In January 1976, the Eagles embarked on a tour of New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, with a final stop in Hawaii. It was their first major tour with new member, Joe Walsh. Read more about each of the dates below:
The Eagles In Hawaii, 1976
The Eagles’ Tour of the Pacific wrapped up in Honolulu in February 1976. See photos and rare home movie footage from the Meisner’s Super 8 video camera, shared here exclusively.
EAGLES
IOWA STATE FAIRGROUNDS, DES MOINES
JULY 27, 1975
The Eagles played the Iowa State Fairgrounds on July 27th, 1975. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Dan Fogelberg and J.D. Souther also performed.
With temperatures in the 90s, Randy’s first wife, Jennifer, remembered shopping with Randy to find a visor to wear onstage:
“It was so hot, we were running all over town to find Randy a sun visor. I remember sitting in the hotel room looking through the yellow pages, which I always did everywhere we went.”
Also in attendance that day were Jennifer’s cousins, Connie and Mike Hall, from Missouri. Connie recalled that they got to sit on the stage as the band performed and ride in the limo with Randy and Jennifer after the show. The photo below was taken at the hotel.
L-R: Jennifer, Randy, Connie, and Mike. Do not share without permission.
Concert Review
The next night, the Eagles played the Civic Auditorium Arena in Omaha, NE. According to Jennifer, Randy wanted to drive instead of taking the limo:
“Randy decided he didn’t want to take a limo to Omaha, so he rented a car and the two of us really enjoyed the drive, stopping at a little drive-in to eat, like the A&W back then. Two of our high school friends, Pam and Dave, who lived in Omaha, came to the concert and back to the hotel.”
All quotes from Jennifer Meisner via personal correspondence.
The Eagles in New Zealand and Australia, January 1976
The Eagles’ 1976 tour of New Zealand and Australia is highlighted, with photos, audio, and home movie footage.
Elton John’s Mid-Summer Music at Wembley Stadium, June 1975
Get all the details on Elton John’s Mid-Summer Music concert at Wembley in 1975, with audio and never-before-seen home movie footage.
Eagles In Denver, 1976: A Family Affair at Mile High Stadium
This behind-the scenes look at the Eagles’ concert at Mile High Stadium on August 8th, 1976, includes interviews with Randy’s parents, his wife, as well as a rare glimpse of life backstage and on the road.
Eagles
Seattle Kingdome
August 6th, 1976
Linda Ronstadt and J.D. Souther opened.
The concert was attended by more than 50,000 fans. It was only the second concert in the newly-built Kingdome. The first was Paul McCartney & Wings in June.
Original concert poster
The sound was terrible in the giant venue unless you were seated directly in front of the stage. Fans who came to hear the Eagles’ perfect harmonies couldn’t hear them unless they were right up close. Patrick McDonald of the Seattle Times, noted that due to the size of the Kingdome and the number of people in attendance, the show resembled an “indoor Woodstock” with people milling around and friends sitting together passing pipes and joints. However, unlike Woodstock, the Kingdome was equipped with a giant video screen that hung near the stage:
“One major difference was the big screen, which did give everybody a good view of what was going on on stage. They were doing different things with than at the Wings show – split screen, dissolves, extreme close-ups, etc. It was like watching In Concert on a giant TV screen except the sound is better on TV.”
Patrick McDonald, Seattle Times, August 8, 1976
Footage
This video screen footage of the Seattle concert exists as a bootleg. Below I have included the video of Randy’s two lead-singing performances, “Midnight Flyer” and “Take It To The Limit.” Unfortunately, the beginning of “Take It To The Limit” has been edited out and it starts in the middle of the song. I have also included “One Of These Nights” because Randy was groovin’ through the whole song. A link to the entire concert is at the bottom.
“Take It To The Limit”
Listen to the end to hear Glenn Frey say “That was Randy Meisner, our bass player, hitting the high notes there. We love it every night.” Then Joe Walsh pipes in: “He can sing higher than that if he needs to.” (@2:36)
“Midnight Flyer”
“One Of These Nights” with groovin’ Randy and his eardrum-shattering high notes during the choruses at the end.
Watch the full concert here: https://archive.org/details/the-eagles-1976-seattle-wa
Reviews
Eagles
University Of Cincinnati Fieldhouse
May 8, 1975
Dan Fogelberg opened.
This was the Eagles’ third visit to the “Queen City” (and Randy’s fourth).
Eagles at UC Fieldhouse. Photo by Tom Kistner.
Before the show, the Eagles were presented with the key to the city by Vice-Mayor William Chenault.
Eight years later, Randy, along with his mom, Emilie, was presented the key to the city during a concert in Omaha, NE at Pogo’s Electric Cowboy.
Eagles
Olympia Stadium, Detroit
July 20th, 1976
J.D. Souther opened.
Both Glenn Frey and the concert’s opening act, J.D. Souther, were born in Detroit. In 1964, Glenn’s aunt Virginia took him to see the Beatles at Olympia Stadium, when he was 15-years-old.
The Eagles perform “Seven Bridges Road” at Olympia Stadium.
Randy sang lead on “Midnight Flyer” and “Take It To The Limit.”
Eagles
Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY
July 21st, 1976
J.D. Souther opened.
The opening of the following review refers to the Elton John concert which took place the night before.
Billy Reed, columnist for the Courier-Journal, noted that all but Randy had either a beard or mustache:
“…everybody had either a beard or mustache except bass guitarist Randy Meisner, who looked downright clean in his Prince Valiant haircut. Meisner proved he was in the right place when he sang lead on ‘Take It To The Limit,” one of the Eagles’ smash hits.
The Eagles at Freedom Hall:
Eagles
Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, MO, June 6, 1975
The Eagles opened for the Rolling Stones at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Joe Walsh joined them as their guest.
Joe Walsh made a surprise appearance with the Eagles for a version of his own “Rocky Mountain Way.”
Walking offstage after the show: Randy is behing Eagles’ manager, Irving Azoff (in glasses).
EAGLES
Milwaukee County Stadium
June 8, 1975
The Eagles and Rufus opened for the Rolling Stones. Joe Walsh joined the Eagles as their guest.
EAGLES
Mississippi River Festival, Edwardsville, IL
July 29th, 1975
J.D. Souther was also on the bill. The Eagles drew the second largest crowd ever at the festival, which was sponsored by Southern Illinois University/Edwardsville (SIUE), with 29,700 attending. The Who drew the largest in 1971 with 31,000.
The show was not without problems. Festival officials had only planned for a crowd of 12,000, but twice as many showed up. There were traffic jams, fights, and property damage.
Randy backstage before the show
There were more problems behind-the-scenes. The Eagles’ road manager “threw a tantrum” because the food provided to the group was not what they requested:
“The road manager threw a tantrum because the food furnished for the group was cold cuts, not hot fried chicken. He complained about stage security. The group itself couldn’t decide if they wanted a sound check or not.” (Alton Telegraph, July 30, 1975)
Nevertheless, backstage photos show the band’s dining area with what appears to be fried chicken remnants on the table.
They also performed a sound check. Photo by Ken Regan.
During the afternoon of the concert, Ken Regan took a series of photos of the band at the local Holiday Inn as well as backstage at the festival site:
See more photos below:
Mississippi River Festival Setlist (partial)
Take It Easy
Peaceful, Easy Feeling
Outlaw Man
Desperado
James Dean
Witchy Woman
Already Gone
Best Of My Love
Randy onstage at MRF:
Review from the Edwardsville Intelligencer:
Eagles in Japan, 1976
An overview of the Eagles’ first tour of Japan, including the first known live recording of “Take It To The Limit.”