No one is too old to rock at this summer’s most buzz-worthy bi-coastal music festival

by Jon Domenick

Last October’s Desert Trip music festival featuring Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Roger Waters, and The Who—derisively termed “Oldchella” and staged at the same Indio, California location as Coachella—proved that classic rock enthusiasts will turn out in droves and pay big bucks to see super groups.

That fact propelled legendary mega manager Irving Azoff to recruit six top acts to participate in the first Classic East and West two-day tunefests: The Eagles; Earth, Wind, & Fire; The Doobie Brothers; Steely Dan; Fleetwood Mac; and Journey. The first takes place at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles July 15 and 16, followed by the second installment on July 29 and 30 at Citi Field in Flushing, Queens.

Only two-day tickets can be purchased, starting at $150 and ranging through the hundreds and thousands, with seats in the A-4 section directly in front of the stage going for a whopping
$17,198. Various VIP packages are available, with perks including parking, VIP check-in, gift bags, food, open bar, celebrity photo opps, commemorative memorabilia, “crowd-free” merchandise shopping, and more.

And, it’s not just the iconic acts generating excitement; it’s who might appear with them.

Michael McDonald, the piano-playing former Doobie Brother, has appeared and recorded with Steely Dan for decades. His unmistakable voice can be heard on “Peg,” “Katy Lied (Dr. Woo),”
and on the Aja and Gaucho albums. He was a frequent featured guest with Dan founders Walter Becker and Donald Fagan during their acclaimed Rock and Soul Revue shows, as was Boz Scaggs. Will McDonald, who reunited with the Doobies in 2005 and 2010, play with one band? Both? Or none, sticking with his solo career? Perhaps not coincidentally, McDonald and Scaggs are scheduled to
appear together a week prior at the Tropicana in Atlantic City.

Perhaps most intriguing of all, Eagles leader Don Henley said, after the death last year of band co-founder Glenn Frey, that The Eagles would never perform under its famous name again, but he and
surviving members Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt were, in the end, recruited by Classic East and West to do so. But who will fill Frey’s role? Will it be frequent collaborator Jackson
Browne? Crosby, Stills, or Nash? Former Eagles musicians Don Felder or Randy Meisner? Anyone who watched the four-part 2013 documentary History of the Eagles knows the drama associated with each possibility, and the answer to that one question alone is possibly worth the price of admission.

Now if only promoters could ensure fair skies above.

Classic East
July 29 & 30 / Citi Field / 123-01 Roosevelt Avenue
Flushing, Queens / ticketmaster.com