Eagles Media Day
2003
What exactly are these clips?
When a band is ready to hit the road, they obviously want to promote their tour. Their objective is to get people out to the show...to sell tickets. Rather than travel to each city to do promotion, band members sit in a studio. Local television stations connect with them via satellite and ask questions for a few moments. What must be nice about this is the band members get to get all of their interviews done in a short period of time. I don't know how it was done, but if you knew when this was happening, you could tap into the satellite feeds and watch all of the band's interviews. The only drawback for fans watching these satellite feeds is that we can't hear the questions. That's okay, though, because I think it easy enough to guess.
Here are the media day feeds from 2003. At the time, I took some notes. If I have some for a particular feed they are listed under the clip. Enjoy!
Boston WXFT
- Polite talk about the weather and how cold the studio is
- No flashy special effects BUT they have good lights, good video. It's important that everyone is seen and highlighted.
- They try to have a clean stage.
- Glenn has seen Springsteen and McCartney in LA. His seats were back from the stage, but his enjoyment was not inhibited.
- Joe thinks it will be nice to play in Boston where it doesn't smell like a hockey team.
- They reminisce about the last time they played Boston in the rain.
- They stick to a set list because there are four lead singers.
- They may move a song during the first 3 or 4 shows, but after that, it's set.
- If the band tried to improvise, that would be scary
- Joe: We know what the crowd wants to hear because they yell it for three hours.
- Joe: They've been thrown out of some of the finest hotels in the world
- Glenn will be at Brookline country club the afternoons of the show, if he can get a member to sponsor him.
- Joe now golfs??
Buffalo WKBW
- Don has good memories of Buffalo--the crowd was vocal and demonstrative
- The secret to success is loving what you do.
- This band has never been about hair, clothes, pyrotechnics or prancing about on stage.
- The reporter thinks one of them is Glenn
- Their role model is the Rolling Stones who have been around since the Jurassic period.
- Record companies don't sign artists who are equipped to go the distance.
- Irving deserves a lot of credit for their success.
- They think about what they have to do "next"...not what their best work is.
Columbia, SC WIS NBC
- Glenn is eating so we have to wait
- The reporter (and Glenn) have been stealing Joe's licks for 30 years.
- Glenn wants to know where the best BBQ place in greater Columbia is.
- Glenn thinks his first time in Columbia was w/ Linda Ronstadt
- Their wives spend their money faster than they can make it and their kids are driving them crazy so that's why they are going on the road <G>
- Now they are breaking up August 23rd and 24th...depending on when the slow news day falls
- The logistics of getting around (due to the state of the world) have gotten nightmarish.
- Felder Question? They sound better now. There's more room for Joe to play. Stueart and the horns punch up the set. Glenn, "We're still the four guys who sing. We definitely sound like the Eagles"
- Joe: There's not a place in current radio for music period.
- They are just making an Eagles record. Fans want to hear the songs they've written. acoustic, electric, mountainy, r&B types of music are on the album. The thing that makes it an Eagles record is their vocals.
- Glenn says they MAY play a song or two from the new album.
- Glenn is doing normal stuff (Car pool) and may act at a parent-teacher conference.
Dallas KDFW
- The ear thing came out
- You never know...with this band it could be the last tour.
- The sleet ruined everything
- Things are better now. A lot less tension...though there is some.
- We get paid for "shameless pandering to the masses"
- When you walk out on stage and hear the roar of the crowd, the songs become brand new again.
- Don was just in Dallas taking out the garbage.
- He lives in Dallas for family reasons.
- Playing the hometown and having guests and family there adds joy and tension to the gig.
Fox National Feed
- Why are you touring? This is what we do.
- Rehearsing for a couple of weeks before the tour (mid-April)
- Songs in similar vein to what has been done before -- Love Songs, Quasi Political, Commentary on Record Industry, a nice cross section of American life.
- Don says it will be out early next year.
- They are all conscious of what is going on the world. Those things will filter into what their songs. They don't want to make a big Soapbox. Don says that is boring for people.
- Don is hoping for the birth of another counter-culture. There are rumblings.
- Outrage should be channeled so that it creates action. Unfocused anger is bad.
- They are glad and grateful when younger people come to the concerts.
Greensboro, NC WXII
- Big Audio problems
- They never said it was their final tour.
- Going to Russia, Finland and Italy for the first time were really interesting.
- The band is more interested in the future than they are in the past.
- A lot of the new country groups remind them of themselves (musically)
Houston
- Starts in the middle of the interview
- The band is looking forward to playing bigger cities.
- They don't like to change stuff too much because people get attached to the original arrangements
- The Farewell is tongue in cheek. They plan on breaking up on August 10th....then do another reunion and then do Farewell #2
- There's great food in Houston
- It's hot there.
