Matthias' Review
I'm writing this 2 hours after the show ended. It's 1:15
a.m now and I'm still as high as somebody
who has taken an overdose of 'ecstasy' (but hey, I haven't! <g>)
I took notes during the show (20 (very) small pages), so get ready for a
very long review. I'll tell you EVERYTHING!!!
I arrived in Berlin (after a 13,5 hour train drive) at 8:00 a.m and I got
to the arena at about 8:45a.m.
I went to the security and asked him, were I have to wait. He only looked
at me, opened his mouth and
said: "Do you know what time it is now? The doors open at 6:30 p.m" I
answered: " Yes I know that! But
where do I have to wait?" He showed me the door (which was in the end the
wrong one, so he didn't really help me). I was the very first visitor at
the arena. I waited, and waited and waited and at about 11:00 a.m there
came two fans from Holland who visited the Rotterdam Concert two days ago.
They invited me to a drink
(thank you both again :) ) and told me about the Rotterdam show. It was
really nice to talk with them.
Before 11 a.m I went around the arena and counted the trucks, the busses
and everything else what was around the arena. Time went by REALLY SLOW.
There were 4 Busses (each for about 50 - 60 roadies) and 7 40tonne Trucks
and 2 60tonne trucks. On the front of every truck was the sign: "YOU ROCK,
WE ROLL !!!"
I was also able to take a short look into the arena, while two roadies
carried some Boxes into the arena. They had already started with building
the stage, what takes them, according to a security guard 7 to 10 hours
!!!
At the doors I asked another security guard, why the show was moved from
the "Waldbuehne" to the "Max-Schmeling-Halle". He said it was because
every one of the band wanted his own dressing room. But my ticket master
told me it was because of the big light show. And I think that the light
show was the reason (it was huge......)
At about 16:30 was a big sensation: I was just on the way to search a
restroom, when I was almost hit by
a black Mercedes Benz who drove M U C H too fast. Damn, you won't believe
it: it was Glenn on the backseat.
After the black Mercedes there came a silver BMW or also a Mercedes. I
didn't see it. This was Don (I didn't see him in the car. I only saw
later, that he came out of this car) and after the silver car there was
again a black Mercedes. The window on the left side was down and I saw
Timmy
sitting on the backseat.
I saw through a fence how they got out of the cars. Glenn was wearing a
white shirt and he carried a
black suitcase. Timmy was dressed in black and I can't remember what
Henley wore. However, Joe came about 25 minutes later in a black or dark
green Mercedes or a Chrysler. I didn't see it so well, because I was
already again standing at the door.
At 5:10 p.m they started with the soundcheck. (first "seven bridges road,
then "the long run" and this it was. I didn't hear anything else after
that)
At 6:00 p.m there were still only about 200 (!) fans waiting in front of
the door. We all joked that the 6000 other people didn't know that the
concert was moved and that they all were probably waiting at the
"Waldbühne". But in the next half hour when the doors opened they came.
Security checked all backpacks for cameras and weapons, but I was still
able to get my camera in. I ran into the arena AND I WAS IN FIRST ROW. I
was just standing in front of Mr. Joe "Showmaster" Walsh. In the front
row. I couldn't believe it. My first Eagles
concert and I was able to stand in front of Mr. Walsh in the first
row. WOW!!!.......WOW!!!........WOW!!!
The band hit the stage just on time (exactly on 8:00 p.m). They strait
went into "seven bridges road". S. Smith on guitar and the sound was
PERFECT from the first minute on. Then came "The long run". Absolutely
ingenious with the wind instruments (I didn't look what they played
because I was so fascinated of seeing 'my' Don Henley. His voice was
perfect on this one.
S. Smith played lead guitar in about 90% of the songs in the first part of
the show which lasted 65 minutes.
3rd Song: "New Kid in town"
4: Wasted Time --> DH had a little problem with his voice on that. But it
still was a perfect song!
5: Wasted Time Reprise
6: Peaceful easy feeling --> I have NO idea why, but Glenn did NOT shout
"We still love country rock after 30 years" before the first solo. I found
this very interesting because he did this in Moskau and the Millennium
concerts.
7: Pretty maids all in a row --> 'Hi there!/How are ya?/' Don't need to
say anything more. The audience screamed like if Joey would burn!!!
