LIVE – Glenn Frey with the WASO – Perth, 24 February 2013

An Evening On The Green, Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia
With the WA Symphony Orchestra, Ross Wilson and John Paul Young
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
Photography by Maree King

For a night of ‘peaceful, easy feelings’, this show was a world-beater. One of the originators of the laid back Californian ‘West Coast Sound’, founding member of The Eagles and one of the kings of the middle of the road, Glenn Frey took to the stage in a slick and shiny suit, and kicked into that very Eagles song to the (refined) excitement of the large crowd enjoying their wine and nibbles.

Earlier, John Paul Young – or JPY, or even Squeak in the Seventies – trawled through a selection of his hits and a few by his mentors, Vanda & Young. They, of course, were members of The Easybeats, producers of AC/DC’s early albums and writers of many Aussie hits by a myriad of singers back in those Countdown-dominated days. What was lacking from JPY’s set was exactly what V&Y brought to those early hits – melody and oomph. He entertains the early arrivals though, with AM-friendly runs through Love Is In The Air, Down Among The Dead Men, Where The Action Is, I Hate The Music and Yesterday’s Hero.

Ross Wilson & The Peaceniks are a bit more dynamic on the big stage, cracking out Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock and solo hits left, right and centre as Wilson slinks back and forth. Aligning his 60’s hippy hits (Come Back Again, Eagle Rock) with his 80’s pop work (Come Said The Boy, Cool World, Chemistry and set closer State Of The Heart) and beyond seems no mean feat at all, but he did it stylishly and had many singing along under the slowly wilting sun, and even a few dancers.

Glenn Frey is super-schmoove tonight and during an extended set with the WA Symphony Orchestra is unbeatable. Dropping a clutch of Eagles tracks first (no surprises there!) in the aforementioned Peaceful Easy Feeling, a wonderful Tequila Sunrise and Lyin’ Eyes (dedicated to his first wife, aka ‘The Plaintiff’), he then regaled the park crowd with a selection of laid back crooners from his latest After Hours album, which he says he recorded for his parents, still alive aged 88 and 91. Route 66, Caroline No and The Look Of Love all got the schmoove makeover, and pumped up by the gravitas of the orchestra fell just the right side of the schmaltz line.

Eagles and solo hits followed: bopping along to a jazzy The Heat Is On was a big highlight, as was main set closer Take It Easy. Playing his first encore with the WASO, Take It To The Limit and Desperado, written by Frey and fellow Eagle Don Henley in 1973, which seems a very long age ago, ticked almost all of the boxes for this seasoned performer, before a final encore of the Miami Vice soundtrack hit You Belong To The City ensured everyone left on a high (if conservative) note.
Set List: Glenn Frey

Peaceful Easy Feeling
Silent Spring
Tequila Sunrise
Lyin’ Eyes
Route 66
For Sentimental Reasons
The Shadow Of Your Smile
The Same Girl
Caroline No
The Look Of Love
Here’s To Life
Worried Mind
The One You Love
After Hours
The Heat Is On
Smuggler’s Blues
Who’s Been Sleepin’
Take It Easy

Take It To The Limit
Desperado

You Belong To The City

 

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries