Using screenshots from The History Of The Eagles documentary, as well as photos and videos from other sources, I’m going to tell the story of the Eagles’ two-night stint at the Capital Centre in Landover, MD on March 21st and 22nd, 1977. We’ll follow the band from their departure in Manhattan on the morning of the 21st to their arrival in D.C a few hours later. A soundcheck at the Capital Centre, both concerts, including a separate performance to an empty house, as well as a more in-depth look at the existing concert footage. This is my theory on how the events may have taken place.
New York City to Washington, D.C., March 21st, 1977
Prior to the Capital Centre, the Eagles had played four nights in New York, beginning with two concerts in Uniondale on the 15th, Madison Square Garden on the 18th, and Rochester on the 19th. After a day off on the 20th, they departed for Washington D.C. on March 21st. The photos below show the band leaving The Drake Hotel in Manhattan, traveling to the airport, then jetting to D.C.:
According to the tour itinerary, the band stayed at the Watergate Hotel in Washington.
The Capital Centre
Built in 1973, the Capital Centre was the home venue for the Washington Bullets basketball team and the Washington Capitals hockey team.
Capital Centre seating chart. Note the blue and red seating areas, which match the images in the soundcheck photos below.
Soundcheck
Prior to the band’s arrival, the arena is setup for the show. The floor, which is usually a hockey court, is turned into floor seating.
This shot of the stage from the back shows the band’s equipment and Henley’s drum set. The curtain, with the image of the front cover of Hotel California, will be silhouetted behind the band when the title track is played for their opening number.
Joe Walsh, Don Henley and Glenn Frey during the soundcheck on March 21st, 1977.
These images of Randy at the soundcheck show him playing a white Rickenbacker 3001. A different bass than his usual maple Rickenbacker 4001, which was his preferred bass for most of the 1977 Hotel California tour.
Backstage
The band harmonized on a version of “Seven Bridges Road” and “Lyin’ Eyes”:
Randy stretches backstage, then talks to Joe as they walk out of the room.
This tracking shot of the band walking to the stage on March 21st contains some outtakes not seen in History Of The Eagles, including a shot of Randy, with beer in hand, doubling back to talk to someone, probably a roadie.
Concerts
The Capital Centre was the fifth stop on the Eagles’ 1977 Hotel California tour. The opening act both nights was Jimmy Buffett. This would be Randy’s final tour with the band. Read more about his departure here.
Randy performing “Take It To The Limit” at the Capital Centre, March 21, 1977.
Photo by Deborah Becker
The Washington Star included a very detailed review, written by Charlie McCollum, of the first night’s show. The review included all 18 songs that were played in chronological order.
The Capital Centre shows are unique because audiences were treated to a rare performance of “Try And Love Again,” written and sung by Randy for the Hotel California album. The song had also been performed on March 18th at Madison Square Garden in New York and March 19th at the War Memorial Auditorium in Rochester. These are the only documented performances of the song. Also performed was “Take It To The Limit,” which Randy, according to the review, “turned into something special with his chilling vocal work.” Both songs were performed almost back-to-back during the first half of the show, with Glenn Frey singing “Lyin’ Eyes” in between.
Washington Star review, March 22, 1977
Since the Eagles rarely changed their main setlist for the Hotel California tour, I think it’s safe to assume that the setlists for both nights at the Capital Centre were similar. The only difference being the encores. The usual encore lineup for the 1977 tour was “Witchy Woman,” “Best Of My Love,” and “Take It Easy,” in that order. Sometimes a song was added or removed. For the Capital Centre, “Best Of My Love was removed the first night and “Tequila Sunrise” was added. For the second night, the band went with their usual encore lineup, as per the concert’s review in The Baltimore Sun (below).
