Barbara's Review of Milwaukee
Date: July 25, 2006

Life on the road isn't easy, especially when playing to a captive audience of insurance agents and their families. You're being paid some good coin to entertain a diverse audience ranging from small town Arkansas seniors, soccer moms from Iowa with babies in tow, and street wise 20-somethings from the Big Apple. How to please everyone? By performing with consummate professionalism and being at the top of your game.

Glenn Frey and his superlative touring band wowed a crowd of well over 10,000 on July 25 at a private concert for Northwestern Mutual Life annual meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The fortunate audience was entertained by Glenn and company at the Bradley Center: a great sound system and two projection screens really made the event seem intimate, despite the size of the hall and the crowd.

Glenn began the 90 minute show with an old favorite, "Take It Easy." The broad appeal of this rocker, who has sold more records than almost any other performer both as an Eagle and individually, was apparent from everyone who sang the lyrics with him, word for word. The band started out with a quiet set, saving the hard stuff for later in the show. Playing a few new pieces from their upcoming project, it was clear that Glenn is still one of the best and hardest working songwriter/performers out there today. Afterwards, I checked out the Songwriters Hall of Fame, of which Glenn is a member, and was impressed that's he's in pretty good and rare company.

Glenn endeared himself to the crowd when he commented on his dependence on Gatorade between numbers, but his voice and performance were as fresh and strong as 25 years ago. Crowd pleasers included "New Kid in Town," "Lyin' Eyes," "Tequila Sunrise," "Take It to the Limit," "Peaceful, Easy Feeling," the lovely "Desperado," and a gritty "Smuggler's Blues." By the time the group swung into "Heartache Tonite" during the encore, the crowd was on its feet dancing and saluting the band with a 21st century substitute for the Bic, the cell phone. What goes around comes around--great music just plays on.

Solo Tour Index :: Prelude to Obsurity Tour Index :: Milwaukee 2006