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Helsinginsanomat Review (offsite newspaper review) Tuomo
A's review with update
Just got home from the first concert in Helsinki. A great performance from the band. And as the guys from Moscow said, Joe Walsh really stood up from the rest of the group. The first set was a bit disappointing; the sounds and balance of the band was not too good and the volume was a bit low for a rock concert. The second set was a lot better: more volume, more rock īn roll, better playing and one again great vocals and playing from Joe. The set list was almost identical to the gig in Moscow. The only differences were that they opened up with Hotel California, not Seven Bridges Road. Then they jumped straight to New Kid In Town and played the first set as in Moscow. That set lasted just a little over an hour. After a 30-minute intermission the second set was opened with Seven Bridges Road, followed by The Long Run and then exactly as in the set list from Moscow concert. Also the encore was same as in Moscow - they didnīt play Olī 55 here either. Altogether Eagles played 2 hours and 50 minutes - pretty nice, and that made up the expensive tickets very well. Another concert tomorrow. Iīm looking forward hearing Eagles again. It was a long time to wait them to come over here, but the wait was certainly worth it. Updated the morning after the show: I'm not sure you meant by saying that "there was a big difference between the Helsinki and Moscow shows". I wasn't in Moscow, but heard Eagles yesterday. I read the Moscow reviews before the yesterday's concert, watched the show and read the Moscow review again. In my opinion our experiences were pretty much the same.When I said that the first set was a bit disappointing, I meant, that it was ok, but nothing spectacular. The volumes were a bit low, they played mostly "easy" stuff and probably the sound engineer wasn't at his best. For example, the vocal harmonies were hard to hear, Timothy's bass couldn't be heard at all, etc.When the second set began, everything was changed. The volume was much better, as well as the balance. The difference was so obvious, that it, I'm sure, was made on purpose. Also the selection of songs in the second set suited better for a little "harder" sound.The stage was very, very simple, but classy. The lights were also cool and the cameramen did a great job. What I missed the most was Don Felderīs mandolin and steel guitar parts in some of the songs. Steuart Smith did an ok job, played Felderīs solos note by note, but played nothing else than standard guitars. Some of the missing Felder was replaced by a four-man horn section (three saxes and a trumpet), which backed up a few songs, like Hotel California! One of the horn players also played violin in two or three songs, which gave something extra to the Eagles sound.I think this was it. Less than three hours, and I'll hear the band again. If something's changed from yesterday's show, I'll let you know.EAGLES Hartwall Arena, Helsinki 1/6/01 As I write this, it's 15 minutes since the concert ended. Due to the fact that I haven't quite come down yet, you're not going to find much in the way of reliable information in this review. Don't ask me what songs they played. Don't ask me what order they came in. Don't ask me what the boys wore. I haven't got a clue.What I do know, is that I'm totally blown away. I'm as happy as a rabbit in a hole.For those of you who have read this far, I'll try to provide some nuggets of information.The show started 20 minutes late, and one date into the tour, and the setlist has already been stirred up. Hotel California is now the opener, with a gorgeous Spanish-flavored trumpet intro. Boys of Summer and Already Gone have been moved up to the first set, and serve to get the crowd going early on. Wasted Time, Pretty Maids All In A Row, Best of My Love and Love WIll Keep Us Alive were also in the first set (and some other songs. Look, I was perfectly busy being mesmerized at what was going down on stage to bother with remembering such trivialities as the setlist.)After a 75-minute first set, there was a 25 minute intermission, and then they returned to launch into Seven Bridges Road. Just to clear up some confusion around this, they do have the guitars (electric) strapped on for this song, but the only accompaniment for the song was Scott on drums, Al Garth on violin and Steuart Smith on the acoustic.While we're on the subject of backup players, it should be said that the LeRoys are fantastic. Scott Crago is a show on his own behind the drum set. The horn section add nicely to some songs (Sunset Grill, The Long Run). The keyboard players are also good, particularly Michael Thompson who gets loose on the piano for Already Gone.And then, of course, Mr. Steuart Smith. Otherwise known as "The bastard who stole Felder's gig after he was fired by the money-grubbing sons-of-a-goose Henley and Frey." Now, look here. Felder fans may want to sit down and take a deep breath. I'm not belittling Felder's contribution to the band. Hotel California wouldn't have been jackdoodle without his licks.But, life goes on. Felder's gone, Smith is playing his parts. And he does it damn well. If anyone ever had any doubts, I can confirm that Smith is a f**king awesome player. He played his gig to perfection, and added some nice personal touches to several songs. He and Joe traded licks effortlessly.As for a place in the spotlight, he was out front with the rest of the Eagles, had his own microphone, and got a big spotlight every time he had a solo.Back to the Eagles. The boys seemed to be in a good mood, and there was plenty of interaction.Timothy had his two standard songs (Love Will Keep Us Alive and I Can't Tell You Why) and did flawless vocals. Greeted by massive ovations, he was gracious as few to the response. It's nice to see a rock star bow deeply and say "Thank you" like they mean it after every song.Glenn did his job properly, although his vocals on You Belong to the City were weak for some reason. He rebounded nicely with a ripping Heartache Tonight, though. Glenn was also the one who suffered from various technical problems. His microphone was dead for the first few lines of You Belong to the City, his guitar was dead when he tried to strum the intro to a song (Glenn's response: "Oh, hello!" and then he showed his technical aptitude by fiddling with the amplifier), and worst of all, his guitar went dead in the middle of a song, and a roadie had to bail him out.Henley, meanwhile, was all smiles and great vocals. As for his drumming, he must've taken lessons from Scott, because he's banging away like never before. Similarly, he's getting very good at "playing" his guitar. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was plugged in and turned up.Don's greatest moment was of course Desperado. Out front with a single spotlight, he totally stole the show with the last song of the evening. We were even rewarded with a great big smile at the end.While Henley got the end, Joe nabbed the rest of the evening. Playing his guitar like possessed and singing better than ever, The Man was on fire. He looked a bit strained and on a short leash in the first set, he really let loose in the second, burning down the house with Walk Away, Funk #49, Life's Been Good and sterling playing on Dirty Laundry and Life in the Fast Lane. As for being the clown prince of rock & roll, here's a sample lyric from Life's Been Good: "My Maserati does 3 345 456 345 (or something like that) Moving on to other things of interest, their garments were similar to Moscow, only Glenn had binned the blue coat for a more fashionably correct pink-mauvish creation. The technical aspect of the show is great (sound suffered a bit, but that was more due to the arena), and especially the lights were gorgeous, effectively bathing the stage in colours. The tour merchandise is your standard assortment of t-shirts and baseball caps, all at an insane price. The tour book is well worth shelling out money for, though, it's loaded with great pictures and some choice words from Glenn. So there you have it then. My very first Eagles concert. All in all, it was a great evening with fantastic music. This is my idea of heaven.
Eagles 1.6 Friday at Helsinki Hartwall
Arena
First to say, the
concert of the Eagles was absolutely amazing and it was worth every
penny. And it was their first time in Finland. The guys played their
instruments very well, and vocals were right on target, but however,
we could see that some things maybe needs to be fixed for the rest of
the tour - The mixers weren't at the same level with the musicians at
the concert, so the sound wasn't perfect though it wasn't bad either.
The Concert Hall wasn't the reason to this because there are quite
many concerts being organized. But I believe that the second Helsinki
gig, 2.6 had sure better sounds, because they sure learned from the
first concert. Also, the sound did got better by the evening by the
end of the concert, so for me it finally wasn't a problem. I thought that the
audience would be more dancing, but everyone was a bit shy until The
Boys of Summer started. This was the first song where people really
started getting to the game. Before the first break they played Take
it to the limit (sung well by Glenn), Best of my love, Already gone (this
was a very rockinī song!) The break was about 25 minutes long. And by the way, there was a lot of merchandise available, at least five different Eagles Europe Tour T-shirts, and few sorts of Eagles golleges (sweatshirts) and jackets. There were also Eagles caps, posters, key rings, mugs and tour programmes available, a lot of stuff, much more than in Moscow. However, my opinion is that the merchandise were maybe a bit overpriced, but that isn't a surprise, isn't it? Maybe 3/4 of the people were back on their seats when the Eagles (quite suddenly, thought there was a remark before it -->so remember to get back soon from the break) started for the 2nd set, which was maybe a bit "hotter" and more rockinī than the first set. They started with Seven Bridges road and show continued with Long Run, in where Don really caught the audience, and the atmosphere was great. After Lyin' eyes it was time for my favourite song of the evening, "I can't tell you why". Tim was at his best, and maybe he was my favourite eagle of the show. Why? Well, first, he performed very well, but he also took nice contacts to the audience, and he really performed like he was interested of the audience and fans. He did a lot of happy and groovy expressions that seemed fun as well. Joe Walsh performed also good, and many of the audience were surprised of his good voice&guitar work. Joe also showed his humoristic sides, so there will be some surprises included in his songs. No, I'm not gonna uncover them now ;) Joe's Walk Away was a very catchy track as well. I would have hoped that the Eagles had done a bit more contacts & speaking more with the audience (excluding Tim&Joe) so sometimes the feeling was a bit "cold" or something like that. It's maybe also because these are their first concerts of the long tour and they need to get warmed up first. I think every eagle could talk a bit and especially Don, who wasn't at his funniest in the start of the concert but things got much better by the end. Joe Walsh, however, seemed to be a real "showman" sometimes :) The second set had more
solo songs, like Sunset Grill, Dirty Laundry, Life's been good,
Funk-49 and You belong to the city (as well as Glenn's Silent Spring
interlude). Glenn sung You Belong like a "blues way", kind
of whispering the song. I think it wasn't as good as the
studioversion, and maybe this time Glenn wasn't at his best, thought
he overall performed&played quite well. I was hoping that Don
would had done some of Inside Job album but his chooses were really
good anyway. Also I figured that some songs studio version that won't
catch me so much (like Heartache Tonight) really rocks when playing
live. The second set ended with The final song was Desperado, Don singing (S. Crago was at the drums) quite incredible. And the ending of the song was_cool...It felt like the show was over in ten minutes thought it lasted about three hours, including an intermission. The concert was an AMAZING experience, it's definitely worth every penny, and sure the mixers can work the sound better by the rest of the Tour. Every Eagle played&singed great, maybe better than ever. I just would like to see more contact on some of the Eagle-guys with the audience. Also, the lightning was very cool. The show was over at 23.30 local time. The concert hall was of course full (about 12.000 people, the concert tickets cost from about 50 dollars to 67 dollars, and btw, a normal concert here is priced for about 35 to 40 dollars), in fact the concert was sold out in an hour when the tickets came available. ( it's a record time here :) The other show, at 2.6, was also a full sold-out concert.