This was about the time, when the audience began to rock with the band.
After that song, Tim came to the microphone and introduced Joe (Quote of
Tim: "Joe Walsh, the one and only..." and something else I can't remember
anymore) Than he said: "This is a song from
HFO". Then they played:
8: Love will keep us alive --> Smith played a Solo that was more than
great in my opinion.
and then:
9: Boys of summer --> I think everyone sang
along. Henley "played" guitar (to be honest: he only held the guitar) and
Smith added a completely NEW Final guitar solo to the song. It was the
VERY BEST live version I've ever heard.
Glenn introduced the 10th song: Take it to the limit --> he said that Don
and he had written this
song for Randy. Glenn played Piano (if I remember right) and Henley this
time really played guitar.
11: Best of my love --> Henley with the same guitar as on TITTL and with
great vocals.
After this one Glenn said to the audience, that there are/were many German
Names in the Eagles: Frey, Schmit, Meisner
Then he maid his "G.W.Bush" joke and about 90% of the audience laughed (me
too :))
Oh, and before I forget it: Glenn also welcomed the Audience in German
Language (!!!) after the long run.
Then they went straight into:
12: Already gone --> Henley really must have taken some
Drum lessons. He played great and the Drums were
very loud (Yeah, that's how I LOVE it :)) The whole audience rocked along
with this song. I think that also the guys who had seats were standing,
clapping hands, screaming .......
13: In the City Henley made/played Percussion on this one and had a
head-microphone on his head. Yeah, this one really rocked!!! I don't know
why, but Joe seems to be the only one who has never problems with his
voice.
14: One of these nights --> Henley on drums, but I didn't see him because
Joe was in my way. After that one Glenn said, that they will be back for
some more song just after a short break.
10 to 15 minutes intermission. The first part was 65 minutes.
2nd part of the show:
15: Witchy woman --> Don't know why Henley loves this song so much. I took
this chance to take some pretty nice pictures (what was very difficult
because straight in front of me was a security guard sitting)
16: Lyin' Eyes --> Glenn introduced this song as a song from "One of these
nights" (??? I don't have this Album, hope I remember this correct !)
17: I can't tell you why --> I MISSED FELDER !!! This was the only song on
which I missed Felder. Felder always played the Solo with so much feeling.
Smith played it very edgy and without any feeling. But Timmy was really
great!!!
18: Walk away --> In my opinion one of the 3 best songs of the show.
Everyone was on their feet.
Joe is THE MAN !!! In this part of the show Joe played about 90% of the
Lead Guitar work. What a great song. More then fantastic. The studio
version is a sh** against this versions.
19: Silent Spring Interlude
20: Tequila Sunrise --> Henley on guitar. Don't need to say anything more.
I think he played about 10
times wrong..........But Glenn was great!
21: Sunset Grill A perfect Henley voice and a great Smith lead guitar.
22: You belong to the city --> Introduced as a song from Miami Vice (I've
never seen this sitcom (?)) Frey on the Electric Piano or Synthesizer or
whatever this was.
23: Life's been good --> And it really has been. This song sounded not
like a song in a concert, it sounded more like a jam-session. Great drums
by Henley; good guitar by Glenn & Smith, and Tim perfect (as always) on
bass . Everyone went crazy during that song. Tim ran from one side of the
stage to the other, Glenn too, and Joe, well, what can I say bout him? He
simply is the showmaster and with this song he was the man of
the night. He created again new lyrics which he "said" so fast (and they
were sooooooooo long), that even Glenn didn't understand what Joe had said
and from Smith to Schmit, everyone had to laugh out loud (and they had to
try hard to stop it....) When Joe sang: "... he's cool" the audience
pointed with the finger on Joe and screamed "HEEEEE'S COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
then:
24: Dirty Laundry everybody shouted "Kick em when they're up" and pointed
with the hand to the ceiling (?... top of the arena); "Kick em when
they're down" - ca. 6500 Hands went down to the floor; "Kick em when
they're stiff, kick em all around" - audience didn't know what to do on
this lyric- line; but Henley knew. I can't describe what he did. You have
to see it. It looked very funny and I hade to grin......