Setlist for March 21st:
Hotel California
Walk Away
Doolin-Dalton
Try And Love Again
Lyin’ Eyes
Take It To The Limit
New Kid In Town
Desperado
One Of These Nights
Turn To Stone
Already Gone
Life In The Fast Lane
Victim Of Love
Rocky Mountain Way
Turn To Stone
Witchy Woman (encore)
Take It Easy (encore)
Tequila Sunrise (encore)
Setlist for March 22nd
Hotel California
Walk Away
Doolin-Dalton
Try And Love Again
Lyin’ Eyes
Take It To The Limit
New Kid In Town
Desperado
One Of These Nights
Turn To Stone
Already Gone
Life In The Fast Lane
Victim Of Love
Rocky Mountain Way
Turn To Stone
Witchy Woman (encore)
Best Of My Love (encore)
Take It Easy (encore)
Baltimore Sun review of the second night:
Telscreen
The Capital Centre was the first indoor arena have a large four-sided video screen called a “Telscreen,” that hung from the ceiling in the middle of the arena.
The Capital Centre’s Telscreen can be seen in these screenshots from History Of The Eagles:
The Telscreen crew was located in the upper decks of the arena and filmed the show with cameras on tripods.
The Capital Centre owned the rights to the Telscreen footage, however bands could purchase tapes of the concerts. The only stipulation was that they were not allowed to “rebroadcast the concerts in their entirety for commercial purposes, but excerpts could be used for promotional spots, such as commercials or record label demos.” (Billboard, January 31, 1976)
Despite this, bootleg videos of shows made from Telscreen footage have been in circulation over the years, including the Eagles concerts at the Houston Summit and Seattle Kingdome, which also had Telscreens.
Although the Capital Centre concerts were shot in-house, the Eagles also brought along their own camera crew, who followed the band behind-the-scenes. They also filmed each of the concerts and can be seen in the footage with handheld cameras (the Telscreen crew did not use handhelds).
Below: Cameramen with handhelds can be seen filming the band during Randy’s performance of “Take It To The Limit” from the March 21st show (Photo: Deborah Becker)
It was also the band’s camera crew who set up scaffolding in the arena on the afternoon of the 22nd and filmed the the band performing to an empty house. Dave Mitchell, who worked at the Capital Centre at the time, recalled that there was also a mobile recording studio truck backstage:
“The day of the second show, scaffolding was set up in front of the stage for a film crew, and a mobile recording studio truck was backstage. They performed a number of songs to an empty house.”
The Eagles performing “Lyin’ Eyes” to an empty house.
Photo by Dave Mitchell (used with permission):
In this shot from the opening of “Rocky Mountain Way” in History Of The Eagles,” you can see the same film crew right in front of the stage:
Altogether, there were three recordings made of the Eagles at the Capital Centre, with the band wearing the same clothing for each performance. Among these recordings are Randy’s performances of “Try And Love Again,” which have never been shown.
Each of the eight songs that were included in the bonus concert footage from the History Of The Eagles documentary were spliced together from these three filmed performances (the audio may have been spliced together as well). If you look closely at the performances, you can often see subtle differences from shot to shot.
For example, these screenshots from Randy’s performance of “Take It To The Limit” were taken only seconds apart. However, you can see that Randy’s hair is different in both. In the image on the left, his bangs are full on his forehead, on the right they are parted slightly. He also has a little curl or flip in his hair next to his bass strap.
The documentary also provided two separate takes of Randy’s big final note on “Take It To The Limit.”
Glenn’s hair also changes from shot to shot throughout the footage. Below are images from his performance of “Lyin’ Eyes.” If you watch closely, his hair goes from hanging down naturally in the front to being pulled back by sunglasses.
ENCORES
The band backstage between encores. Probably the March 21st show.
The band takes a bow after the encore performance of “Best Of My Love” on March 22nd (the only night the song was performed).
The Eagles Have Left The Building
Below, the band is hustled away to their limos after the show. Notice Randy in the front in the middle photo:
Additional Footage
Most of the footage taken at the Capital Centre went unseen for the next 36 years. However, a video of “Hotel California,” along with some of the backstage footage, including the rehearsal of “Seven Bridges Road,” was shown on the USA Network’s Night Flight program in August 1985. This version of “Hotel California” is somewhat different than the one seen in History Of The Eagles. There are several nice shots of Randy. Again, like the rest of the concert footage from the Capital Centre, this video was also spliced together from different performances. This is most noticeable with Joe’s bandanna, especially during the dueling guitar sequence near the end. Sometimes it’s way up on his forehead, sometimes it’s down closer to his eyes.
