Yorkshire Music: News and Updates

This weekend I took a trip down to London with a friend I graduated with back in 2001. We were heading to Twickenham to catch up with the Farewell I Tour given by the legendary American soft-rock band, The Eagles. And marvelous it was too...

As my comrade pointed out, not many bands can be up for nearly three hours (with a 10 min break in the middle) and play one sing-a-long hit after another. The audience was, admittedly, closer to the middle-age bracket than either of us are, but we still knew the vast majority of the songs the band played, and knew them well enough to join in!



What was most striking, though, was that after 35 years of playing some of these songs, The Eagles still manage to make them sound fresh and alive. This is partly because the performance they gave was so incredibly polished : listening to their opening number Take it Easy, you could quite honestly have thought that the PA system was broadcasting the version this band recorded back in the 70's, if it weren't for the evidence of the eye. Equally, their rendition of the classic Hotel California was supremely executed with those great harmonies The Eagles do so well, guitar solos pulled off to perfection with flawless pitch bends and glissandos, along with lyrics that make the spine tingle as much today as when they were written. A truly fantastic atmosphere was conjured and sustained throughout the concert.



To be fair, though, The Eagles did have some help : they were supported by another great country / rock outfit, The Dixie Chicks. These three outstanding musicians wowed the crowd with an array of wonderfully performed songs about love and heartbreak, travel and home. I'd never really heard much of their music before but I'll certainly be going out to get some of their CD's now - they again managed to pull off some technically difficult solos (on banjo & violin this time) and very close 3-part harmonies in a totally squeaky-clean fashion... really polished to perfection. I believe they have a single out at the moment called Not Ready to Make Nice and it's one of those tunes that I haven't been able to get out of my head since I heard it for the first time on Saturday!!



And, as if all this wasn't enough, I think there were one or two lessons to be learned from watching these bands do their stuff: in The First Few I tend to play piano but have a few songs on acoustic guitar and two on bass. And these instrument swaps have been something that the band has struggled with over the years.. it just seemed easier and less fussy somehow for us all to stay on a single instrument throughout any given show. But, there were The Dixie Chicks swapping instruments literally for every new song from beginning to the end of the performance. Admittedly, they did have roadies to do the work for them (and a large group of musicians playing behind them) but the principle still stands that there's no reason for everyone to stick to one instrument as long as the venue allows for your space and input requirements. Equally, The Eagles passed certain tasks around the band, including the lead vocals - I believe every member of the band got to sing at least one song as the main vocalist at some point in the set and, once again, this is something that we in The First Few have been trying to avoid. I'll certainly be taking these points back to the band.

The Eagles Farewell I Tour continues with a few more dates in the UK in the coming days, including appearing in Machester very soon. It's well worth a look.