The Eagles were forced to soldier on without Joe Walsh at Sphere on Jan. 24 after the guitarist came down with the flu, marking their first show without him since he joined the band in 1975. “We had a choice to make,” Don Henley told the crowd. “We could either cancel the whole thing, or we could man up and do the show. So we came down here this afternoon and had an emergency rehearsal for two hours. And fortunately, in this band, we have a deep bench.”
Walsh’s parts were largely handled by Deacon Frey and Vince Gill. Frey, who became one of the Eagles in 2017 following his father’s death the prior year, took on Walsh’s iconic “Hotel California” guitar solo alongside new guitarist Chris Holt at the top of the evening. And Gill sang lead on “In The City,” “Life’s Been Good,” and “Rocky Mountain Way.” The only song cut from the set was the James Gang classic “Funk #49,” which would have been very tricky to pull off without Walsh. They subbed in “Best Of My Love” to take its place.
The prior evening, Walsh managed to get through most of the show, but they cut “Rocky Mountain Way,” and he was off-stage for a handful of songs and the closing bow. “He was sick last night,” Henley said. “But he heroically made it through last of the show…Joe’s going to be okay. He just needs some time. Give him some love.”
The concert was their 46th show at the Sphere since kicking off the residency in September 2024. The setlist has been largely locked in because of the complex visuals they created for each song, but there are tunes like “The End of the Innocence,” “Those Shoes,” and “Please Come Home for Christmas” that they haven’t done every night.”
“It’s good to be in the room with you tonight,” Henley said. “We can all be on the same page tonight because music is a universal language and music is medicine. After the week we’ve had, we could all use some medicine. I’m not going to do much talking. I’m nothing to do much jumping around. I’m not going to do any squatting. I’m just going to play the shit out of this guitar. I’ve been playing these songs for you for 53 years now. It’s been a privilege and an honor.”
In other Eagles news, their first greatest hits collection has become the first album to be RIAA-certified quadruple platinum, meaning it sold more than 40 million copies. “I’m not sure we got paid for all that,” Henley joked at Sphere. “It’s just Spotify.”
They resume the Sphere residency on Jan. 30, which should give Walsh enough time to recover. If he’s not ready by then, they’ve proven that the show still somehow works without him, even if it’s slightly surreal to watch Vince Gill sing his songs.
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