The Eagles: Farewell 1 Tour
Rhino
Cast: Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh
Extras:
Rating:
The Eagles, one of the all-time classic bands with roots that go back to the phenomenally popular era of seventies rock in Southern California, showcase their musical talents in their latest live DVD endeavor, ’The Eagles: Farewell 1 Tour: Live from Melbourne’.
Their previous ’Hell Freezes Over’ concert DVD was, and still is one of the top selling live concert DVDs to date, and there is good reason for that as The Eagles continue to produce concert DVDs that are first-rate. Recorded during their colossal 2004 world tour and featuring performances of their ever popular classic songs including; ’Hotel California’, ’Desperado’ and ’Tequila Sunrise’ as well as adding a couple of new tunes to the mix. Absent from the talent line up is guitarist Don Felder, who was let go from the band in 2001. Filling the void is Steuart Smith – as a side performer and not an official addition to the band – does a fine job recreating Felder’s guitar contributions to the songs performed here.
Presented in a glorious anamorphic widescreen transfer, which is typically uncommon with most concert DVD releases, ’Eagles: Farewell 1 Tour’ exhibits a clean and crisp image. Colors are perfectly saturated to showcase the vibrant stage lighting right down to the blues in Glenn Frey’s plaid shirt. The blacks are magnificently deep and detail is so vivid that you can even see the odd fingerprint present on the well polished instruments to the tinniest crease in Henley’s black jacket during the opening song of ’The Long Run’. There is no visible grain or compression artifacts present on the transfer, which is probably due in part to the concert, which is approximately 160 minutes long, being spread across two DVDs.
Now the reason this DVD is truly awesome, the sound. Audio is available in dts 5.1 or PCM Stereo (no Dolby Digital track is present). The soundtrack for ’Farewell 1 Tour’ is truly top notch! I still have goose-bumps running up and down my arms as I write this review, the sound was that good! From the highest highs of Henley’s vocals on ’Sunset Grill’, to the deep lows of the bass on the low frequency .1 channel, this soundtrack is sure to please. I am even going to go out on a limb here and say that the soundtrack on this DVD is reference quality. The vocals are pure and clean, the instruments sound impeccable and well balanced throughout the performance. Ambience and applause from the audience is also well balanced adding to the soundtrack at just the right moments making you feel front row, center.
Extras are limited to a short, behind the scenes style, band interview.
Always classy without excessiveness, The Eagles showcase a stellar concert that is packaged quite nicely on this double DVD edition. If you’re looking for pyrotechnics and on-stage antics, you won’t find them here, just a great execution of some of the best written and performed songs that make The Eagles a truly classic band.
