Eagles feather their nest again (News.Com)
Sunday, November 14, 2004 at 10:42AM 
Link: NEWS.com.au | Eagles feather their nest again (November 15, 2004).
US 70s band the Eagles began their record-breaking concert run with a triumphant performance at Rod Laver Arena last night.
Their Farewell 1 show is a joyous ride through timeless pop and rock, retold with sincerity and a genuine sense of celebration.
"Well, well, well, we are back in Melbourne," singer-guitarist Glenn Frey told the crowd.
"Welcome to the Eagles' Farewell 1 tour, moving right into Farewell 2, I'm sure, at some point."
The Eagles, which has two of the biggest selling albums of all time, played a hits-packed three hour-plus set.
"We feel like we don't have a lot to prove any more," singer-drummer Don Henley told a media call on Saturday.
"We are not so concerned with our place in the pantheon of rock."
That said, the musicianship and spirit of Farewell 1 puts all competition to shame.
It is a set of light and shade, essential for the show's pace and crafted nuance.
Henley starred early. His stark vocal on Wasted Time was desolate melancholy.
Bassist-singer Timothy B. Schmit gave a sad tenderness to I Can't Tell You Why, arguably one of the Eagles' finest.
Guitarist-singer Glenn Frey debuted a new song, No More Clouds, apparently inspired by UK singer-songwriter David Gray. Frey said he was turned on to Gray by a friend, US golfer Brett Quigley.
"I dug his groove," Frey said on Saturday. "I wanted to write something of that flavour, but it's not a David Gray copy. It's much more country."
It follows Gray's penchant for bittersweet melodies with delectable twists and turns.
Hopefully, the Eagles might adopt Gray's expert blend of folk and electronica in the recorded version.
Guitarist-singer Joe Walsh also debuted One Day At A Time, a song that acknowledges 10 years on the wagon.
"A lot of the guys I ran with didn't make it," Walsh said.
"One Day At A Time is about my life experience, now, and then. It's meant to be a message of hope to anybody that is in trouble," he said.
Live, each player is a revelation. Walsh, particularly.
His life, or former hard living, are a compelling undercurrent in the commentary-parody, Life's Been Good, or the horn-and-harmony collision of In The City.
"It was a 24-hour-a-day, all-consuming runaway beer truck," Frey told the media call of their legendary partying.
Henley: "The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom. We had to do pretty much what we had to do."
Last night's show is the first of three being recorded for a live DVD. US network heavyweights were at Laver to assist with production.
Film crews are shooting Melbourne footage to be included in a US television broadcast of The Eagles' show.
At the weekend, crews followed Walsh into several guitar shops. "We hope to put a little bit of Melbourne in there," Walsh told the Herald Sun.
The feeling is mutual. Last night, and for four remaining nights, Melbourne is soaring with The Eagles.
Farewell 1 is now the frontrunner for concert of the year.
The Eagles perform tonight, Wednesday and November 26 and 27.
Reader Comments (1)
They started with their hymn to survival, The Long Run, with Don Henley down the front urging on Joe Walsh. Then came Glenn Frey's first showcase, a deeply moving New Kid In Town, before Henley returned to centre stage for a harrowing Wasted Time. And so it went on.
Henley's drumming and percussion playing was magnificent. He gave it everything. Vocally his highlight was probably One Of These Nights, his voice now deeper and close to baritone pitch. The exuberance of The Boys Of Summer fell slightly flat, but Sunset Grill was edgy and taut, while Dirty Laundry was a furious, sarcastic polemic against tabloid media. Henley wielded guitar during these songs with aplomb. For his 'big' songs, Life In The Fast Lane, Hotel California and Desperado, he pulled out all the stops and sang like a man possessed.
Frey's voice was as ever smooth and liquid. He doesn't do the pyrotechnics that Henley does but he has superb range and control. He infused his solo hit, You Belong To The City, with an urgent falsetto that drove the song to its sizzling climax with Walsh's guitar heroics. Elsewhere during other classics like Already Gone and Heartache Tonight he sang with casual arrogance. He also did his trademark 'miming' his colleagues' lyrics as well as providing some perfect harmonies.
Walsh, the crowd favourite, has never sounded better. His new anthem to survival, One Day At A Time, was uplifting and raucous, as well as being a welcome return to the Eagles' country rock roots. He played fit to burst on Life's Been Good and Rocky Mountain Way.
Tim Schmit got a rousing reception for his two lead vocals, I Can't Tell You Why and Love Will Keep Us Alive, which was much rawer and far less airbrushed than the recorded version. His affability and good humour contrasts well with the others' 'rock star' personas.
Perhaps the highlight of the show was the acoustic bracket at the start of the second half, featuring Tequila Sunrise, a new song by Frey called No More Cloudy Days, the exquisite five part harmonies of Hole In The World, Love Will Keep Us Alive and Frey's superb Take It To The Limit. On first hearing, No More Cloudy Days sounded special, a hymn to commitment.
The Eagles are the Eagles. There is no other band to rival them. They left their audience in total awe.