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Ottawa
Reviews |
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Stephen's Review |
The Eagles rolled into
Canada's Capital Monday night for a private show, one
that could be called a warm-up for this leg of
Farewell I. The show was a
gift from the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club's new owner
Eugene Melnyk, a
billionaire pharmaceutical magnate, to Sens season
ticket holders. His wife
is apparently a big fan, and the rumor was that he
shelled out a couple of
million for the nights festivities.
From the opening of the Long Run, to the final strains
of Desperado, this
was not an ordinary show. The set list was paired down
to about 90 minutes,
and it was evident that the band would have their work
cut out for them. I
can't imagine that this is an easy type of gig.
Knowing that a vast
majority of the crowd may have only a passive interest
in your music must
make it a difficult assignment. Of course the greatest
band in the world
took that task head on and, in the end surpassed the
hype of the evening,
which was substantial. Indeed a local television
station had dubbed it one
of the biggest events to ever hit Ottawa.
Some other points - This was the Frey/Walsh show all
the way. Don played
less of a role in this show than in any other I have
seen. His first show
after the (very recent) loss of his mother, he may
have not felt up to front
man style duties. He did not speak one word to the
audience, leaving all
the hosting duties to Glenn, who was his usual affable
self. Musical
highlights included an awesome and early(3rd song) I
Can't Tell You Why. A
double explosion of Life's Been Good followed by Dirty
Laundry showed just
how much the Solo work contributes to these shows.
Funk 49 sounded great
with the horn section.
Not hearing MANY great tunes was disappointing but
understandable. I really
wanted to hear Hole in The World live though. This
song grows on you, and
after picking up the single/DVD I think it is a
brilliant tune. James Dean,
was another one I would have liked to hear.
In the end, the lads put on their usual polished,
perfect, classy show.
These guys spent the last year in the studio, and on
the road and it really
shows. Walsh is playing perhaps the best guitar of his
career. And the
upside to doing a show like this, asides from a few
million dollars, is that
I guarantee you there were thousands of people who
walked out last night who
are now converted fans.
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