“Take It To The Limit”
Finally, a post about the Capital Centre concerts wouldn’t be complete without Randy’s iconic performance of “Take It To The Limit.”
All footage and images from History Of The Eagles are copyright Alison Ellwood, Jigsaw Productions, 2013.
Wow Jessica! What an Amazing article. I just can’t imagine all the hours of research that went into this, & all your wonderful stories. Thank You just isn’t enough. You do all the hard work, & all we have to do is read it, enjoy the pictures & listen to the fabulous videos that you find. Totally Awesome! Your hard work is appreciated very much!
Thanks, Gwen. Your support is very much appreciated also.
It’s too exquisite, respected author. I am a fan of the Eagle Band from China and am very interested in your article. Please allow me to ask a question: In many videos of this concert, Joe’s wrist strap always appears in the previous second and disappears in the next second. Is this related to different dates of performances? My friends and I have been studying the details of this concert for a long time, including many deleted songs and some strange coded images. It is an honor for us to see your article. Thank you again. Please forgive my poor English.
Hi,
You’re correct. Joe’s wrist band will appear and disappear during the same guitar solos, most noticeably during “Hotel California” and “Rocky Mountain Way.” This is because footage from different performances were spliced together. I’m glad you enjoyed the post–and all the way from China! Your English is perfect! Thanks so much for commenting!
I had the great pleasure seeing the Eagles at the Cap Center in ’77, with my wife of (now) 58 years. Certainly one of the best, (if not the best), concerts we ever saw. As the article states, the Eagles ran two shows on successive nights. While I can’t recall which show we attended, (I think the second one), the opening act was Linda Ronstadt, and she of course hit it out of the park. Thank you for helping me relieve that memorable night.
Hi Bobby. Thanks for your comment. Linda didn’t open for the Eagles at this show. The opener both nights was Jimmy Buffett. However, Linda did open for them at the Capital Centre in 1975 and 1976. The latter was a Jerry Brown political benefit.
Congratulations to you and your wife on 58 years of marriage!
This finally confirms the ramblings of an old friend I had who collected Eagles concert recordings a couple years back. I knew the Capital Centre shows were recorded on both nights, but they had always claimed it was “fake” and that the songs selected for the HOTE release were shot in front of a false crowd.
I always thought he was making it up because he was a pessimistic type of person. I guess this proves me wrong (partly).
This is an amazing resource for a very niche and decreasing community. This could be very well the resting place of all things Randy and I hope this stays up for as long as possible.
That’s very kind of you to say. Thank you. I plan to keep this site up and running for as long as I can.
The footage from the two nights at the Capital Centre were not shot in front of a false crowd. The audience was real. The Capital Centre filmed the concert with their Telscreen system. But the Eagles also brought along their own camera crew who filmed a few songs to an empty venue. So there were at least three separate recordings (2 with a real audience, one without).
Hi, It’s me, Dave Mitchell, I was the Capital Centre, Sound and Lighting person for many shows, including the Eagles 77 Tour. I have many great memories of their 3 performances. In my mind, they stood at the front line playing hit after hit for 2 hours with little or no break. As mentioned, there was a film crew and mobile recording studio that were not ours. Regarding spliced shots from different nights, Telscreen broadcast quality TV cameras require white light to output a quality signal which suffers with, red, purple, etc… film is ok. Watch a concert intended for TV, all white spotlights. One of my many duties was the headset system between the lighting director and spotlight operators, including the stage. During a public concert I had different duties, but for a rare empty house call, I had my camera, their sole audience, off to the side, until Irving Azoff, walked across the arena and asked me to move away. Ok, not a problem, another cool experience. In my box of mementos ( somewhere) is the set list from the second night, we’ll find out if that makes pop-pop a cool guy. Thanks for the photo credit, I knew immediately it was my photo.
Hi Dave! It’s so nice of you to share your memories and provide these great details. You may not remember, but I contacted you via Instagram about the photo. It was about a year ago. You were kind enough to share some information about the filming. Those details, along with that great photo, helped answer a lot of questions some of us have had about that footage. You were lucky to get that setlist. I think it definitely makes pop-pop a cool guy! Great to hear from you.
