The Hughes Stadium Eagles Concert in Sacramento was Joe Walsh’s second appearance in the U.S. as an official Eagle. His first appearance was at Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Feb. 12, 1976. The Sacramento concert was May 1, 1976 at Hughes Stadium (an outdoor stadium on the campus of Sacramento City College) and was a fundraiser for ‘Yes on 15’ in California. There were 24,000+ in attendance at this concert.
Along with the Eagles, both Linda Ronstadt and Jimmy Buffett appeared on stage. Jimmy replaced Jackson Browne who was to have appeared but had to cancel. Jackson’s wife had just died by suicide in March 1976.
Like a lot of people I’m not really a fan of Jane Fonda, but she was in Sacramento for this Prop. 15 show and there is video of her meeting Glenn Frey, courtesy of the Sacramento Time Traveler, so I’m including that short video below. The video also includes shots of the crowd and the venue area, but no footage of the actual concert was available.
This Hughes Stadium concert was part of the One Of These Nights Tour, and the Jerry Brown Benefit concert at the Capital Centre was just two weeks later on May 14, 1976.
Eagles on stage for Hughes Stadium concert
Glenn Frey and Don Felder
Don Felder & Joe Walsh
Geno Michellini of radio station KSFM in Sacramento and Jimmy Buffett
Linda Ronstadt being escorted to the stage
Ads for ‘Yes on 15’ benefit concert
Jackson Browne was originally on the bill for the concert, but he had to cancel and was replaced with Jimmy Buffett.
Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, CA) – Apr. 18, 1976
Express (Sacramento City College student newspaper) – Apr. 29, 1976
Flyer describing Proposition 15
Double sided and folded to 8 1/2″ x 11″
“Californians for Nuclear Safeguards (CNS), proponents of Proposition 15, sponsored the benefit.”
“Saturday’s concert raised money for Prop. 15’s media advertisements. The groups performed without pay and 90% of the backstage workers were volunteers, according to a CNS spokesman.”
Express (Sacramento City College student newspaper) – May 6, 1976
Sacramento Union (Sacramento, CA) – Apr. 8, 1976
Sacramento Bee ( Sacramento, CA) – Apr. 8, 1976
Sacramento Union (Sacramento, CA) – Apr. 13, 1976
LA Times (Los Angeles, CA) – Apr. 17, 1976
This was Joe Walsh’s first ‘mainland’ appearance with the Eagles. He had actually already appeared as part of the band in the Blaisdell concert in Honolulu, Hawaii on Feb. 12, 1976.
The State Hornet (Sacramento State University) – Apr. 27, 1976
Express (Sacramento City College student newspaper) – Apr. 29, 1976
Rock-N-Roll News Magazine (Sacramento, CA) – Apr. 30, 1976
Sacramento Union (Sacramento, CA) – May 1, 1976
“More than 24,000 people jammed into Hughes Stadium yesterday, sprawling over the athletic field and filling the seats to hear performers Linda Ronstadt, (inset), country rock group the Eagles, and Jimmy Buffett.”
Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, CA) – May 2, 1976
“The Eagles, who offered some of the longest arrangements – and tasty ones at that – played a total of 17 numbers in an hour and 49 minutes onstage.”
Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, CA) – May 2, 1976
Sacramento Union (Sacramento, CA) – May 2, 1976
LA Times (Los Angeles, CA) – May 4, 1976
This article mentions that the Hughes show was Joe Walsh’s first as an Eagle in the U.S. Actually, Joe’s first appearance as an Eagle was on Feb. 12, 1976 in Honolulu.
Jane Fonda meets Glenn Frey at his trailer
Hughes Stadium
Stadium opened in 1928
