ShareThe Illegal Eagles performing at The Royal Concert Hall Nottingham on Saturday 22nd February 2020
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
To call the Illegal Eagles a tribute band does them a serious disservice as an almost full Royal Concert Hall will testify to when the six piece very talented musicians sauntered on to the stage, picked up their instruments and worked their way through a set list that tripped of the tongue of any Eagles fan.
MC for the night and conductor of the eleven piece string orchestra and brass section was founder member Phil Aldridge, but when Christian Phillips began the proceedings with I Dreamed There Was No War, an instrumental written by the late Glenn Frey, the audience knew that they were in for a treat.
With the rest of the band joining him on stage the first set began in earnest with early Eagles material. Main vocalist Gregg Webb, drummer Tony Kiley, bassist Trevor B. Newnham and pianists and guitarists Mike Baker and Garreth Hicklin transported the audience back in time with the gorgeous Tequila Sunrise, an incredible arrangement of Peaceful Easy Feeling, and the very edgy Witchy Woman.
Bringing the first set to a close with the soaring One Of Those Nights and Boys Of Summer, this multi talented band had nailed these tricky numbers perfectly.
The second set brought more of the same with Joe Walsh’s Life’s Been Good, and the undoubted highlight of the show, the Eagles anthem Lyin’ Eyes which saw the audience on their feet in appreciation. Other classics followed such as the bittersweet ballad Take It To The Limit which saw the Eagles famous harmonies sublimely replicated.
Desperado was followed by the old country favourite Take It Easy and with the run in to the end including the ever popular Life In The Fast Lane and Last Resort, the encore had to include the fabulous Hotel California.
For this audience it had been a night of celebration with Webb capturing the emotion of Don Henley’s vocals. In fact they were so good they could have been the real thing.