Cutty's Blog

Last night I attended the second Adelaide show of the Eagles Farewell I tour. For the second time in a week I was blown away by a concert.

Apparently the crowd was much smaller than the previous night, but that just made things more intimate. I read a review from one of the Sydney shows in which the reviewer canned the Eagles for being 'too produced' and that there was no spontaneity in the show. What crap! He obviously never went to the Hell Freezes Over concerts because I reckon they were definitely 'going through the motions' on that tour. This time was so much better!

Perhaps the Sydney reviewer left after the first half because it consisted of mainly slower numbers and the band could be said to have been doing it by numbers. Whether it was deliberate or not, the sound guys didn't seem to quite have the mix right and it took a few yells from some of the crowd before they turned up the master level so that those of us in the cheap seats could hear properly. Musically though there were no complaints with my favorite being Wasted Time - still one of my top 3 Eagles tunes.

However the second half ripped it up. It started with an acoustic set with Love Will Keep Us Alive and Take It To The Limit. Then they did a heap of their solo numbers. God I love Boys of Summer. Don made a crack about having a beach here named after him but that he wanted a different one because of the sharks hanging about there. A reference to a story in yesterday's paper about a 12m white pointer hanging around off Henley Beach here in Adelaide.

Joe Walsh was just amazing on guitar. When they launched into Glen's 'You Belong To The City', he pulled out a blistering lead break which, if it was highly rehearsed then he is a master at making it look improvised! Same again later when they played Joe's 'Industrial Love Song' - Life's Been Good. For a guy that looks, moves and speaks like an addled junkie, he can still pick a mean lead break.

I had intentions of listening to 'Hole In The World' before the concert but never got round to it. Last night was the first time I heard it and to hear it that way live was just brilliant. It was pretty much acapella and the lyrics are haunting and very insightful. Brilliant stuff.
The show finished after 3 hours with 3 encores and peaked with Hotel California, the crowd singing along with Don on Desperado and finally the place erupted with Take It Easy. If I can still sing half as good as these guys when I'm their age I'll by happy.

The band looked tired after such a huge tour of Oz and with still 2 shows to go. Don's voice struggled a couple of times but that just made the whole show all the more raw and less 'produced'. Glenn looked like he was having trouble standing up straight at times - old age ? After 32 years there were plenty of songs they left out and the show could easily have gone for another 3 hours.

When I heard the cost of the show, I thought twice about paying the money. But, I reckon the $140 per ticket was well worth it. Just brilliant guys,please don't stop now and come back to Oz for a Farewell II tour soon!