Eagles of Death Metal
O2 Academy, Liverpool
30/11/2009

The Eagles Of Death Metal end their tour where it began in Liverpool after they opened for the Arctic Monkeys on their UK tour earlier in November. Far from being the cavernous Echo Arena, they’re at the comparably smaller Academy, which is a venue that suits EODM perfectly. Their albums may be full of songs with primeval guitar riffs and hardened rock credentials, but their arena show was somewhat neutered, perhaps they’ve reached their peak.

The live show tonight is full of trite gimmicks normally only seen in Guitar Hero nowadays. Jesse Hughes struts around as though there’s a crab in his underpants; his stage persona seemingly demanding he acts like a dick-swinging rock star. He asks women to throw their underwear on stage (something that proves surprisingly popular), brags about getting arrested and testing positive for “every drug except cocaine…OK, cocaine too.” It is only a stage persona, but it’s one he plays up to well.

The Fly is not saying they’re an awful band, they do have good intentions; they make coming up with incredible riffs look effortless and have put out albums of consistent quality. The set lasts for an hour and a half, which is far longer than most bands with three albums out. Songs like ‘Wanna Be In LA’ and ‘Flames Go Higher’ are without doubt brilliant rock songs and a cover of Stealers Wheel’s ‘Stuck In The Middle’ fits in perfectly to their set, showing that EODM could craft great pop songs if they put their mind to it. It is clear they absolutely love what they do and they’ve got a captive bunch of devotees who adore them enough to take their underwear off in public.

Mike Doherty