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:

Eagles, Edwardsville, IL, July 29, 1975

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:

1975, Bernie Leadon, Don Felder, Don Henley, Eagles, Edwardsville, Glenn Frey, Illinois, Mississippi River Festival

The Eagles
Spring Fest, Edwardsville, IL
May 25, 1973

The Eagles appeared at Spring Fest on the campus of Southern Illinois University/Edwardsville (SIUE).
Livingston Taylor (James’ brother) opened.

The previous night, Glenn Frey had been arrested following the Eagles’ concert at Mershon Auditorium in Columbus. He was charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana and public intoxication.

Mugshot

Glenn made no mention of the arrest in a backstage interview in Edwardsville. He talked about the difference between “superfans,” who want to get as close to the stage a possible, and music fans, who stay a few rows back because they want to hear the music.

Randy Meisner, Bernie Leadon, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey were photographed in the afternoon prior to their appearance at Spring Fest.
Photo by John Milazzo (Focus magazine, October 1974)