Eagles: Farewell 1 Tour - DVD, HD DVD

[Dave3putt]

Most of what follows is opinion.

There was some earlier talk here about this concert as it was seen on TV, but not in very much detail, so I thought I would review the DVD itself, in a little more detail.

Since I am only a semi-qualified reviewer, you should know that I have at least filled the first basic square of reviewership-watching the show once mostly sober and once mostly not. Both are required but the latter takes a lot more preparation and timing.

The way I do it is to wait for a weekend when your wife is out of town visiting her sister and your golfing buddy is free for the evening and a lot of the next morning. Get the electronics warming up playing something else besides the main event while you are in the kitchen playing gin rummy. After your third Black Russian, open a bottle of wine for each of you, get two glasses, and take all four items to the concert area. Wine or beer is best to drink from here on, because it will be too dark to mix drinks and you don't want to go into the pause mode once the music starts except for an emergency. It is good form to give your guest the seat of 5.1 nexus. At this time and if you have it, first pop in the Hell Freezes Over DVD and play the DTS demo at the very beginning. Adjust audio levels to just below "I can't believe it" . Your guest will now know what he is in for. That's about it so here we go.

The Farewell 1 Tour is a two disc set with about a third of the show plus interviews on the second disc. Shot on HD widescreen in Melbourne, Australia. I would think that means it could come out latter on a real HD DVD. The widescreen is nice though. Two choices for audio- Stereo and DTS 5.1 surround. Yes, Yes, I love DTS!

As always with the Eagles, the video and audio production is top notch throughout. As good as being there, and in some ways better because of all the close-ups. Someone must have thought mostly men would be watching, because there are quite a few close-ups of Australian women scattered around. Ah, must be the wine.

No more Don Felder. Apparently "fired" several years ago. You can google it and read all about it. So there are four Eagles now plus Steuart Smith on guitar and vocals. I liked watching Felder play, but the band loses nothing on the guitar with Smith, who probably sounds more like Felder than Felder does. Are we all Feldered out by now?

Besides the other backup players, the main addition to this concert is a horn group, the "Mighty Horns". Four guys playing all kinds of things. I don't know what they're supposed to be dressed like, though, with the black hats. Maybe bellhops at the Hotel California. I like it. They sound great, too, and you kind of have to think that the Eagles are maturing by using them to fill out a lot of their songs. They are one of the highlights of the whole program.

Oh yeah, the songs. Most of them are here that were not on HFO, and that's the reason to get this DVD. Sure all the biggies have been out there for decades, but to hear them live in DTS surround is a treat that is new all over again. They sound the way you're used to hearing them, with the brass and violin added here and there. They guys are a little older and the voices just a touch thinner in some places, but mostly they are all spot on. Some notable moments:
If you were to ask Don Henley what his favorite song they play is, I would bet he'd say "Wasted Time". The passion he sings it with here and also on HFO is really obvious. A instrumental reprise at the end is new to me and very nice.
Another instrumental lead-in written by Frey starts off "Tequila Sunrise". Never heard it before either, but loved it. More wine.
The sax that starts "You Belong to the City" will curl your toes.
"Dirty Laundry" is the most booming song I have ever played on my system. It absolutely pulsed the windows. You won't believe how much sound can come out of speakers at the same time.
And finally, to what is probably the best live performance song of all time, "Hotel California". A solo trumpet plays about a minute lead-in, so pure and sounding a little Spanish, that you almost expect Clint Eastwood to stroll out on stage dressed for "A Fistfull of Dollars". When the guitar kicks in and the crowd starts to cheer, you know that this is about as good as it gets. This version is like the original, full electronic solid balls of sound.

So, about three hours of talent displayed on these discs. We started the show at 9 and my buddy left at about 3. I guess we played some songs more than once. When my wife came home later that day, she asked me to take out the garbage. She actually asked me three times, but I didn't hear the first two.


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[Richard]

Thanks for that highly entertaining and informative review!

[akirby]

Just bought it and I have to agree - thumbs WAY up! I have to admit I wasn't expecting much after listening to bits and pieces of the concert on TV but I was blown away. Best performance of "All she wants to do is dance" I've ever heard or seen. I think the DTS audio is even better than HFO.

Highly Recommended!

[Dave3putt]

This concert IS now available in HD-DVD. One disc and still in DTS 5.1, although the "fat" bit rate makes the audio reference material. I have been playing it through multi-channel PCM and it never ceases to impress. As good as it gets. Do yourself a favor and give it a listen. This is what you bought those speakers for. Invite your friends to listen. They won't believe it.