Bay moment helps Eagle soar

Joe Walsh at the Eastern Institute of Technology marae in Taradale, Napier. Photo / Doug Laing

Legendary Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh celebrated a 21st of sorts in Napier yesterday.

It has been 21 years since the 67-year-old Walsh last touched alcohol and drugs.

And he owes it all to a "moment of clarity" he had in Hawke's Bay in 1989.

He was atop nearby te maunga Hikurangi, overlooking Otatara Pa and Hawke's Bay from the cape to Mahia, and from the grip of drugs and alcohol saw a whole new world.

In front of 37,000 fans at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday, Walsh said he once spent a month in New Zealand, but couldn't remember "the night".

He can, however, remember the moment above Otatara, which has been called an "epiphany." He doesn't understand what happened, although he returned to the United States knowing he had to do something about the substances controlling his life.

Yesterday, about 200 fans milled outside the marae at Eastern Institute of Technology with the restored Otatara Pa site a dicey proposition because of the impacts of the downgraded Cyclone Pam.

The crowd filed into the whare Te Ara o Tawhaki and were welcomed by Hoani Hawaikirangi. Walsh, his new wife Marjorie, who is Ringo Starr's sister-in-law, and stepson Christian, were treated to Greenmeadows School's ukulele version of Hotel California.

They were then presented with three hook-shaped matau from local iwi Ngati Parau on behalf of the gathering. Walsh was clearly taken by the moment.

It spurred him into an emotional and much-awaited update on his life and the turns it had taken since 1989, a period when, he says, success had taken away his perspective on life.

"Alcohol and drugs were eating a hole where my heart was," he said. "Where my family was."

He went home with a "different mindset" and started on the road to "the hardest thing I ever had to do."

"I haven't had a drink or done any drugs in 21 years," he said, reflecting that a lot of others around him "didn't make it at all".

"I'm back ... There is a life after that, and it's good."

He was there yesterday to "repay" those who had inspired him.

"I'm here to say thank-you. The Maori people are special. They gave me my life back."

Proudly, he said, gesturing towards Marjorie and Christian: "I have a family."

The locals responded with the powerful Kahungunu haka Tika Tonu, and Walsh asked: "How do I respond to that?"

He was handed a guitar and played Desperado.

Nigar Alizada (left) and husband Sain (right), transglobal followers of the Eagles, finally caught-up with Joe Walsh in Napier yesterday.

No taking it easy for dedicated fans

Sain and Nigar Alizada travelled a long way to see Joe Walsh in Napier - tens of thousands of kilometres.

It was a journey the couple from Azerbaijan began when they first saw the Eagles in concert in 2006, and has taken them to 22 of the group's shows in the past two years, nine of the 12 in Australia over the last month, and both concerts in Auckland at the weekend.

They'd never met any of the legendary rock stars and took a big punt when they read online of the Hawke's Bay Today story revealing Walsh would be breaking away from the tour for a pilgrimage to Napier.

"We had never heard of Napier," said 35-year-old Sain, who manages the Kvaloy Nettverk "translation and localisation" services in Baku, the Azerbaijan capital, which has more than 2 million people and a significant port on the Caspian Sea.

But it didn't stop them getting into a car in Auckland yesterday for the drive to Napier, where they arrived in plenty of time to see Walsh - and meet him.

"It was unbelievable," said 30-year-old Nigar, who had Walsh sign an Azerbaijan flag.
It's not the end of the journey for the intrepid Azerbaijani couple. "We're off to Texas to see the Eagles there," said Mr Alizada, before they headed off for a night in Rotorua before going to Auckland.