Indianapolis--WXIN
- July
- Farewell I was Don Henley's idea.
- The ticket prices will compensate the shopping problems their wives have. Ticket prices aren't as high as McCartney or the Stones.
- They really like their lineup. Things have never been better in terms of band morale.
- They have a lot of fun.
- They are about 1/3 of the way through (they are just kidding).
- It will be finished in time for next summer.
Los Angeles KTLA
- This station is part of morning in the Frey house.
- People need labels.
- Glenn played in the only suburban surf band in Detroit. They didn't do very well.
- We treat our music like fast food
- Today's pop stars are too over exposed.
- They like doing satellite interviews. It's better than flying to Boston where it is 10 degrees.
- They are all stubborn, independent individuals. Their birth signs collide.
- Joe only quit the band 3 or 4. Glenn only left once or twice.
- They will play Staples and the "pond"
- They don't have a clue why people like their songs.
- They probably won't mention any political stuff during the concert. It's not the right forum.
- American artists are the most unprotected in the entire world in terms of copyright.
- Tim is the glue to the band.
- Tim is propping Don up
- "There's always been crap, Sam"
- They have a lot of leather equipment fans can buy
Memphis WPTY
- Mics get cut a minute or so into it.
- Still fun to watch
- Don and Tim offer to just do the interview themselves
- Don says the album will be out around this time next year.
- A lot of things going on in Eagleland / Eagleworld
- Some people still think the Eagles have broken up
- Don loves the southern hospitality and ribs in Memphis
Orlando WESH
- They haven't been feeling too well...so they called it Farewell I
- Glenn gets inspired by the crowd
- Something is mutating.
- What Joe says makes sense to Glenn
Richmond WWBT
- It's fun when Joe takes over at the end of the show.
- History of the band for dummies
- Bring your lunch (or dinner) it's a 3 hour show.
San Antonio KMOL
- Okay...Glenn is a total geek. 'nuff said.
- There is a discussion of who the terrorist they caught looks like. "The bass player from Canned Heat"
- Going on tour is fun.
- Farewell II will be next summer?
- The biggest misconception about the band is that they don't get along
- Being on TV is not very exciting. Joe is grateful that he's just a musician
San Diego XETV
- Fans aren't tired of them
- California and Arizona is Eagle Country
- Joe had a couple of tumors removed in December, but he's got 6 months left. (joking)
- Glenn says he won't need a flu shot this year.
- They couldn't be like the Osbournes ... they sleep too much.
- Joe had open heart surgery in November, but he's good now. He had a walker. This is the assisted living tour I
- It doesn't mean we're done because we're dead.
- Glenn laughs incredibly hard.
San Francisco - KRON
- Glenn is amused by the name of the station
- Lots of nodding
- Steuart Smith is a "monster"
- The Eagles are not about videos or attitude.
- Glenn likes the Dixie Chicks. They are "fun"
- Joe and Glenn were born joined at the nose.
- Glenn's family just went to Cabo San Lucas....they've heard of the Hotel California. None of them have ever been there. It never was the Hotel California. "As far as I know, we haven't sued the guy"
- They've got a great idea for a chain of restaurants or a Vegas casino.
Tampa WFLA
- They are just waking up
- Congrats on winning the super bowl
- They have a horn section! (gasp...who knew!?!)
- Florida fans are boisterous....Jimmy Buffett and the Allman Brothers got them that way. Joe thinks it is the water
- Joe doesn't know if he has a Maserati, but he does have a jeep. He doesn't go very many places. Isn't that exciting??
- They've tried other things (workplace...part of society) and have failed miserably.
- Farewell 1 is just in case : )
Washington D.C. WJLA
- They are more grateful and appreciative of what they have
- They don't sit around and apply the word brilliant to themselves.
- It feels good to look back at their body of work
- They are not good dancers. They loiter on stage.
- There's always a lot of crap on the radio. Don thinks Norah Jones deserved to win the Grammys
- Today's music is bombast and braggadocio
- Conscious decision to play indoors. Stadiums have problems...people can't see or hear. There's more magic indoors. The crowd feeds off itself. It makes better use of their lighting equipment.
- Arenas are the perfect size.
- Musicians are citizens and taxpayers. They aren't going to talk politics right now. They want people to come to the shows to forget about the problems in the world and hear some good music.
- The concert experience brings people together.
West Palm Beach WPEC
- Otis Frey's full name is Otis Lincoln Douglas Frey (like the debates)
- The band is happy they aren't contractually signed to a record company
- They are better because they got their personal act together. They are no longer impaired
- Florida crowds "rock"
BONUS - CNN
And what took place PRIOR to the CNN interview