Bold American Eagles bid farewell?
The Eagles are still soaring in terms of popularity, selling out stadiums all over the world. neil mckay finds their attitude towards continuous touring - and the possibility of another album - refreshingly honest

By Neil McKay

01 July 2005

A sense of humour and of the ridiculous usually come well down the list of characteristics you can expect to find in a top rock band.

So hats off to the Eagles for not being afraid to poke a bit of fun at themselves and their contemporaries.

The band, one of the most successful of all time, are releasing a new DVD called Farewell I Tour - Live From Melbourne, despite still going strong as a touring concern.

In fact, they set out on another tour of America's west coast later this summer.

And this from the band who called their comeback album Hell Freezes Over, in recognition of the promise they made when they had been asked when they would play again together.

"Calling it the Farewell I Tour is kind of a joke, referring to some other acts who have said 'this is a farewell tour' yet years down the line are still playing," says bass player Timothy B Schmit.

"We're older now, and everybody kind of wonders how long it is going to last, so we called it Farewell I as a kind of tongue-in-cheek joke. But I think it also quite seriously implies both possibilities, because we never really know how long it's going to last.

"For the immediate future The Eagles are very much a working band. Further on I really don't know, I couldn't tell you.

"We've talked about another UK tour, but I'm not sure. This next American tour will take us right up to the fall then into the holidays, then we'll take a break, for how long I'm not sure... I'm hopeful we will come (back to the UK) but I can't guarantee it."

That the band are still playing together, however irregularly, is some kind of small miracle. Having bestrode 1970s American rock with a string of mega-selling albums, the band fell apart after The Long Run album, with drugs and egos largely to blame.

"Who knows if the band would be enjoying its tremendous success now if all those things hadn't happened," says Schmit. "Also, it taught us that in order to exist as a band we needed to take long breathing spaces away from each other.

"Our success continues to amaze us. It doesn't seem logical in some ways that a band that hasn't had a lot of new music out could stay so big and so vital, but it's not only that, it's got bigger, so we are all pleasantly gratified.

"How do you explain it? The only logical answer I have is that it has to be in the songs themselves. I really think these are songs that touch people in some way, that they have some sort of universal appeal that transcends ages and generations, because we're seeing three generations of people at our shows.

"Keeping motivated is a lot to do with audience reaction. The reactions to the songs are so incredible, you can see the people's eyes and their faces, 'Oh my god, they're playing this song', and I think that's what keeps it fresh.

"If you start a song like Hotel California, to hear the roar of the crowd you can't dismiss it as just another time playing the song."

During his breaks from the band, Schmit works on a solo album - "I chip away, and because there's no deadline, I don't have anybody to answer to... I will release it on whatever level I'm able to and not worry about whether it does well or not" - and he is guarded on the prospects of a new Eagles album.

"On and off we attempt to get a new album together. We did quite a lot of recording over the last couple of years, and while I'm hopeful that we'll eventually get an album out, whether that's going to happen or not remains to be seen.

"I think what everybody needs to do is to actually carve out the time and make it happen and make it a priority.

"I think that people get distracted and have other things going on, and in order for this to happen people have to commit their time, they have to say 'No I can't do that, I'm doing this album'."

Farewell I Tour - Live From Melbourne (Warner Music Vision) is released on Monday

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