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beginnings and endings: The Eagles end their American tour by performing the first-ever concert at Rio Tinto in Sandy. Click Arts&Life index for a link to story. / Photo by Ben Hansen, special contributor

Today's word on journalism

May 12, 2009

The Last WORD


The Fat Lady Sings, Off-Key, Drools

At about this time every year, like the swallows to Capistrano or the buzzards to Hinckley, Ohio, the WORD migrates to its summer musing grounds at the sanitarium —St. Mumbles Home for the Terminally Verbose.

The reason is clear, and never moreso than as this season —the WORD's 13th —peters out.

It's been a fraught year of high palaver and eye-popping transition, both good and not-so-much. An interminable presidential campaign saga finally did end, and in extraordinary and historic fashion. Meanwhile, the bottom and everything that's below the bottom fell out of the economy, with families, homes, entire industries and —of particular interest to WORDsters and the civic-minded —dozens of daily newspapers ("I don't so much mind that newspapers are dying--it's watching them commit suicide that pisses me off." --Molly Ivins). . . all evaporating. What replaces them, from the individual to the institutional to the societal? Are we looking at a future of in-depth Tweeting?

As any newsperson or firehorse knows, it's hard to turn your back on day-to-day catastrophe --we just have to look at the car wreck. But even the most deranged and driven need a rest. As philosopher Lilly Tomlin once observed, "No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up."

So this morning, as a near-frost hovered over northern Utah, the unmarked van pulled into the driveway and the gentle, soft-spoken men in the white coats rolled the WORD out of bed and into a straitjacket for the usual summer trip to St. Mumbles, where the blathering one will be assigned a hammock and fed soothing, healthy foods --like tapioca, dog biscuits and salmon --while recharging the essential muscles of cynicism, outrage, sarcasm, social engagement and high-mindedness, in preparation for the next edition.
Summer well, friends.

Speak up! Comment on the WORD at

http://tedsword.
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Feedback and suggestions--printable and otherwise--always welcome. "There are no false opinions."

Arts & Life : :

Eagles break new ground

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Don Henley leads the Eagles in song. / Photo by Ben Hansen

By Ben Hansen special contributor

May 12, 2009 | SANDY -- Rio Tinto is a virgin no more . . . thanks to Joe Walsh and company.

Saturday night, the Eagles performed the first-ever concert at the Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy. The performance was the last date of their Long Road out of Eden tour in the U.S., and fans came in from all over the country to get one last chance to see the band before they departed on their summer European jaunt. While prices were a whopping $175 per ticket for good seats, expectations were high.

The band hit the stage with a complete brass section accompaniment and elaborate lighting setup, while being projected on massive monitors so that even the fans farthest away could feel like part of the show. A massive semi-circle display backed the band and projected lighting and images that further enhanced the audio-visual experience. With a mega-catalogue of rock classics, the Eagles shocked the eager audience a bit by opening up with How Long from their recent Long Road out of Eden album.

It took the band only a few songs to get down to business. A smooth trumpet solo by touring Eagle Billy Armstrong led right into Hotel California, which began to engage the audience and bring them to their feet. From here out, the show started to gain some momentum, dishing out classics including Witchy Woman (complete with guitarist/vocalist Glenn Frey's humorous remark, "That was, of course, a song from our satanic country/rock/rhythm and blues period,") and the slow I Can't Tell You Why, while also offering up solo tracks from member Don Henley's solo career, including Boys of Summer and Dirty Laundry.

Guitarist Joe Walsh (mused by Frey as "a man well known to law enforcement and hotel staff around the world,") kept the evening going and helped Frey get the fans involved in what could have easily been a predictable song set and performance. While other band mates were stoic, Walsh was passionate and animated, looking as if he truly loved being there. The guitar heroics from his solo smash Life's Been Good meshed perfectly with his wit, as he altered a second verse lyric to fit a sudden fluke occurrence, singing, "I played in Utah and a big bug went in my mouth!"

Walsh continued his antics and energy throughout the night, at one point strapping a camera onto his head to get audience members displayed up on the projection screens around him. He jumped around and flailed like a kid at recess, happy to be doing something that they enjoyed. Smooth sliding solos were met with blistering riffs as Joe continued to propel the band through hits The Long Run and Heartache Tonight, and finally closed with the guitar-heavy Life in the Fast Lane.

The band stuck with a good mix of encores, giving the fans Take it Easy and Desperado, sandwiched around either side of Walsh's solo Rocky Mountain Way, which included yet another amazing guitar solo.

There are certainly plenty of Eagles fans out there who in their teenage years passionately strummed on their air guitar or a wooden tennis racket in an attempt to be Joe Walsh. After two hours of watching him lead the Eagles through a massive collection of their hits catalogue, it would indeed be hard to say that the fans didn't get their money's worth.

MS
MS

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