The Eagles' songs are the special effect in Sphere

Don Henley, not one for underestimating his own importance, took in his surroundings Saturday night and realized that the Eagles — the hit-making, money-grabbing, “Almost Famous”-inspired fake bands — weren't it. It wasn't quite what the thousands of people in front of him wanted to see.

“We’ll be the house band tonight,” he said, one of nine tiny-looking men on stage under Sphere’s cavernous, illuminated dome. “Do you remember the old black and white silent films where the organist was down there playing music to the film? That’s what we are – we’re organists.”

With two concerts this past weekend, the Eagles became the fourth act, joining U2, Phish and Dead & Company, to play this state-of-the-art venue located directly behind the Venetian Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. By now you've heard about Sphere's 15,000-square-foot video screen and backrest feel, and the $2 billion that the building's mastermind, James Dolan, executive director of Madison Square Garden Entertainment, spent to create it all almost exactly to bring to life in a year.

But while 12 months of TikTok and Instagram clips may have softened the initial shock of the place, Henley was right to suspect that Sphere visitors still come here to be wowed. People were there Saturday night, the second of 20 Eagles performances scheduled through January Oh-ing and aah– Before the music even started, upon entering they were greeted by a huge photorealistic mural that summarized dozens of landmarks from the band's hometown of Los Angeles, including Chateau Marmont, Griffith Observatory, Paramount Pictures Gate, and of course the Troubadour . where Glenn Frey, co-founder of Henley and Eagles, met as members of Linda Ronstadt's road band in the early 1970s. (Inevitably, a painstaking recreation of the Troubadour at the Venetian is now the place to buy Eagles hoodies and backpacks.)

The group's two-hour show offers plenty of additional eye candy, not least a scene set to “In the City” in which you emerge from a kind of grimy tenement panopticon and soar over a verdant landscape painted in almost garish shades of green and blues. “I hope you brought your Dramamine,” Henley said to loud laughter from the mostly middle-aged crowd. He then joked that he might replace the floor seats with recliners next weekend.

The Eagles are scheduled to play 20 shows at the Sphere through January.

(Chloe Weir)

Still, the Eagles' Sphere production is certainly a less lavish visual spectacle than its predecessors, with a whole host of songs – “One of These Nights”, “Witchy Woman”, “Lyin' Eyes”, “Tequila Sunrise” and ” Seven Bridges”. Road” – accompanied by variations of a windswept desert landscape, a mossy forest or a starry night sky. The result was more mood-setting than storytelling: sometimes you felt like you were watching a band perform in front of the highest resolution screensaver in the world; Other times, like an underwater ballet set to Henley's “The Boys of Summer,” one wondered whether the Eagles had reused footage from a lost '80s perfume commercial.

Which makes perfect sense as an approach. For Sphere, the Eagles' relatively low-key show shows that the venue can accommodate acts that don't necessarily want to invest vast amounts of time and money (like U2 and Dead & Co) to reinvent the live concert experience. For the Eagles, the show is consistent with a long-established focus on music above all else – a sentiment Henley reiterated as he greeted the audience by pointing out with genuine enthusiasm that Sphere is home to 164,000 speakers.

“We've been playing these songs for you for 52 years now,” he added, and you understood that the Eagles had become the house band not just for the magnificence on Sphere's wraparound screen, but also for the cherished memories of the Band fans who carry an emotional power that no special effect can ever match.

In fact, this Las Vegas stop comes as part of a so-called farewell tour that the Eagles launched in late 2023 and which they have promised to extend as long as audiences show up. Following Frey's death in 2016, Henley, 77, remains the only original member of the group, which also includes bassist Timothy B. Schmit and guitarist Joe Walsh (both Eagles since the mid-'70s), as well as a pair of replacement members. Ins for Frey in country star Vince Gill and Frey's 31-year-old son Deacon. Last week, JD Souther, who co-wrote several of the Eagles' signature songs, died at age 78; Randy Meisner, another founder known for his lead singer in “Take It to the Limit,” died last year at age 77.

The Eagles' Sphere residency follows previous appearances by U2, Phish and Dead & Company.

(Rich Fury/Sphere Entertainment)

Onstage, Henley introduced Deacon Frey as “a reason we were able to keep this legacy alive,” and if the force of that intro startled the younger musician, you couldn't tell: Frey sings in “Peaceful Easy Feeling” and “Take It Easy” in particular was warm and soulful, although it lacked a touch of the edge that his late father brought to the Eagles' rich, hippie country-rock sound.

As always, the Eagles' playing was masterful throughout the evening: crisp and powerful in “New Kid in Town”, tense yet cool in “I Can't Tell You Why”, flamboyantly smooth in the “Hotel California” they played started with in case anyone doubted the band's plethora of hits. Every time the players lined up to meld their voices in five- or six-part harmony, Sphere's crystal-clear sound system lets you hear each part individually and as part of the whole – exactly the kind of breakthrough technique that You can bet Henley moved to Vegas (in addition to being able to charge a premium for tickets).

On Saturday, Henley took a minute at the very end of the show to toast Souther, who he called “a great man – smart, funny, witty” and who he said “loved a good meal and a good martini.” , loved to laugh, loved the pretty girls.” Henley added that Souther co-wrote the next song, which would also be the Eagles' closing song, and as the band revved up “Heartache Tonight,” Sphere morphed into one huge jukebox that captivated the audience – and seemed to captivate the Eagles – deep within.

Cool trick. Also one.