The Eagles: No band of quitters

“Enough is enough,” according to an old saying. But, who’s to saying when we’ve had enough?

In the case of the Eagles, it appeared a number of times that they had enough of playing music in a historic hall-of-fame career. In 2007, they released their final studio album, “Long Road Out Of Eden,” after working on it for several years.

In the years that followed, the Southern California rockers went on the road every year through 2015, playing a high of 66 shows in 2008 and 2010.

In 2013, they found time to compile a two-DVD documentary of their career titled “History of the Eagles.”

With the death of founding member Glenn Frey in January 2016, pundits like me predicted the band would fold its proverbial tent and retire. Most of the remaining players were 69 years old at the time.

But the veteran outfit had other ideas. They recruited Frey’s son Deacon to join them and then added country/pop star Vince Gill to play a short series of shows in the summer of 2016. Fans embraced the retooled lineup so warmly that international dates were added. The Eagles did 13 shows in 2017 and a whopping 67 in 2018.

They continued to rock on stage every year up to 2023, when they announced “The Long Goodbye” tour. Surely, we thought, this will be the last time we’ll get to see the Eagles in concert. They played the first two shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sept. 7-8, 2023.

On their website, the band wrote, “We know how fortunate we are, and we are truly grateful. Our long run has lasted far longer than any of us ever dreamed. But, everything has its time, and the time has come for us to close the circle. This is our swan song, but the music goes on and on.” That statement definitely had a ring of finality to it.

I bought my tickets early to make sure I could see the Eagles when the tour hit Phoenix on a Friday. The arena sold out so quickly, a second show was added for the following night.

After the procession covered North America and parts of Europe, the band wrapped it up with a three shows in Arnhem, Netherlands, on June 13, 2024. There was no way they could possibly play again – was there? After all, they had been performing on stage since 1972, when they got early exposure at The Troubadour night club in West Hollywood, Calif.

The Eagles proved they would keep plugging in their amps as long as fans would pay to see them. The new Sphere Las Vegas barely gave the guys time to unpack their suitcases and do their laundry when they signed them to a residency, which was to start Sept. 5, 2024. The format was set up with dates on Friday and Saturday nights at the grand venue next to the Venetian Resort, with no opening acts.

A set list of 20 songs, including four selections for an encore, was created. It included nearly all of the Eagles’ radio hits, and Deacon Frey and Vince Gill split the lead vocals that once had been done by Glenn Frey. They threw in some songs that had been hits in the solo careers of drummer Don Henley and guitarist Joe Walsh. But the band has eschewed playing any songs from “Long Road Out Of Eden.”

In 2022, bassist Timothy B. Schmit told blogger Andrew Daly, “… the people who come to our concerts, they know our history, they know the old songs, and honestly, that’s what they want to hear. We had put out an album in 2007 and put a bunch of the new songs in the set, and we don’t do any of them anymore, and there’s a reason for that – fans are not as interested in that newer stuff. They are into what they’ve heard for years, or what their parents were listening to.

“That said, what’s very cool is there are a lot of younger people coming to shows now, too.”

Just when the end of the residency got within view, it was extended again … and again. Ticket demand was insane.

To make an evening with the Eagles at The Sphere a memory for a lifetime, a special VIP package was created for hardcore fans. It included roundtrip transportation from the Las Vegas airport to the Venetian Resort, a VIP check-in desk, two night’s accommodations in a luxury suite at the Venetian and floor seats for the concert.

A large merchandise store was opened in the adjoining Palazzo Resort, which was open to the general public. But there were perquisites reserved for VIPs. First, there was a box of merchandise relating to the Eagles and Las Vegas. Then there was a re-creation of the back bar at the Troubadour, complete with rare Eagles souvenirs and memorabilia on the walls. Lastly, a lobby of the mythical Hotel California was created for a great photo opportunity. A day of absorbing all of those experiences was like going to an Eagles theme park!

The clock finally ran out on Eagles at The Sphere in early April 2025. They had to clear out because the venue had booked other acts for spring and summer.

A Las Vegas newspaper quoted James Dolan of Sphere Entertainment as saying, “Look, they can play as long as they want.” The Sphere relies on residencies by big name music acts to stay afloat.

And then something surprising, yet expected, happened. The Sphere announced more Eagles show dates for September, October and November weekends in 2025.

Several factors make an Eagles show at Sphere Las Vegas special. The 20,000-seat globular venue has a state-of-the-art sound system. And, behind the stage, an HD video wall shows video that matches each individual song as the band is playing it.

The video of “Hotel California,” which led off the set, was mesmerizing. Viewers see a car driving at night, and as the vehicle travels down a hillside it appears it is going to come right out of the wall.

The song “Lyin’ Eyes,” which features Gill on lead vocals, has an accompanying video that resembles a six-minute movie of the song’s storyline. The optics are eye-popping.

According to a story in Variety, “(The show) used the wrap-around screen to surround the group and audience with dazzling, massive-scale starfields while still making clear that it’s the songs that are the star of the show.” 

So, what fate awaits the Eagles following the next residency at the Sphere? By the end of the concert schedule, Deacon Frey will be only 32 years old. But Henley and Schmit will be 78, Walsh will be 12 days short of 78 and Gill will be 68. The musicianship is still great, but the voices are beginning to fail.

Very possibly, the enormous Eagles fan base will be the ones who determine when enough is enough. The band seems determined to continue playing until waning ticket sales tells them to quit.