Eels – Live Royal Albert Hall 06/30/2014
Introduction
On June 26, 2014, I saw Eels play live at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, one of the highlights that year. Four days later the band played at the London Royal Albert Hall. That show was released in full on a superb live album.
Mark Oliver Everett
Mark Oliver Everett
Essentially, Eels is the story of Mark Oliver Everett, who befriended a lot of Mark’s when he was young. To differentiate they used abbreviations of their names, which shortened Everett’s name to M.E., eventually leading to E, the artist name Everett started using.
From an early age E had a great love for music (Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush is arguably his biggest and most profound influence) and started playing drums, quickly followed by piano and guitar. He started writing songs which he recorded on his own 4 track recorder. After leaving for Los Angeles he was discovered and his musical adventure was underway.
In 1992 E debuted with the solo album A Man Called E, which resulted in his first (alternative) hit with the single Hello Cruel World. A second album followed in 1993, Broken Toy Shop.
Eels – Beautiful Freak, Electro-Shock Blues, Daisies Of The Galaxy
Eels
E decided to form a band, named Eels. With several different musicians E would build an impressive career as Eels. In 1996 the band released their debut album Beautiful Freak, which contained a modest hit with the single Novocaine For The Soul. The band went out on tour in 1996 and 1997, cementing their good live reputation.
Around that time E’s private life was marred by tragedy. Already having lost his father at 19, he had recently lost his sister to suicide and now his mother was dying of cancer. Understandably, the music E wrote was influenced by these events. The album Electro-Shock Blues, released in 1998, is about cancer, mental disease, suicide and death. No happy subjects, but the album is an act of beauty. E himself called it “probably the most positive record I will ever make”.
Following a tour, work commenced on the next album, 2000’s Daisies Of The Galaxy. E characterized the album as “if Electro-Shock Blues was the phone call in the middle of the night that the world doesn’t want to answer, then Daisies of the Galaxy is the hotel wake-up call that says your lovely breakfast is ready”. A great description for the first Eels album I ever bought.
Eels – Souljacker, Shootenanny!, linking Lights And Other Revelations, Hombre Lobo, End Times, Tomorrow Morning
In 2001 the rock album Souljacker was released. The album was delayed in the US, due to the 9/11 attacks. Apparently, E, now donning a bald head and large beard, caused uneasiness on several airport during their tour. The album was released in 2002 in the US. A year later the Shootenanny! album, which was recorded live in the studio over 10 days, followed. In 2005 Eels released the double album Blinking Lights And Other Revelations.
In 2009 that album was followed by Hombre Lobo, which in turn was followed by no less than two albums in 2010: End Times and Tomorrow Morning. That release marked the “final installment of a trilogy that began with Hombre Lobo and End Times”. The trilogy is aimed at themes like desire, loss and redemption.
Eels – Wonderful, Glorious, The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett
All this time Eels had been a steady favorite of the international press. In 2013 and 2014 the band released the Wonderful, Glorious and The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett albums, which were once again lauded. The last album appeared in several end-of-year lists all over the world. Of course, a tour was organized. E called it “a gentlemen’s Eels concert”, where Eels downplayed their electric rock ‘n’ roll to a small nucleus of 5 musicians, giving the music room to breathe. The show I witnessed on June 26, 2014, at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam was one of the highlights of that year.
Eels – Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
On June 30, 2014, (4 days after the Amsterdam show) Eels played at the London Royal Albert Hall. The show was filmed using nine cameras. It ultimately led to the release of Royal Albert Hall on April 14, 2015. The recordings were released on DVD, CD and vinyl.
The concert focuses on the latest Eels release, The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett, supplemented with a collection of songs representing the 19 years the band existed at the time. A E stated at the beginning of the show: “Now ladies and gentlemen, I hope you’re in the mood for some sweet, soft bummer rock”. The performances are by and large intimate and moving and the playing is spookily perfect. Eels play a show of extraordinary class. No wonder than this album was also highly valued by the press and audience.
Eels – Royal Albert Hall – Inner sleeve
Songs
All songs written by E, unless stated otherwise.
- Where I’m At
- When You Wish Upon a Star (Leigh Harline, Ned Washington)
- The Morning
- Parallels
- Addressing The Royal Audience
- Mansions Of Los Feliz
- My Timing Is Off
- A Line In The Dirt
- Where I’m From (E, P-Boo)
- It’s A Motherfucker
- Lockdown Hurricane
- A Daisy Through Concrete
- Introducing The Band
- Grace Kelly Blues
- Fresh Feeling
- I Like Birds
- My Beloved Monster
- Gentlemen’s Choice (E, P-Boo)
- Mistakes Of My Youth/Wonderful, Glorious (The Chet, E, Knuckles)
- Where I’m Going
- First Encore
- I Like The Way This Is Going
- Blinking Lights (For Me)
- Last Stop: This Town
- Second Encore
- The Beginning
- Can’t Help Falling In Love (Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, George David Weiss)
- Turn On Your Radio (Harry Nilsson)
- Phantom Encore (Played using Royal Albert Hall’s pipe organ)
- Flyswatter
- The Sound Of Fear
Eels – Royal Albert Hall – Inner sleeve
Musicians
- E – vocals, guitar, keyboards
- The Chet – pedal steel, guitar, melodica
- P-Boo – guitar, trumpet, piano
- Royal Al – bass
- Knuckles – percussion
Eels – The Deconstruction, Earth To Dora, Extreme Witchcraft, Eels Time!
After Royal Albert Hall
Eels kept on releasing great records after the live album. In 2018 The Deconstructionwas released, two years later followed by Earth To Dora. In 2022 the band released Extreme Witchcraft. The last record by Eels (for now) is 2024’s Eels Time!.
Is this the end of the story for Eels? No, not according to the official Eels website:
There may be many things to come from Mark Oliver Everett and company in the future. Some of it may surprise you. Some of it may delight you. Some of it may sicken you. But know that they are having a wonderful time making things up in the attic.
In closing
What’s your take on Eels and this live album? Let me know!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: Eels – Royal Albert Hall: a glorious bummer rock night. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.
