Classic West

By Ed Piper

Attending the Classic West with my wife featuring the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac the last two days (July 15-16, 2017) is the occasion for starting this blog.

I'm surprised I didn't begin recording my comments and observations about music concerts earlier.

My wife Dianna told her sister-in-law this morning that she enjoyed the event, so that makes the whole experience a lot more pleasureable--when you can do something together and both enjoy it.

The two evenings/nights at Dodger Stadium--where I first went when I was eight years old, meeting my grandfather Merle for my first Dodger game--were hot and humid. But, sweating with all the other 60,000 or so in attendance, I enjoyed singing along to Eagles' songs, which kind of surprised me, as well as Fleetwood Mac favorites.

We had never been to a giant music "festival" like this before, either individually or collectively. So we didn't really know what to expect.

I'm glad we were safe, and despite the heat, we made it through what turns out to be a long weekend without major incident.

Dianna's favorite, she said, was the Doobie Brothers, who opened the concert Saturday at 5:15 p.m. (scheduled start was 5 p.m., so that's pretty good) with "Jesus is Just Alright". Before the event, when we were listening to music on Dianna's car CD player on the three-hour drive up from San Diego that morning, we debated whether the group would play this overtly Christian song.

So we were delighted that they did, and right off the bat.

"They're fun," Dianna told me and Katy, our sister-in-law, about her enjoying the Doobies' songs.

For me, seeing Fleetwood Mac Sunday as the event closer (they played from 9 p.m. to just before 11 p.m., ending with a big fireworks display behind right field) was probably the connector. I had enjoyed "You Can Go Your Own Way" and "I'm Over My Head" and other songs back in 1976 and 1977 with good friend Will Seaver and others while living in Santa Barbara.

Christine McVie, who is Fleetwood Mac's keyboardist and who has a sweet voice and touching songs, performed with the band. She doesn't often do that. While the rest of the group toured the last several years, she has preferred to stay off the road most of the time.

I think part of the impetus for her coming back was that she is presently touring with fellow band member Lindsey Buckingham to promote their new album. She also commented in a story I found online, "We don't know about the future" regarding her ex-husband, John McVie, who is the group's bassist. Unbeknown to me, John is in remission from cancer, and even his ex is looking out for him.

I surprised myself by singing along to many of the Eagles' hits the night before--Saturday they played two hours and 20 minutes, which was a delight for me--8:45 to about 11:10 p.m. or so. Standing in the tunnel up top of Dodger Stadium, due to the hassle of getting in and out of my seat in the middle of my row on Reserved Level, I found myself singing along to "Peaceful Easy Feeling", "Desperado" (the closing song), and many others.

That reminded me of all the years and years as a young person, in my late teens and 20's, that I spent "listening to the music" (in the words of the Doobies song) and enjoying Eagles songs.

Yes, there were facts like this being the first Eagles concert since Glenn Frey died in January 2016, and his 24-year-old son Deacon Frey playing and singing his songs in his place. Vince Gill, an accomplished and well-known country performer, also filled in the Eagles' lineup. But these weren't major parts of the experience, I wouldn't say.

What kind of stumped me, though he performed expertly, was Korean Arnel Pineda singing in place of Steve Perry for Journey, which he has been doing for a couple of years. Steve Perry's scratchy voice is so much a part of Journey's music, that not having him there is kind of like watching a partial tribute band, the kind of band I have never been to see.