The opening night of the Eagles‘ The Long Goodbye Tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Thursday saw them say goodbye to their friend Jimmy Buffett, who they share a manager with — Irving Azoff.
They did two of his songs for the first time — “Come Monday” and “Fins” with Don Henley saying, “We always liked to laugh and say we survived the ’70s together. Jimmy was one of the hardest working men I ever saw, but he made work look like play. He brought joy to everything he did — including the work. And one of his final wishes was that we keep the party going.” And Joe Walsh added, “Jimmy and I got thrown out of some of the finest hotels in the world.”
The Eagles performed at Buffett’s wedding in Aspen, Colorado in 1977.
The 23 song set also saw Henley mention the recent passing of original Eagle Randy Meisner, saying, “It’s been a rough six weeks for us.” The band dedicated their performance of “Take It to the Limit” to him.
The Long Goodbye Tour continued with another show at the Garden Friday, which did not include the Buffett tribute, and Boston on Monday.
REUTERS PHOTO
