Eagles -
Farewell I Tour
(Live From
Melbourne)
Performance
Production
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Eagles -
Farewell I Tour
Performance
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Hell froze over in 1994 inspiring the Eagles to reunite for the first time in over fourteen years. The reunion produced a tour, a new album, and a concert video, which was aptly named Hell Freezes Over. The DVD version of this video, released in 1999, is still considered to be one of the definitive DTS surround soundtracks for a concert video. Only a handful of others have even come close to its marvelous surround sound mix. Ten years later we have the Eagles Farewell I Tour, whose name both mocks many of their fellow elder statesmen who always seem to have that one last tour in them (hello Ozzy...hello Kiss), and also lets you know that this is most likely not their final farewell tour. I only found Hell Freezes Over to be an average performance, and my expectations for this one were a little higher. My real curiosity was whether this DVD would live up to the superior production quality of Hell Freezes Over. Damn if it doesn't! The Eagles Farewell I Tour is a sprawling two-disk package featuring a career spanning 30-song set - matched only by Rush's 30-song Rush In Rio set. And they have all of those epic 15-minute prog numbers too. If only every concert DVD was this generous. This "first" Eagles farewell tour was recorded at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on November 14, 2004, and you may have already caught most of it on PBS during their pledge week a while back. The four remaining Eagles looked pretty good for their ages, although a small army of stylists and makeup artists backstage probably helped their cause. They started the show dressed in some very dapper suits, sans the ties of course, and then changed into some jeans and other more casual attire during the first set intermission. Joe Walsh's casual attire included a pair of his trademark eyesore pajama bottoms (or are they those baggy bodybuilders pants?) he seems to enjoy wearing so much. He looked rather conservative here compared to the fluorescent yellow shirt, matching sneakers, and black beret he wore at the Crossroads Guitar Festival last year. But, hell, he can get away with it, because he nearly stole that show from about 30 of the worlds greatest guitarists, and he was certainly the best thing going at this Eagles show. There is not much for Eagles fans to complain about here. The set list runs like an ultimate Eagles' greatest hits package, and also features many of Henley and Walsh's solo hits. For me, actually, most of the solo material was the highlight of the concert. The songs were all meticulously performed and, for the most part, sounded exactly like their studio counterparts. That is if you can forgive the HORN SECTION blasting away on every song. Now I love a good horn section as much as the next guy, but I don't recall "Life In The Fast Lane", and "Hotel California" ever sounding like a frigging Chicago song. Sometimes it worked, when they were used minimally to enhance the songs, other times it was more of a distraction like with the two previously mentioned numbers. Disk two of the set, really gets things rollin', as Walsh starts to strut his stuff more. Within the span of seven songs you get the incredible trifecta of "Life's Been Good", "Funk #49", and "Rocky Mountain Way". Don Felder was unceremoniously fired from the band in 2001, and his presence was sorely missed here. His fill in, Steuart Smith, faithfully reproduces Felder's guitar parts, but he was boring and had no chemistry with the rest of the band. To his defense, that is probably how they wanted it. I sure would have loved to see Walsh and Felder spar on the "Hotel California" guitar solos one last time though. Henley, Frey, Walsh and Schmit were backed by an accomplished eight-piece band, which really gave the live versions a full and vibrant sound. This worked especially well with all of Henley's solo material, such as "The Boys Of Summer" and "All She Wants To Do Is Dance", which sounded much better than I ever remembered. Another surprising highlight was Frey's Miami Vice contribution "You Belong to the City" which blew away the original version thanks to some outstanding sax work and Joe Walsh's fuzzed out guitar solos. My only real complaint about the overall performance is that many of the Eagles' classics were just played too safely - no improvisation, no freshness, no fun. Some parts were simply boring. The DVD is beautifully packaged in a tri-fold digipack that fits inside a rugged, gold-colored sleeve featuring some attractive embossed artwork on the cover. The production quality of this DVD is stunning in all aspects. A brilliantly shot, Hi-Def, widescreen picture; a dynamic DTS surround sound mix that lives up to the high standards of its Hell Freezes Over predecessor; and an 11-minute Eagles' interview to round out the affair. It would have been nice to see some backstage footage, and maybe a discography and band bio considering how long and storied this band's history has been. Hopefully it will be easier to score tickets for the Farewell II Tour, but then again who the hell can afford to soar with the Eagles anymore since they insist on setting new ticket price records every time hell freezes over. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - August 2005 |
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Running Time: 164 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - June 2005 |