What a cool job!!
Hey folks! Great site. Love the history surrounding this event. Fills in some critical backstory. One correction though:
The camera operator that is identified as operating for Telescreen is actually shouldering a 35mm Arriflex film camera with a wide angle lens attached. The Cap Center didn’t have handheld video cameras for the Telescreen system in ’77, they had cameras on tripods like the one in the foreground of the next photo, from David, in the sequence. You can see it with the monitor on top, the box body, and the controls on the arms that are on either side of the tripod head.
Handheld broadcast cameras in the 70s were large, unruly beasts. (https://eyesofageneration.com/a-brief-history-of-portable-color-camerasyou-would-think-rca-lead-the-way-in-t/) In 1977 RCA introduced the first “compact” handheld broadcast video camera that made it much more useable. If the Cap Centre had one it would look like this (ttps://www.tvcameramuseum.org/rca/tk76/p1.htm) which is much different looking than the camera on the shoulder of that operator in the picture. Again, amazingly detailed site. I really appreciate all the effort you’ve put into it.
Hi Kenneth,
A pleasure to hear from you. Thanks for this information and for the correction. I always assumed that those guys with handhelds were the Telscreen cameramen. They must have been with the band’s camera crew, who were also filming the concerts. I found some newspaper photos from 1974 that show the Telscreen cameramen at the Cap Centre. From the photos, it appears that they were situated in the upper deck of the arena and not right next to the stage. They are operating the cameras on tripods, like the ones you described (monitors on top and controls on either side).
Again, thanks so much for these additional details. I also appreciate your kind comments about my website.
Best regards,
Jessica
I was at this show only 12yrs old….I dont remember Jimmy Buffett opening but I could have forgot…Did Bad Company ever open for the Eagles ???…For some reason I remember them? thx
I’m not aware of Bad Company ever opening for the Eagles, unless it was after Randy left.
Buffett was the opening act for a number of the concerts on the Hotel California tour. He’s only mentioned in the Washington Post review of the March 21st Capital Centre show, which I chose not to include because it’s not very kind.
https://randymeisnerretrospective.com/Washington-Post-March-22-1977.png
I always knew there was more to that concert than just the 8 songs they released with the documentary, like the bit between Hotel California and New Kid where you’ll briefly see Glenn holding his black Les Paul before they change to New Kid where Glenn’s playing the acoustic. What I didn’t know was that they did a set without the audience! With all that effort to record the concert, It’s like they were intending to release a concert film back then, kinda like Led Zep’s The Song Remains The Same, minus the extra bits. Grateful as I am that we got a recording of the band at their prime, I’m a little peeved they didn’t decide to release the whole concert.
There was certainly some motive behind filming those concerts, and not just the concerts themselves. They also filmed the band flying in from New York, riding in their limos, the soundcheck, hanging out backstage, etc. It was as if they were planning a concert film. It would be nice if they released everything, but with all the editing and splicing that was done to the songs we’ve seen, perhaps it’s too much of a task.
Wow. what an amazing article. So well thought out. It looks like that alternate recording of Hotel California is not longer available. Thats a shame because it is really fascinating and a really cool way to look at some of the harder to find Eagles footage. I got to see it once before it was no longer available. The mix on that recording is slightly different, and the camera shots are much different. Is there any way I could get my hands on it?
Hi Frank,
The problem with the video was on my end. I fixed it. Sorry about that.
Thats all good no need to apologise. Thats great to see the video back up. I just watched it now and it’s amazing. I enjoy the mix on this version slightly better. There is also some really nice panning and I suspect the audio is from a different night to the official video. Either that or if the audio is spliced, it is spliced differently. You have probably already noticed this, but Randy plays the bass line slightly differently both nights. Notably, in the last section of the guitar solo where they are playing the repeating riff, on one of the nights, (official recording) he goes straight into his run where he plays each root note 12 times before changing, repeating until the end, but on a different night, (alternate recording) he starts the first section off with the main bass line used for the rest of the song, and switches to his run on the second half, right before the end. In the alternate recording there is a shot used from a different night in the first half of that section where it doesn’t match up as well. I do wish Glenn’s guitar was a bit louder but you can still hear it upholding the melody.
