Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The Echo Arena in Liverpool was built for nights such as this, the Midsummer sun starting to wind its way back to the southern hemisphere, the evening glow of June racing its way across the Irish Sea and on its way America to the home of some finest rock bands you could ever hope to see play in the place where legends were born. A city that gave legends its British meaning to the country rock scene of the Eagles, legendary music that if written down in a book would be classed as fable, too fabulous for words but with a spirit that endured for over 40 years. You might never see the Eagles in Liverpool again, for those who took advantage of the summer sun giving its warmth to the city below; they were further warmed by the afterglow of some of the finest music to ever come out of America.

The History of the Eagles Tour has been so well received that they truly could play at least another week on the U.K. shores and they would sell out, for fans in Liverpool though, this rare chance to see Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, Timothy B. Schmit, Glen Frey and the outrageous Joe Walsh would live long in the memory regardless of where they played next.

There was a time, over 30 years ago, that many believed that they would never get the chance to see the writers of such hits as Take It Easy, Life in the Fast Lane and New Kid In Town anywhere, ever again. Age mellows, perhaps not completely, but enough in which partnerships, great friendships are never truly vanquished and in Don Henley and Glen Frey especially, the chance to write with each other, to play music together has been one that has not just lasted but thrived. To have three of the original members on stage, alongside the sweet sounding Timothy B. Schmit and the aura of Joe Walsh playing to a crowd that appreciates its live music perhaps arguably more than anywhere else in the country, well age, experience and honest musical ability goes a long way to making something memorable capture the imagination and become awesome.

The History of the Eagles, two and three quarter hours from 42 years of music, condensed it might be but a sound so gorgeous, it was possible to imagine the Liver Birds, just a short walk away, grab each other by the wing and sway in time to the five piece harmonies and rock out as if time was immortal to the heavier beasts that the band would perform in the show.

With Don Henley and Glen Frey opening the evening with a couple of acoustic numbers from the very dim and distant past, in the era when the just as legendary Linda Ronstadt gave them her absolute blessing to go and form their own group, and one by one the other members of the band came out to join them. Bernie Leadon being greeted as a long lost friend to the stage for Peaceful Easy Feeling, the renowned Timothy B. Schmit getting huge applause as he geared up and for the musician who obviously needed no introduction, the great Joe Walsh walking with intent and musical purpose out for the trio of tracks that introduced the Eagles to much wider audience from the Desperado album.

The Liver Birds would not have stopped dancing all night had it not been for the short break but when the band came back on, the audience were treated to tracks such as Heartache Tonight, In The City, the Joe Walsh track Life’s Been Good, The Long Run and the exceptional Life In The Fast Lane.

At times a huge arena show can lose some of the intimacy that is generated by the close proximity feel of a small hall and yet, as the music progressed, as the audience and the group became as entwined as a multiple chord progression, the tenderness of the playing, the seclusion on offer was profound. Joe Walsh captured the heart with his playing, Don Henley and Glen Frey broke the soul out of any self-inflicted prison that the crowd may have felt through the weariness of life and Timothy B. Schmit and Bernie Leadon, alongside the superb musicians on stage, including Stuart Smith, Michael Thompson and Richard Davis, they took the mind out for a spin and gave it a treat of letting it live.

Some gigs you never want to end as a spectator, for the crowd in the Echo Arena arguably this was one of those nights. However with the classic Hotel California, Take it Easy and Joe Walsh’s Rocky Mountain Way being played amongst the encores, the minutes that past by counting down to the end were spent in the company of talent that might never been seen by the banks of the Mersey River again.

This was no heartache, no music being mourned over, this was a true celebration of possibly one of the true all-time greats of American music being played in the capital of British culture. An understanding between greats and the audience inside the Echo Arena lapped it up for all that it was worth.

Ian D. Hall