The Eagles - Farewell 1 Tour: Live From Melbourne

I was never a Fan of the Eagles, I liked the odd song and that was about it. My wife the huge Eagles Fan bought this DVD. I watched it all with her and I am truly floored. It is by far the best DVD concert I have ever seen. I enjoyed it more than any of my favorite bands DVD's. If you are an Eagles Fan I think you would soil yourself over this one. If you are not an Eagles fan you will still want to watch the whole DVD.

VIDEO:

Eagles’ Live from Melbourne arrives at blu ray with MPEG-4 AVC 1080i 1.78:1 encode. The picture is generally very sharp and colours are warm. There are lots of details. I could not help but compared to its DVD counterpart, a grand 2-DVD set that I purchased in 2005. Immediately, one would notice the much sharper title at the beginning of the concert in the blu ray. The colours in the DVD looked bleached and diluted, with a generally soft appearance. For example, Glenn Frey’s shirt in New Kid In Town was richly pink in blu ray, whereas, in DVD, the colour was diluted, with overall less details. The blu ray is vastly superior than the DVD version. (4/5)

AUDIO:

Eagles’ Live from Melbourne comes with DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, plus Linear PCM Stereo 48K/24-bit. I chose the lossless track. The sound is simply great. The band was very tight. Localization of different instruments was very well defined, with the rhythm guitar and organ coming from my lateral speakers, while Don Henley’s drum is smack in the middle. The harmony was heavenly. I again compared to my DVD counterpart, when a DTS 5.1 Surround was present. Somehow, the lossless track is more vibrant, tighter and has greater bass. The music has brilliant clarity delivered throughout all frequency ranges. (4.5/5)

CONCERT:

Farewell 1 Tour-Live from Melbourne was filmed in Melbourne, Australia at the Rod Laver Arena on the 14, 15 and 17 of November 2004. The content in both cases (blu ray vs DVD) is exactly the same. In the case of DVD, the concert was spread over 2 discs, whereas in blu ray, one BD-50 disc was enough. (content: 5/5)

The song listing (with original chart position, year and source) is as follows:
01 The Long Run (US 8/1979; from album The Long Run)
02 New Kid In Town (US 1/1976; from album Hotel California)
03 Wasted Time (from album Hotel California, 1976)
04 Peaceful Easy Feelings (US 22/1972; from album The Eagles)
05 I Can’t Tell You Why (US 8/1980; from album The Long Run)
06 One Of These Nights (US 1/1975; from album One of These Nights)
07 One Day At A Time (from Joe Walsh’s album Analog Man, 2012)
08 Lying Eyes (US 2/1975; from album One of These Nights)
09 The Boys of Summer (from Don Henley’s album Building The Perfect Beast, 1984)
10 In The City (from album The Long Run, 1979)
11 Already Gone (US 32/1974; from album On The Border)
12 Silent Spring (Intro)
13 Tequila Sunrise (US 22/1972; from album Desperado)
14 Love Will Keep Us Alive (US 22/1994; from album Hell Freezes Over)
15 No More Cloudy Days (from album Long Road Out of Eden, 2007)
16 Hole In The World (US 69/2003; The Very Best Of The Eagles)
17 Take It To The Limit (US 4/1975; from album One of These Nights)
18 You Belong to The City (from album One Of These Nights Live, 1995)
19 Walk Away (from Joe Walsh’s album You Can’t Argue With A Sick Mind, 1976)
20 Sunset Grill (from Don Henley’s album Building The Perfect Beast, 1984)
21 Life’s Been Good (from Joe Walsh’s album But Seriously, Folks)
22 Dirty Laundry (from Don Henley’s album I Can’t Stand Still, 1982)
23 Funk #49 (from album Selected Works: 1972-1999, 2000)
24 Heartache Tonight (US 1/1979; from The Long Run)
25 Life In The Fast Lane (US 11/1977; from album Hotel California)
26 Hotel California (US 1/1977; from album Hotel California)
27 Rocky Mountain Way (from Joe Walsh’s album The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, 1973)
28 All She Wants To Do Is Dance from Don Henley’s album Building The Perfect Beast, 1984)
29 Take It Easy (US 12/1972; from the album The Eagles)
30 Desperado (from album Desperado, 1973)

There is the same 12-page booklet in both instances, except the one in the DVD version is larger in size.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

My, how time flies! Hell Freezes Over DVD used to be my demo disc with great DTS sound. I missed those DTS logo introduction. It is still my demo disc because of its great sound. Since then, vast improvement in video and audio remastering has resulted in much better looking pictures with fuller, cleaner and tighter sound. Such is the case of this blu ray set. In the beginning, I was a little leery that it was just an upconverted video. But my fear was allayed when both video and sound are great. And most important of all, the Eagles were in top form. This is the next best thing to being there in their concert. My own wish is that they would include their No. 1 hit Best of My Love, and Witchy Woman. But these 30 songs have showcased the talents and beautiful harmony sound of the Eagles, including hits from individual members. Even if you have the DVD version, I would strongly recommend that you buy this blu ray version. You will not regret it. Highly recommended.

Lastly, Amazon.ca has again mixed the reviews for the standard DVD from many years ago into the blu ray column. Please check the date of the review so that you won’t be wasting time reading outdated reviews.

This is another home run for The Eagles! First Hell Freezes Over now Farewell 1 Tour on dvd. A great selection of songs, disc 1 is on the more mellow side and disc 2 shows us this band can do some fine hard rocking music! There is something for everyone on this 2 dvd disc set. A must for all music fans. The Eagles = one of Americas all time great rock bands.