Thanks!
I’m sure the audio was spliced as well. Their mouths don’t always match up with the audio. They brought along a mobile recording studio to the Capital Centre, so I assume both nights were recorded, and possibly another recording when they performed to the empty house in the afternoon. No doubt the best takes of audio and video were spliced together for the official videos, even if they didn’t match up exactly.
yeah that makes the most sense
Hi Jessica, thanks for the great write up and information about the capital centre concert. I always wanted to know the background of the shows as I’ve seen the videos of Hotel California and Take It Too The Limit numerous times on YouTube.
I was fortunate enough to see them in February 2024 in Omaha on the Long Goodbye tour with Vince Gill doing vocals on Take It Too The Limit, he’s not Randy (obviously) but still amazing.
Anyway, to my point of writing: About 20- 25 years ago I was talking about the Eagles to a buddy of mine and he mentioned a member was from Nebraska (I’m a native Nebraskan), and I was like “No way”, he replied “Yes, way”. How did I not know this??? Of course in age of information I looked it up and sure enough, born and raised in Scottsbluff, NE (the middle of nowhere, literally). It’s a testament not only Randy’s talent to make it out of there and make it big, but those around him to recognize that he was well above and beyond just an ordinary talented musician. Rest in peace Randy!
I couldn’t agree more, Brian! Thanks so much.
Hello Jessica, first of all your writing is terrific !! I was at the filming of the concerts at the Capitol Center in 1977, (long story that I won’t bore you with today). My memory is fading, but I recall that before the show, there was a problem with the shirt that Joe Walsh was supposed to wear, and that’s why he was wearing a University of Illinois sweatshirt he borrowed from someone! Have you ever heard anything about this? Thanks again for great stories!
Hi Max,
No, I had not heard about an issue with Joe’s shirt. That’s very interesting. Perhaps the real story will surface at some point. Thanks so much for your kind words. They’re much appreciated.
Jessica
Well you can bore ME with all the detail. I would love to hear about everything you got to see.
So, their film crew, in 1977, shot the concert on 35mm film, not tape?
That explains the amazing video quality! I’m glad they use real film.
If I’m not misinformed, 35mm can be converted to 4k or even higher.
I wish other bands, like Kiss, would have used 35mm film instead of tapes.
I have learned so many things from your website about Randy, especially when he was with the Eagles. If I’m looking for information on Randy Meisner, your website is the first place I look because you have put in so much time, energy, and painstaking research on him.
I will say that poor Randy looks so exhausted in the outtake footage right before the band goes onstage. I know he was under a great deal of stress at that time. I’m glad he chose sanity over money. I’ve read a few things about those 3rd Encore after parties. I’m hoping some of the things that I read about were untrue. I’m not going to mention them here out of respect for you and this site, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Anyway, I have absolutely NO respect for Irving Azoff. He was evil, IMHO, and treated Randy like garbage when he was trying so hard to make it on his own. I could throw in a few choice words about my opinion of that little weasel, but I really think Don Henley’s reference to the man as “Satan” describes Azoff perfectly. Enough said on THAT topic.
I appreciate your comments about the site, Karen. Many thanks.
I am 95% shore I was there! I used to go to a lot of shows at the Capitol Centre back in the 73-77 era but I cannot remember them all! I do know I had seen the Eagles at least 3 times back then, plus I has seen this concert recently on the internet and it was flawless! I do remember the 76-era concert here at the Capitol Center because they were selling Draft beer at the concession stations, this was the only concert that I went to there that sold beer
And, of course, shy Randy was standing way back on the stage during the song Hotel California.
I don’t think Randy stood at the back of the stage because of shyness. He stood back there to be close to Henley. The bass player and the drummer are the band’s rhythm section and work very closely together & play off of one another. Randy has talked about this in interviews.
How did Randy hold that blistering note so long on TITTL? Amazing!!
What a great website, so many details and tedious work putting this all together. Being a lifelong Eagles fan I really appreciate it. I leave these websites on my home screen and visit often, wonderful history!
Much appreciated, Bill. Thank you.