25: Funk 49
This one was so new arranged, that I first didn't know what song this was.
This was also more like a Jam- session. Cool, that's all I can
say......and great Joe lead guitar!
26:Heartache Tonight Sounded like the "Live in Dublin" version. This song
is only Live pretty good!
27 Life in the fast lane You just have to love this song. I have no idea
why, but you just have to love this one.
Again great drums and vocals by Henley. The solo was perfectly played by
Walsh and Smith.
Encore Nr.1 after a 2minutes standing ovation, during which Scott Crago
gave a few bottles of
water to the first row of the audience. I was very thirsty, but I didn't
get one :..(
28: Hotel California Henley on drums and I think it was Glenn (!) who
played the Guitar intro'. Pretty good work of Smith, too !
After this song, Timmy jumped from the stage and gave picks/plecktrons to
the audience. He also shook hands and he SHOOK MY HAND TOO!!! I didn't
even get a pick, but he shook MY hand.
2nd Encore after a 3 minutes standing ovation:
29:. Rocky mountain way Man, this one rocked! Joe played the talk box,
too. Pretty Cool !!!
3rd Encore after a 1 minute standing ovation. (Some people already left
the arena at this timepoint. Maybe they didn't believe that the Band comes
back for a 3rd. Encore...)
30: Take it easy A quote from Frey, how he introduced this song : "Woh,
I've got seven women on my mind!)
31: Desperado Without saying something, Henley began to sing. He let the
audience repeat the verse: "You better let somebody love you" (and we were
great, too, if I'm allowed to say this <g>)
Then the whole band waved to every side of the arena and when Henley and
Walsh went by in front of me (on stage) I shouted "DON-JOE" an they both
looked at me. Henley waved and smiled and Joe pointed with the finger on
me and grinned. They were both about 3 meter in front of me.
OK, it's 4:00 a.m now and the McDonald (in which I wrote this) is closing
now.
My train goes on 7:30 a.m and I've no idea what to do with my time. I hope
y'all had a great day - I really had one !!!
Christiane's Review
Last night's show was just fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had seen them
several times before (mostly on the HFO tour in the States) and was really
pleased to see that they haven't lost their touch at all. I'll spare you
the set list because it was the same as the last shows'. I have to comment
on their outfits though. Don and Timothy were dressed all in black (real
cool) and Glenn in his pink-ish suit and shirt (arghhh, luckily for us he
exchanged that for a black t-shirt in the second half -
much better!!!!!). I know Glenn likes his strange colored suits, but I
still prefer seeing him in Jeans and t-shirt! Joe wore a bright red
t-shirt under his black suit combined with bright red sneakers! What a
hoot! I mean, honestly! Tim even made a comment about seeing more of Joe
and his shoes later on in the show! Hahahaha - very funny.
The sound was great, the crowd's cheers deafening (apparently unlike
many other shows) from the start. I was really impressed with the vocal
achievments of the night! Glenn and Timothy were in great form. Joe his
usual self and Don only missed some high tones at the end of the show.
Glenn was pretty talkative (as usual) and commented on most of their
names being German, said good morning (instead of good evening) in German
and did his usual Bush joke, which didn't really get the reaction I was
hoping for.... but then, we can't all be democrats, right? Cindy Frey and
his kids were having a good time in the audience all night long. I mean,
she gets to see this night after night and she still gets excited about
this like all of us. Real cool!
Unlike some guy in one of the last reviews, I most definitely enjoyed
"Take it to the Limit" sung by Glenn. I know I know, Timothy doesn't
really get nearly enough "showtime" as he deserves, but I loved it anyhow!
Tim's two songs of the evening were perfect as always. I really missed the
band-related extras on "Life's been good", but it was still one of the
hightlights of the evening. I enjoyed seeing Don at the front of the stage
most of the time as opposed to hidden behind his drum set. A joy
for every Don Henley fan. Did great guitar work too.
Al Garth and the rest of the brass troop were great too. Loved the
black hat and sunglasses outfit. Scott Craigo was cute as ever, although I
really liked his long hair during the HFO tour. Somehow, we didn't really
miss Don Felder......
I can't believe it is already over now and we have to wait for ever for
the next tour (took them 5 years since the last Europe tour). I am still
on cloud nine and don't agree with some of those newspaper critics who
find the whole thing boring. How could they? The Eagles rock!!!!
