Cool and Unusual
Author: Staff writer
Publication: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Date: July 8, 1994
Abstract: Backstage interview with Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and Timothy B. Schmit. They discuss making the Travis Tritt video (which apparently at one point had Glenn and Don wrestling on a dirt floor!) and the reunion in general. There are also some tense moments discussing a Greatest Hits package with Elektra which they later took out a lawsuit to stop.
Backstage with the Eagles: Before Tuesday night's concert at Riverport, we caught up with Eagles members Glenn Frey and Don Henley in their respective dressing rooms. The band had just come from performing and spending the Fourth of July in Dallas, where Henley, who is from Texas, was inundated with visits from friends and family, including his mother. He also chowed down on lots of beef, he said, which inspired him to work out harder before the show. (Twenty minutes on the Stairmaster, taking "manual" to the limit.)
He, as well as Frey, are traveling with quite an entourage, including personal trainers. Both said the tour, which is scheduled to end Oct. 8, was going well and despite what everyone (the media) would like to think, the group is getting along famously.
"It feels automatic," said Henley, referring to the Eagles being together again.
A few minutes later, he added: "Everyone thinks Glenn and I had nothing to do with each other for the past 14 years but that's not true. We've been in touch with each other and played benefits together."
Frey talked about how good it felt to have rehearsals over and be touring again, and what an "interesting demographic" the concerts were attracting.
"We've got people my age (45) and a little older who enjoy turning back the clock to more innocent times," he said, "And people in their middle 20s and early 30s who discovered our music a little later, and college-aged who heard us through classic rock stations."
Frey also defended the band's high ticket prices - in St. Louis top ducats went for 100 bucks - likening them to his paying $ 500 to see the Los Angeles Lakers play a basketball game. "This is a sub .500 team and it costs $ 500 for one game," he said.
We're not sure why anyone, Frey included, would pay $ 500 to see the Lakers (surely, there are tickets that go for less), but we guess what he was trying to say is that the Eagles getting together after 14 years should be worth $ 100 to ardent fans. And while some were disappointed that a few of their favorite Eagles hits weren't performed ("Not enough time to do them all," said Henley), many of the ones we spoke to said they had gotten their money's worth.
Concert footnote: How totally uncool of us not to mention in the Eagles review in Thursday's paper that the incredibly cool Sheryl Crow opened the show.
Unless you arrived before the scheduled 8 p.m. start, you missed Crow's first two songs because she began playing at 10 minutes to the hour. Her appearance was not publicized - according to a Riverport spokesperson, it was a surprise, last-minute add.
Anyhow, Crow drew largely from her debut album, "Tuesday Night Music Club." Many were unfamiliar with her work until she performed her two big hits, "Run, Baby, Run" and a rousing rendition of "Leaving Las Vegas," which had a few in the crowd dancing.
