Joe Walsh Really Needs To Go Away
This putz planted himself squarely on my shitlist after earning three full strikes.
Strike #1: Last summer Walsh took the James Gang on the road, charging $70 for a balcony seat to see the newly reunited band play short unrehearsed sets.
Strike #2: This summer Walsh has recruited JD and the Straight Shot to open most shows on his solo tour. The “JD” referenced is none other than James Dolan, also known as The Guy Who Killed the Knicks and the Rangers. Check out some of JD and the Straight Shot’s music, and you’ll hear a bar band that shouldn’t be opening for Particle let alone Joe Walsh. What a complete disservice to his fans.
Strike #3: Yesterday Walsh announced that The Eagles will beat a dead horse by releasing a new album and touring yet again. The Eagles were one of the most creative bands of the ’70s, but each reunion tour over the past 13 years has been nothing more than a blatant money grab.
Can’t these guys just keep the new songs for their solo projects instead of pissing on the legacy of the band? Too bad Henley didn’t stick to his guns when he said in 1980 that The Eagles would play again “when hell freezes over.”
Scott Bernstein
Scott Bernstein co-founded Hidden Track in October 2006 and was managing editor until taking over as EiC in January 2008. Scotty also writes for Relix Magazine and curates YEMblog.com.
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I’m with you 100%, Scotty, but Walk Away and Funk 49 are two of the all-time classic classic rock songs, and that alone is enough for me to not hate the guy. But shit man, you laid out a really strong case.
Although both Don Henley, Phil Collins and Sting have had incredibly lame solo careers that last 15 years, Henley’s former band still sucks.
jeez scotty.. i gotta agree with Ace.. but i also agree joe walsh has become bit of a putz.. but i completely DISagree that the Eagles were anything close to be creative. I fucking hate the eagles, man ;)
Joe Walsh’s music (from the ’70s) rocks
I just hate what he’s done lately.
Check out the website for JD and the Sure Shot, it doesn’t get any worse than Jimmy Dolan.
The James Gang show I caught at Red Rocks last year was indeed short at 85 minutes, but it was *clearly* rehearsed, the band played very well and it was one heck of a nostalgia trip. In fact, “The Bomber” was one of my favorite live music moments of 2006. YMWV, as many of the jam bands covered on this site don’t do a thing for me (it’s called “songwriting”!!)
No arguments about JD and the Straight Shot, but…
If you want to rag on a musician, try Bob Weir and his bar band of second stringers either butchering GD tunes or playing them like they’re consistently on valium! RatDog? Try SchwagDog or RatDogShit instead…
The James Gang show I saw was much better than ANY time I’ve seen SchwagDog.
Um, you might want to check your refs…JD is not exactly his opener for the entire tour or anything. He also has Grand Funk, among others, opening for him. Try doing your homework before you go putting the rub on someone. Have a nice day.
JD and the Straight Shot are opening 17 dates on the tour, while Grand Funk is opening one show. I’m gonna stick by “JD and the Straight Shot to open most shows on his solo tour.”
Dare we say…pwned.
I’m going to see Joe tonight at the Starland Ballroom in NJ. I’m a lifelong Joe Walsh fan and I’m thrilled to be able to see him in this intimate venue. Agreed that the James Gang tour was a cash grab. Joe decided to throw his old bandmates a bone. JD and the shots will probably suck, so I’ll time my arrival accordingly. Take Joe off your shitlist!!! How ya doin?
Thank God for the money! Whatever gets JW into an arena and playing is the main thing. I got my money’s worth at Charleston, SC. Normally, “Turn to Stone” is not my favorite but he really put in some interludes. The crowd loved it. Now so you know what you are buying: most older artists play 13 songs, 1 encore never longer than 90 minutes. Santana did barely an hour. All opening bands are uninteresting so it does not matter if GW Bush opened. Lastly, JW wrote 2 songs on new Eagles album so we know two songs are good. While JW songs are different than 70′s they are unique from anything out there right now so give him credit for “uniqueness.” Now, I should be pissed since he did not play Rocky Mountain Way but I felt energized after show and know I got my money’s worth. “Meadow” is my favorite song. His back-up band was young and just right amount of authentic energy. I give show B . I love Joe Walsh.
other things, be wasted and worn out at last, and sometimes, too, be either pink floyd myspace layouts present state of improvement, had the discovery of the American
take a look around, stop, lost woman, funk 49, ashes rain & I,the bomber, walk away, aashton park. who could find room to complain when after more than 30 years Joe got the gang back on the road and rocked out to his old tunes? Man, it was the james gang that first inspired me to pick up a bass and plug it in. Maybe the show could have been longer, but “un-rehearsed”? I saw it differently. At westbury, NY, it took the Gang about three tunes to really warm up, but once they did they blew the doors off the place. The Gang always approached their gigs in a casual but chaotic manner. As someone who has worked with a few bands, I can tell you that you do not reunite after 30 years and not rehearse. That’s professional suicide. Perhaps you saw one of the earlier gigs and they had not quite shaken off the rust. And finally, $70 for a classic reunion show? That’s practically a bargain these days. I’ve almost given up entirely on concerts these days ’cause you can’t get a seat for under a hundred anymore. Take the eagles “Hell” tour. when was that 1985 or something? almost twenty years ago and they were raping people for $85 (nosebleed / Giant Stadium)Maybe some fans found a little to be disappointed about with the James Gang tour, but from my perspective my only response was “THANKS JOE” Just to finally hear The Bomber live was worth the price of admission.
Some inside scoop on JD and the Straight Shot. Met a guy at a party a couple years ago who told me this story:
Dolan is my brother’s boss — my brother does graphic design for his company in NY. Dolan has a band and my brother joined and so did I. It was incredible — Dolan took us to the music store and bought all of us new gear — spent a fortune. Flew us on his private plane down to Miami to rehearse. Had his private chef cook meals for us. Fantastic — it was like being a rock star.
The only problem is that Dolan can’t play for shit! He’s awful! So how do you tell the guy who just paid for everything that he sucks? Even worse, if I quit the band, am I putting my brother’s job in jeopardy?
Then without telling us Dolan signed up the band to play the Christmas party for his company. That means we have to come up with two sets worth of songs that Dolan can actually play!