Pop Music Review : Eagles Offer a Vision of the Future : Reunited Band Goes Beyond Easy Nostalgia

The Eagles certainly didn’t take it easy in returning to concerts after 14 years.

Instead of playing it safe by simply serving up the two dozen or so of the best-known Eagles tunes in a nostalgia-to-the-max reunion package, the most celebrated Southern California band since the ‘60s gamely threw all sorts of surprises at the audience on Friday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.

Surprise 1: Defying the conventional concert wisdom of saving your signature tune for a climactic moment late in the show, the Eagles opened with “Hotel California.”

Surprise 2: Instead of inviting the audience to then settle into a golden oldies mode by following with such peaceful, easy trademark hits such as “Take It Easy,” the band followed “Hotel California” with more challenging fare--four more songs from the “Hotel California” album, including “Wasted Time” and “Pretty Maids All in a Row.”

Surprise 3: After devoting most of the opening hour to old Eagles material, the quintet shifted emphasis dramatically in the second half to focus on new Eagles tunes and the members’ solo works.

Surprise 4: The group didn’t perform “The Long Run,” “Best of My Love,” “Last Resort,” “Sad Cafe,” “On the Border,” “Take It Easy” or “Peaceful Easy Feeling” at all. The result: Only 13 of the 29 songs were from the Eagles ‘70s catalogue.

Biggest Surprise: The show still worked.

“Good party,” a beaming Glenn Frey said at one point, looking out at the 15,000 cheering fans as he stood on a stage whose set resembled a Mad Max-like industrial wasteland--in keeping with the apocalyptic nature of some Eagles songs. “Real good party.”

The audience was equally enthused.

Fans, some of whom had come from as far away as New York and Kentucky to toast the start of the group’s first tour since their bitter 1980 breakup, shouted, “Thank you” and “We love you” throughout the show. Many sang along with all the hits and danced in front of their seats to the upbeat tunes.

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Yet the selection of songs suggested that the Eagles had more on their minds than merely the applause of the night.

Amid all the talk about the tour simply being a one-time, money-driven affair, the Eagles were intent on demonstrating that, indeed, the band is in for the long run--that the reason Frey, Don Henley, Don Felder, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit came back together after all these years was to resume writing and recording together.

And that issue--the recapturing of the band’s old creative spark--is the real challenge facing the Eagles.

The band wasted little time Friday in passing Test One of the reunion campaign.

By midway through the opening hour, it was clear that the Eagles remain the masters of such ‘70s trademarks as sweet, seductive harmonies and precise but flavorful musicianship. It was also apparent that the band’s best songs--including “Hotel California” and “Desperado”--speak of social and personal morality in ways that remain relevant.

The question is whether the Eagles will be able to come up with new songs that continue to reflect on human rituals and rites with equal insight and skill. That is the more important Test Two--and an answer isn’t likely until the band delivers an album of new material, possibly next summer.

Meantime, the group is trying to encourage fans to look forward--not just backward. The solo material--notably Henley’s “Heart of the Matter,” “New York Minute” and “Boys of Summer”--served as a bridge and helped add a more contemporary edge to the evening’s tone. Similarly, the turning of the microphone over to Frey, Walsh and Schmit for solo turns was a reminder that the band isn’t just a Henley or Henley-Frey proposition.

Of the four new tunes being introduced on the tour, the most striking is the fiery “Get Over It,” a wickedly satiric reflection by Henley and Frey on ‘90s political correctness, with a strong commercial feel to it.

The Eagles, who were joined on various numbers by four support musicians, haven’t tried to add flash to their performances. The quintet still simply relies on its music--and that music still serves them well. The Eagles are once again flying high.

* The Eagles play Tuesday and Wednesday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, 8 p.m. Sold out. (714) 855-4515; Friday at Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion, 2555 Devore Road, Devore, 8 p.m. Sold out. (909) 880-6500; Saturday at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, 9449 Friars Road, San Diego, 7 p.m. $85, $50, $35. (619) 525-8282.