted that the Eagles would tour again. But with country artist Vince Gill and Frey’s son Deacon joining the band, the Eagles have returned, and they are at the top of their game.
After about 35 minutes to change the stage, the Eagles opened with a pitch perfect ‘Seven Bridges Road’. With five different vocalists – Frey, Gill, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmidt and Joe Walsh – taking leads, the band would play for two and a half hours without a break. Unfortunately, some fans had to leave before the end of the show in order to catch the last Metro ride from the Navy Yards station.
The band’s vocals sounded great throughout, and their harmonies in particular were incredible. Gill tended to take care of the high notes that needed to be hit and Frey did a great job singing some of his Dad’s most popular songs, such as “Take it Easy”. Joe Walsh, a fan favorite, took over the last part of the concert, with James Gang favorites “Walk Away” and “Funk #49” and the sing along “Life’s Been Good” and “Rocky Mountain Way”, one of three encores with “Hotel California” and Don Henley’s closing “Desperado”. Check out the Eagles setlist here.  The Eagles and JT gave us the Christmas gift to remember.