AUSTRALIAN ROCK COLLECTIVE PERFORMS “EAGLES” GREATEST HITS – Astor Theatre 24th June, Perth Western Australia
There are some albums that do not just sit in your music collection — they become part of the furniture. Hotel California was one of those albums in our house growing up. You knew the songs, you knew the choruses, and whether you wanted to admit it or not, you probably knew every word to at least half of them.
So, walking into the Astor Theatre on Wednesday night for ARC Plays Eagles, I was pretty confident there would be no shortage of singalongs. Safe to say, Perth did not disappoint.
For the final night of their national tour, Australian Rock Collective brought together one seriously stacked group of musicians to pay tribute to the Eagles and the legendary Hotel California album. ARC is made up of Kram from Spiderbait, Darren Middleton from Powderfinger, Mark Wilson from Jet and Davey Lane from You Am I, with Rick Stewart on guitar, James Flemming on keyboards and Eileen Hodgkins on vocals completing the lineup.
That is a fair bit of Australian music royalty on one stage. Add the Grammys, Hall of Fame credentials and decades of touring experience between them, and you knew this was never going to be a pub-band run through of Eagles songs. This was a polished, respectful and bloody enjoyable celebration of one of the greatest bands and songbooks ever assembled.
Opening with “Hotel California” was the right move. Straight into the deep end, straight into one of the greatest opening guitar passages in rock history, and straight into a packed Astor Theatre ready to sing every word. The sound was huge but never overcooked, with every musician getting their moment without turning the night into a “look how good we are” exercise.
Kram shared a story about the initial conversations around getting approval to put the show together, joking that Don Henley was not exactly throwing open the gates early on. But once the lineup was revealed, things started to make a bit more sense. And really, when you have this much talent in one room, it would be hard not to give them the keys.
“Lyin’ Eyes” was one of those moments where the audience became a few hundred extra backing vocalists. It is one of those songs that somehow makes everyone feel like they have been through a dodgy relationship in 1974, even if they were not born until 1994.
Eileen Hodgkins absolutely floored the room with “Desperado.” Her voice was powerful, controlled and full of emotion — one of those performances where the room seems to lean in a little closer. Just wow. She can sing.
Kram’s take on “Take It To The Limit” was another standout. Watching someone handle drums and vocals at the same time is impressive enough, but doing it with that much passion and control was something else. Davey Lane then took us straight to “In The City,” giving it that rock ’n’ roll edge that fitted him like an old leather jacket.
The second half opened up the Eagles catalogue even further, bringing out plenty of gems from the Best of 1971–75 era. “Victim of Love,” “New Kid in Town” and “Tequila Sunrise” all landed beautifully, each one reminding the room just how ridiculous the Eagles’ back catalogue really is.
Closing with “Heartache Tonight” was a stroke of genius. It had everything — big vocals, guitars, crowd participation and enough energy to send everyone back into the Perth night still humming the chorus.
Two and a half hours of classic goodness from start to finish. ARC did not try to imitate the Eagles. They gave the songs respect, personality and the kind of musical muscle only a lineup like this can bring.
Massive thanks to Live Nation, ARC, Revolutions Per Minute and the Astor Theatre for the access.
