27 February 2011

Eagles


The Eagles made a stop in Singapore on their Long Road Out Of Eden tour, and I took the chance to check them out. It was the best concert I have seen in years, if not ever. Forty years after Glenn Frey and Don Henley first got together, they are still going strong. They played for over three hours - 28 songs - and they were on! They opened with Seven Bridges Road and proceeded through a range of their music from the early '70s to today. [I only had my iPhone and its 2-mp camera, so the shots of the band are not that good; other than the shot of all four opening the show, I added two of the video screen, showing the iconic Hotel California bell tower and Don Henley and Joe Walsh at the end of the show]. Don Henley even gave a shout-out to J.D. Souther, "of Amarillo, Texas", who was a co-writer on many of their hits.


It was cool to see Joe Walsh in full-on antic mode, Glenn Frey playing the capable MC, and Henley occasionally moving off the drum kit to bang the bongos. Walsh played a technically perfect solo to Hotel California - probably something he has done 100,000 times - and added several of his solo and James Gang songs to the mix. They even did a rocking rendition of Henley's Boys of Summer. This was the music I grew up listening to, and it was great to hear it played with such precision and passion so many years later. The overall effect is that it made me miss America that much more.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

remember when you bought don henley a shot?
Happy birthday.