For those of you who still get to go: ENJOY, it's a great happening -
you'll never forget it!
Jenny's Review
First I have to say that
the concert was in the "Max-Schmeling-Hall" and not on the "Waldbühne"!
The doors opened at 6.30pm! A lot of people went into the hall! I was
one of the first who stood in front of the stage! At 8pm the show
started! 30 min before it started a staff crew boy came to me and gave
me "Plektrum" from DON HENLEY and asked me how I´m feeling! I was so
happy that I laughed the whole time!!! And I saw Glenn in the backstage
area!!! The first song was Seven Bridges Road! They performed it a
capella! Very good! Then Glenn welcomed the crowd in german! After and
before every song all screamed and applaused so much!! Tim and Don were
dressed in black, Glenn in something between red and pink and Joe was
dressed in dark-green with an orange shirt! He weared funny neon orange
shoes! Glenn was the main speaker and even Timothy and Joe said
something to us! After they finished the first set with One Of These
Nights they made a break for 25 min! There was such an great audience!!!
I sang every song with them and watched at Tim and Glenn! I smiled the
whole time because it was so perfect and fantastic! I can´t get it that
I saw them live!! The second set was more with all rock songs and now it
was the time for Joe! He was the man of the night!! When Tim sang his
songs all were fascinated! He was perfect! It can´t be better! Don
seemed to have a thore throat and Glenn had a cold but we didn´t get it!
The light show was
perfect and the sound too! Timothy throwed his "Plektrum" in the crowed
and I catched it! They gave 5 encores and the last was Desperado and
Don let the crowed sing the refrain, it sounded great!!!
There was a bad guy in
the crowed and the security guys had to catch him and when Tim and Glenn
saw it they looked very frightened and wanted to stop playing but they
go on because the security cleared all!!! After the last encore I
beckoned to Tim and he beckoned back! I was so happy! When Glenn sang
You Belong To The City he pointed at me! I screamed at him and he was
surprised!! At the End Tim went in front of the stage and shaked hands
with people in the first line! But not mine, he went to the other
side!!! But it was a perfect, fantastic and unwritable event!!
Translation of PNN Review by
Matthias
Only landing is nicer
Hours of the soloists: the californien Band at the Berliner Max-Schmeling-Halle
Article written in German by Rüdiger Schaper
The Eagles were always accused with their qualities were: the perfect
sound, the professionalism of their shows and the perfection of their
country-Pop-Rock Songs, which became Earworms in dozens. .... (a little
bit about the history of the band. I don't translate this because we all
know the bands history :))
In Berlin the Band has a faithful Fan Community. Also if the concert was
moved because of "technical problems" from the "Waldbühne to the Max
Schmeling Halle".And the "Eagles-Company" really has a big technical
cost, to bring songs like "Take It Easy" into the light of eternal
youngness. "Easy listening" is a hard business. They played the old
songs complete; No new material - but a full guitar and keyboard-sound,
pushed from a group of wind-instrument players. And a clear hierarchy:
Spots only for the four Original-Bandmembers, who have stayed in the
band since the 70's: Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey und Timothy B.
Schmit.
"In the Long Run", "New Kid in Town", "Peaceful Easy Feeling": as a soft
upbeat.
..... (a little bit about the Solo-carriers of the bandmembers) ...
And it were the solo hits, which set the energy free. Don Henley, the
drummer and vocalist, made the beginning with his Solo-Hit "Boys of
Summer".
Glenn Frey dedicated the song "Already Gone" to the US-President George
W. Bush - and showed with "You belong to the City" (Saxophone: Al
Garth), that he understands a little bit about Funk and the dark sides
of life, too.
After an intermission, the hits landed like planes on a major airport,
but the songs were much harder. Joe Walsh overtook the commando. "Walk
away" und and specially "Life's been good", made the 'Eagles' to
'Pigeons'. Walsh, ein classical guitar desecrater, somewhere between B.
B. King and Pete Townshend.
..... (again a few lines about the bands history --> Hotel California
time =1976)
And then came "Desperado". Only landing is nicer.
comment by myself (Matthias) : all in all a positve review !
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