Andrew Gold opened both shows. Steve Miller made a guest appearance on the 19th.
June 19th
“Randy Meisner, the bass guitarist, lifted the show to a new level of excitement with his singing of ‘Take It To The Limit.'” Scott Cain, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 20th, 1977
June 20th
“Bassist Randy Meisner gave an outstanding singing performance on ‘Take It To The Limit.'” Bill King, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 21st, 1977
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.
The Eagles during a sound check in Edwardsville. Photo by Ken Regan.
PHOTO SESSION
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. Note that Randy is wearing a red shirt with a white tornado on the front. The shirt matched the band’s stage passes at the time, which also were also red with a white tornado logo. Randy’s ex Jennifer Meisner and their son Dana recalled that the tornado may have meant “whirlwind” or something similar. Below is one of Randy’s stage passes from 1975:
You can see Henley’s stage pass on his denim shirt in the last photo.
The Eagles played Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario on March 30th, 1977. It was the second-to-last date on the first leg of their 1977 Hotel California tour. Jimmy Buffett was the opening act.
Although Paul McGrath, from the Toronto Globe & Mail, criticized the Eagles for just standing around onstage, he did compliment Randy, albeit backhandedly, for bringing some much-needed humanity to the show, with his dazzling performance of “Take It To The Limit”:
“When humanity breaks through, it can often dazzle. Randy Meisner’s vocals were a case in point: he appeared throughout to be only passingly interested in the performance, but then stepped to the front for his impassioned vocal on ‘Take It To The Limit.’ Only then was it apparent that this man’s seeming disinterest actually hid some real emotion.”
Paul McGrath, Globe and Mail, March 31, 1977 (see full review below)
Below: Randy with his Rickenbacker 4001 at Maple Leaf Gardens.
At a reception following the show, the Eagles were presented with a platinum record for Hotel California. Below they are photographed at the gathering with representatives from WEA (the international distributor for Asylum) and Toronto radio stations, CHUM & CFTR. Randy is not pictured.
The Eagles performed two nights in a row at the Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas on July 7-8, 1977. These shows marked the next to last concert appearances of Randy Meisner with the band.
Photographer Gary McGuire was Glenn Frey’s first cousin (read an interview with him here.) Photos from this session were used in the Hotel California Songbook. There are group photos plus single photos of Glenn and Randy.
