This is starting to get weird.
The music business has lost another superstar.
Glenn Frey, co-founder of the iconic rock band the Eagles, kinds of the Southern California sound, died Monday at 67. It comes a week after we lost David Bowie. A few weeks before that it was Natalie Cole.
It is a reminder that we are getting older.
I cruised past the 60 threshold a few months ago. I'm still dealing with it. Why does it sound so much damn older than 59?
Music keeps me young. Losing the people who provided the soundtrack of my youth does not ease the aging process.
It does, however, provide some superb memories.
Bowie at the Tower.
My Eagles moment comes from the mid-'70s. I saw them at the Spectrum in 1975. Dan Fogelberg opened the show. Frey and the Eagles apparently were big Flyers fans. This was at the height of Flyers Frenzy during their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. For their encore, the entire band came out wearing orange Flyers jerseys and roof nearly blew off the Spectrum - for the second time.
But it was my second go-round with that tour that will always stick in my memory.
* A Top 10 Playlist of Glenn Frey & the Eagles songs.
I was in the process of moving out to Colorado, where I would actually take a year off from college to become a state resident. It was the only way I could afford tuition at one of the truly special places on this Earth, the University of Colorado at Boulder.
It's not the only special place in the Rockies.
For any true music fan, there is a place you simply have to see - and hear - to believe.
Red Rocks Amphitheatre is a natural rock formation in the foothills outside Denver. The first time I saw a show there was the summer before, when I helped my older brother drive one of his cars out to Denver after a job relocation.
On the radio, everyone was talking about John Denver at Red Rocks. Don't laugh. He was great.
The sound at Red Rocks is pristine. And the setting. Well, let's just say it's like nothing you've ever experienced.
The stage is surrounded by massive natural rock formations, thus the setting's name. The bench seating then rises back and up into the foothills from there.
If you sit high enough up in the amphitheater, you can actually see the band on the stage, and in the background the twinkling lights of the Denver skyline in the background. It's the damndest thing I've ever seen. I've always wanted to know why the lights twinkle at night out there. I've been told it has something to do with the altitude - you're more than a mile above sea level - but take my word for it. It makes for a stunning concert venue.
The Eagles were perfect for the setting. As was Fogelberg. I was wondering how they would possibly top the show I saw in Philly. It wasn't even close.
Take my word for it. Put it on your "to-do" list. A concert at Red Rocks is a must for any music fan.
"Take it easy," Glenn.
We'll always have Red Rocks.
Comments