The Eagles started their Long Road Out Of Eden world tour with a series of concerts in London at the massive 02 Arena. I went along to three of them. It was a long trip from Byron Bay, but for once in my life I was able to be outrageously indulgent and just do it! I was enjoying my new Ricoh camera on the visit to London so thought I'd try my hand at a bit of concert photography. I'm no Henry Diltz or Bob King, and some of these are fuzzy – or perhaps arty – but for all the thousands of Eagles concert photos out there on the web, I thought I'd add mine to the mix, with a bit of detail about some of the songs on the setlist. These pictures are from all three nights – March 20, 23 and 26. Just click on the thumbnails for larger images. Enjoy!

THE STAGING AND LIGHTING Here are a few pictures show how the stage was set up with lights and arched screens behind and above.
HOW LONG JD Souther's 1972 song was revived by the Eagles in 2007 and released as their first single from the Long Road Out Of Eden album. It's the song they opened the show with each night, a good rollicking start to a fantastic concert.
GUILTY OF THE CRIME The first four songs in the set were from the new album. Fourth song in, the big screen behind the stage went into action and the astoundingly energetic Joe Walsh had his first big number. I wasn't so keen on this track on the album but I liked how it came to life in concert.
HOTEL CALIFORNIA Replete with familiar backdrop and enhanced with horns, this beloved favourite came into the set earlier than usual. After four new songs the band obviously thought they needed to get into the classics in the most powerful way possible. Steuart Smith, the guitarist the band brought in some years ago to replace the ousted Don Felder, played the double neck to perfection.
ONE OF THESE NIGHTS I wish I'd taken a better picture of the moon here; it was lovely. Don's voice is as tight as ever on this song from the band's "satanic country-rock rhythm and blues period", as Glenn has been saying for so many years.
LYIN' EYES JD Souther once joked to me that this is "the never-ending song". It does go on a bit, and it is one of my least favourite of the Eagles hits, but Glenn Frey is too captivating a lead singer for me to take that toilet break I always promise myself. He needs to find a better intro than the one he's been using for 14 years now, though. His first wife, plaintiff, has probably moved on. Glenn should, too. Glenn really needs a whole bunch of new song intro lines.
BOYS OF SUMMER This song still rocks. And this is where the screen at the back went into overload with some stunning images reminiscent of the original video for the song.
IN THE CITY The screen zoomed into Manhattan through Google Earth and then featured scene after scene of life in a bustling, multi-cultural metropolis. Joe sang the song really well, too. Sometimes you had to remember there was a band playing a song on stage, so mesmerizing were the images behind them.
THE LONG RUN Don doing the hand-held mic, suited up, looking every inch the cabaret/lounge singer. Except that you wouldn't hear this kind of rock in a cabaret venue. I hope not, anyway! The title track off the album they recorded before hell froze over, this was the last song before the intermission. As Don said, "You can go to the looo!"
NO MORE WALKS IN THE WOOD Well, what can I say, except that seeing them all sitting in the acoustic configuration, hearing the a capella opening song from the Long Road Out of Eden album, experiencing this from the closeness of the front row, must have rendered me blissfully incapacitated. Either that or this is a very arty photo to treasure.
WAITING IN THE WEEDS I drove around Byron Bay for weeks playing this on repeat in my car, singing it over and over to learn every word so I could sing along when they performed it live in London. This is the song that Eagles fans most wanted to hear. This is the best song on the new album. This is the best song Don Henley has written since the "Hotel California" / "Wasted Time" days. Hearing this song in concert was pure magic.
NO MORE CLOUDY DAYS It's on the new album but had been performed live going right back to 2004, when the Eagles were last in Australia. So we were all very familiar with this song, but hearing it in the acoustic setting and in the context of the songs from the new album gave it a deeper feel. Lovely.
LOVE WILL KEEP US ALIVE The dreariest song in the set, I've never figured out why this song, the lowest point of the Hell Freezes Over album, endures on live Eagles setlists. Boring song, nice photo opportunities.
LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN Fabulous to experience this epic centrepiece song live, and just in case anyone in the audience was unfamiliar with the subject matter and thematic intent, the images on the screen took them through it line by line.
SOMEBODY Glenn Frey's finest moment and one of the highlights of the concert. A great Jack Tempchin composition, it's great on the new album and even greater in concert; this is a brilliant live piece, soaring with energy. The whole band was totally getting off on it, and things just escalated from there.
WALK AWAY This is my favourite Joe Walsh song, going back to the James Gang era. Joe was in brilliant form each night I saw the band. He's not my favourite Eagle but I can see why he is so beloved by his fans.
LIFE'S BEEN GOOD TO ME SO FAR This seems to be everyone else's favourite Joe Walsh song. It's a bit old and worn now, even with the Helmet Cam V2 in action. The photos and old film footage on the screen during this song were what made it exciting. Some really hysterical footage of Joe from the 1970s and some great images of the other guys from that time, too. Fun, fun, fun.
DIRTY LAUNDRY The most interesting screen images happened during this song. It was impossible not to spend more time eyeing the screen than dear Don. It was impossible not to want to snap each and every new image on the screen. I got as many as I could; alas the one of Don mocked up on the cover of Time Magazine was too out of focus to use here. Full marks to the production company that put this together for the band. Oh, and full marks to Don, too, for a great performance, as always.
FUNK #49 During this song the band ended up in the world of Nemo. Not sure why. Another great Joe Walsh song, always with an extended "jamm" in the middle (bearing in mind nothing is ever improvised in an Eagles concert... except Don's feeble attempts at impersonating Australian icon Dame Edna Everage).
HEARTACHE TONIGHT The second-last song before the encore/s, by this stage the audience was up on their feet – and if the security guys didn't like it, Timothy was there to ensure the audience got their way. And to lead the clapping.
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE Huge! Fast! And watch out for those speeding cars.
ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS DANCE One of Don's solo hits, this was performed on the first night, in the first encore, but in the other two shows I saw the first encore was dropped.
TAKE IT EASY Always wonderful to hear this song live, even if it means the show is truly coming to an end. Beautiful graphics, harking back to the Eagles' first album cover photo shoot.
A COUPLE OF MISCELLANEOUS SHOTS Glenn introducing the band; and an extremely out-of-focus but very arty shot of Steuart Smith. My friend Henry Diltz took an accidental shot just like this of Kurt Cobain and he's sold many prints of it, so I await the orders from Steuart fans.
THE FINAL BOW Thanks, guys, for an incredible show!
For an unparalleled in-depth look at the Eagles shows in London and Europe, with many reviews and links to other fan's photos, head over to L&M's Eagles Fastlane and see what Lisa and Melissa have put together. Back to my London 2008 page