We were lucky enough to see this band last year. They are a band that have done all the rock star stuff – drink, drugs, girls, wrecking hotel rooms and suing each other!
Their sound to me just oozes sunshine – I think the harmonies contribute heavily in a Beach Boys evolved kind of way.
We were watching a TV documentary on them a couple of years ago, and watching the way Susanne was reacting to the music I decided if we got the opportunity to see them we should, even if it meant a trip to Paris or Brussels to do it. I kept my ears open and it turned out that as part of their world tour they were coming to Europe and including the UK. Dates were announced and there was only one in the initial batch of dates that was on a Saturday. By this time Susanne was working as a TA in a school, so time off in term time isn’t possible. Heading into Manchester by the time she had finished work would have just been a little rushed to be a real treat so the one Saturday gig it had to be – Glasgow.
I ordered the tickets – not cheap – and gave them to Susanne as one of her Christmas presents – by this time I had also booked a couple of nights in a hotel too to make a weekend of it – and I bet the shrieks as she opened the present up and realized what it was could be heard for miles!
Round about this time One Direction were playing Manchester. I saw lots of comments impressed that this group barely out of short trousers were doing an hour and a half. We saw a bunch of blokes all pushing seventy do three utterly engaging hours. We had a very memorable weekend seeing one of the great bands.
They have a catalogue full of memorable songs – the awesome combination of Don Felder and Joe Walsh on Hotel Callifornia – not forgetting the contributions from Henley on Drums and lead vocal, Meisner on bass and Frey’s acoustic that all add to the track. I could have tried to be all cool and picked a lesser known tracks, but I’ll go with this one that really sums up their sound for me.
Altogether now “I was standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona…”