It was indeed one hell of a night for Joe Walsh and his fans on Wednesday (June 22) in suburban Detroit.
The veteran rocker’s stop at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in Independence Township, Mich. — part of Walsh’s One Hell Of A Night Tour with Bad Company — marked the first visit by an Eagles member to the home town of his late bandmate Glenn Frey since Frey’s death on Jan. 18.
As he’s done ever other night on the tour, Walsh played the Eagles’ “Take It To The Limit,” but instead of just dedicating the song to Frey, Walsh announced he was “dedicating the entire show…to my brother and my fellow bandmate.” The song was accompanied by video screen footage of an eagle soaring in the sky and finished with a photo of the Eagles.
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For the encore, meanwhile, Walsh added a portion of the Eagles’ “Heartache Tonight,” which he had not done at other shows, declaring “That’s for you, Glenn” at the end. He then surprised the crowd by bringing Keith Urban and The Voice finalist Laith Al-Saddi on stage for “Rocky Mountain Way;” Walsh had played the song with Al-Saadi on a final week episode of The Voice while Urban was in town to play the same venue on Thursday night.
Frey grew up in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak, where he played in bands such as the Subterraneans, The Four Of Us and the Mushrooms and sang backup on Bob Seger’s “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man.”
Walsh and Frey played the amphitheater during June of 1993 as part of their Party Of Two Tour, shortly before the Eagles reunited.