Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Eagles concert 1973

The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Eagles concert in Santa Monica, CA was the evening of June 21, 1973. This concert was part of the Desperado tour, and David Blue opened the show for them. Glyn Johns had produced the Desperado album, and it would be their last album with Johns as the producer.

The two black and white stage shots below show everyone but Randy wearing different shirts in each. Randy, however, looks exactly the same in each pic with his chambray shirt. The difference in shirts among the other three is kind of explained in the article below from the Arcadia Tribune. It states “after running and changing into T-shirts, the band came back with ‘Take It Easy’, ‘Early Bird’, and ‘Witchy Woman’ a much extended ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’ and encored with ‘Chug All Night’.”
Arcadia Tribune concert review (Arcadia, CA) – July 5, 1973

A few days later the Eagles had their performance at Wollman Rink in New York City, which aired on the “Good Vibrations from Central Park” TV show.

Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Eagles Concert

Randy Meisner

Flipside Studios photography

santa monica civic 1973 Flipside Studios x

Randy Meisner, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, & Bernie Leadon

Randy Meisner, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, & Bernie Leadon
(after changing their shirts)

Don Henley

Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon

San Bernardino County Sun (San Bernardino, CA) – June 17, 1973

Valley News (Van Nuys, CA) – June 15, 1973

“At Santa Monica Thursday, the Eagles performed all the songs from ‘Desperado’ in sequence. To add to the impact, the group used a scene of a Western main street as a backdrop and a few taped sound effects (such as galloping horses or howling wind) between songs.”

LA Times concert review (Los Angeles, CA) – June 23, 1973

“After several numbers the backdrop was raised to show a complete string section which played on two or three songs including the ‘Doolin Dalton/Desperado Reprise’ — the finale of the first part.”

Arcadia Tribune concert review (Arcadia, CA) – July 5, 1973

“Other outstanding tunes included ‘Outlaw Man’ and ‘Desperado,’ the title cut to their new LP. Group should continue to emerge as major concert attraction.”