Classic West Marks Eagles’ First Concert Since Glenn Frey’s Death
While there’s plenty of firepower to this week’s Classic West festival — with Fleetwood Mac, Journey, Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers and Earth, Wind & Fire — at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium, the big story is the Eagles.
The group will headline the first night, on Saturday (July 15), marking the first concert since co-founder Glenn Frey‘s death in January of 2016. His place is being taken by his son Deacon Frey and Vince Gill, which has caused considerable debate among fans and pundits.
But the Eagles’ colleagues are rooting for the group’s success. Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie tells us
“I was quite surprised, actually, but I’m proud of them for doing it. I think they have a good replacement for Glenn Frey,”
while bandmate Lindsey Buckingham — who McVie is currently touring with to promote their new duo album — adds that,
“It was just a sad thing, Glenn’s passing, and it’s kind of out of the blue. So I don’t know what you do in that kind of a situation. I don’t really have any preconceptions…I don’t really know how all that gets presented or what the context of that is, or how someone like Vince Gill sits in in that way. It doesn’t immediately speak to something that I necessarily understand. But they’re smart guys; I”m sure it all works out on some level, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it works out.”
Fleetwood Mac plays Classic West’s second night, on Sunday (July 16). The Doobie Brothers will be performing before the Eagles on Saturday, and the group’s John McFee tells us of the reunion,
“It sounds really interesting to me…To have Glenn’s son involved, I think that’s a pretty neat way to do the carrying on. And Vince Gill is gonna be playing with them and he’s always been awesome. He’s one of the finest musical artists ever.”
A Classic East weekend takes place July 29-30 at Citi Field in New York.
Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist who not only covers music but has written books on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.
