Listen to the Eagles Encore That Foreshadowed Their Guitar-Smashing, Onstage Confrontation in 1980

When you’re a band dealing with an onstage confrontation like the Eagles were in 1980, sometimes the only place that tension can go is into the music (and an unlucky nearby Takamine acoustic). The band’s fateful performance at a benefit event for California senator Alan Cranston on July 31, 1980, would prove to be the Eagles’ final show until their 1994 MTV special.

The title of the special taping was called Hell Freezes Over, which seemed like an appropriate estimate for when the Eagles would get back together after their 1980 fight. For most groups, these onstage confrontations would fade into obscurity with time.

But the Eagles aren’t most groups, and their prolific live recordings meant that there is sonic evidence of the tense edge they imbued into their set as they grew more anxious with anticipation of a post-show fight.

This Eagles Encore Foreshadowed Their Tense Confrontation

To be fair to politician Alan Cranston and his family, the fact that the Eagles were playing a political benefit show wasn’t exactly the impetus of their onstage confrontation. Tensions in the band were already in the process of reaching a fever pitch. The fact that the Eagles had varying opinions over whether they should perform at such an event only exacerbated their frayed nerves. In his memoir Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles, guitarist Don Felder recalled meeting Cranston and his wife, Norma Weintraub. Felder told Weintraub, “Nice to meet you,” and added, “I guess,” under his breath.

“I think Glenn [Frey] overheard me say that,” Felder wrote. “I had no idea who they were, nor did I care, for that matter. Glenn found me in the dressing room and started yelling at me for what I said. Trying to keep the peace, I finally walked out.”

But the conflict didn’t stop there. Frey continued to provoke Felder, even after the band had started their set, saying things like, “I’m gonna kick your a** when we get off the stage.” The unease only grew as the band progressed into their final encore songs, the first of which was Joe Walsh’s “All Night Long.” From an outsider’s perspective, the band sounded like their usual, air-tight selves. But peer a little closer into each individual’s performance, and you can almost sense how strained the dynamics on stage must have felt at the time.

Felder Chose Smashing His Guitar Over Fighting Frey

Just as Glenn Frey promised, the bandmates’ fight continued after they completed their set. Rather than get in a physical altercation with one another, Don Felder opted to have a stagehand set a Takamine acoustic guitar offstage for him to smash. “That was the only time I ever did that,” Felder said. “Joe used to do that all the time when he got really upset. When you break a guitar, it’s an expensive mistake, for one thing. The other thing is, you could hurt yourself with splinters and stuff, or hurt somebody around you. It’s not a very safe or healthy way to relieve your frustration.”

After Felder was done smashing his guitar (which Alan Cranston and his wife happened to witness while leaving the venue), Frey retorted to the guitarist, “Typical of you to break your cheapest f***ing guitar.”

But then again, it was Frey who hooked the band up with a Takamine sponsorship that required every band member to play that specific brand of guitar. So, it stands to reason that Felder was killing two birds with one stone with his physical outburst.

Photo by Kent/Mediapunch/Shutterstock