For more info (or questions, whatever) please e-mail me at: elias.kahila@pp.inet.fi -Elias Kahila TUOMAS'
REVIEW
Magical night in Helsinki Helsinki 6/2/2001 It was second Helsinki concert and the show was magical. This was
my first Setlist was same as night before. Opening song was Hotel California. It was very emotional moment for me to hear The Eagles live after all these years. I tried to choke down my inner turmoil, but when my great hero Mr. Walsh played his first note in his solo, I burst to tears of joy. First set was great and the guys were in good spirits. Also everything else worked perfectly from the start (lights, sound balance between the instruments etc.) But it was the second set that really blew me away. I must say that Joe Walsh really got the Eagles on its wings. His enthusiastic performance on guitar and vocals got the whole band performing its best. Everybody on the stage were enjoying themselves. My evening got its climax after first encores when my all-time hero Joe gave me his guitar pick. I got his golden Herco 50 Flex plectrum which he used in every song up till last two numbers that they performed (Take It Easy & Desperado). I still cant believe that I got the only pick which any Eagle gave personally away. So thank you Joe for that! Finally I wanna thank everybody in the band for its top performance, especially Joe Walsh who was fucking amazing. Thanks guys, hope to see you soon! I arrived at Hartwall Arena and it was 7.30pm. Happy-looking people, beautiful weather: an awesome concert ahead. It was awesome for me even before seeing it. I've liked Eagles quite long already and even though my musical tastes vary a lot, I think Eagles is my favourite band and some of their songs have came to mean really a lot to me. And since I never thought I'd see them playing live it really was a great feeling to hold the ticket in my hand and walk towards the entrance.I've only been to Hartwall Arena once before and I should have looked more carefully from which door I walked in as for a while I was "lost" and there were so many people that it was hard to get on. But eventually I found to my seat. The stage looked simple but nice. I wasn't on the front row but it was a good place anyway. If I had sat on the row ahead me, it had been perfect. Because in front of me there sat this couple very in love and they just couldn't keep their hands off from each other ... But I understand and I really didn't care about them as there was much more important going on the stage. =) The beginning was awesome. Maybe even more awesome as the audience had "warmed up" after waiting for them 20 minutes. I have nothing to say about Hotel California just that I'll always love that song. =) From the set #1 songs my favourites were definitely Boys of Summer (can't get enough of it!!) and also Peaceful, Easy Feeling touched me. At this point I guess I need to say that this will be a different review from the others as I really don't have any comments to say on the mixers and such "technical"stuff. Nor had I known all the set #2 song names before reading them in the others reviews... =) But let's move on. During the break I sent a short mobile message to my sister (who doesn't even like the Eagles) just because I felt I had to tell someone how great it had been so far. The concert continued cool after the break and even though (confession=) I like more the "peaceful" Eagles songs I enjoyed the "rocky" part a lot too and the songs got me up from my seat. Sunset Grill & All She Wants to Do Is Dance were great. I especially like Don's solo songs and his latest album is very good too. When the concert ended I felt unreal, full of energy and Hotel California kept playing in my head the whole night probably. =) I'll never forget that evening, the atmosphere was great (hey, where were you who was supposed to be on the seat next to mines (stall E, row 20, seat 10) as it was empty?! You missed a lot anyway...=) and million thanks to Eagles for making such great music. If you anyone wants to contact me, please do it and send your thoughts to andromeda@tribeworld.com. I've spent years looking for Eagles fans and I would love to hear from especially you girls and great would be if you'd be around my age, I'm 19... Is that a good combination: 19, female and loving Eagles? =) *Greetings to all who were or are going to the concert from Mia*
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