The Forum, a music venue in Los Angeles, has long been an icon in the history of rock 'n' roll touring. After falling on hard times, the venue has been restored and it was announced on Wednesday that The Eagles would play three shows as the first acts to play at the newly remodeled venue.
The band is one of many that made frequent stops at The "Fabulous" Forum during the peak of its touring days. Other frequent visitors included Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones. Both Joe Walsh and Glen Frey were happy to celebrate its rebirth.
"Most of southern California has great memories here, be it sports or concerts, and I'm so happy they saved the building because it was almost too late," Walsh said. "And we just tear everything down and build condos, and it's nice to have a little bit of heritage. It's not for sports, it's for music and it's gonna be state of the art."
"Everybody is gonna want to play here, that's gonna be the phenomenon that we see," Frey said. "It's gonna become the premiere place to play west of the Mississippi, maybe all of the country."
The building of the Staples Center in 1999 meant that both the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers had a shinier venue to play in, taking away a major cash generator for The Forum. Other financial difficulties ensued, and the iconic building was almost demolished to be replaced with condos. However, the Madison Square Garden Entertainment company bought the venue and decided to truss it up, citing that The Forum used to be known as the only venue in the country near Madison Square Garden's renown.
Frey added he hoped to get some big-name opening acts to rival the openers the last few times the band played The Forum in the '70s, playing with Toots and The Maytals and Roy Orbison respectively.
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