The Legacy Tour
Chris Lloyd (vocals, guitars) / Peter Anderson (vocals, guitars) / Tony Vegas (lead guitar, vocals) / Keith Buck (guitar, mandolin, steel guitar, keyboards, vocals) / Johnny Miller (bass, keyboards, vocals) / Freddie Miller (keyboards) / Charlie Kenny (drums, percussion)
Mrs. P. and I moseyed on down to one of our two local venues last night to see a tribute band for one of her most favourite bands, The Eagles. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever see the real thing, so these kind of evenings are more than likely the best that we are ever going to get. The band played to a packed house where the demographic was grey-haired, balding and in receipt of their state pension. That’s not entirely true… I did spot a young couple of early twenties but they were most certainly the exception rather than the rule on this occasion. About three songs in Mrs. P. turned to me and said that she had worked out what just wasn’t quite right about the band – they were all dressed in black suits rather than denim and checky shirts! Well, I suppose that she had a point but it’s not always a good thing when bands try to mimic the originals even down to clothing; I much prefer to judge them by the quality of their music. And the music was good. Very good, in fact. And the vocal harmonising – a key feature of any would-be Eagles tribute band – was really good too. The band played two sets, the first lasting an hour, the second about 70 minutes and with plenty of interaction with the friendly and enthusiastic audience they went down a storm. Billed as the “Official World No.1” Eagles tribute band, Talon had a lot to live up to and they were certainly very impressive. Mrs. P. said that she preferred The Illegal Eagles whom we had seen a couple of years ago, but I’m not so sure. The two halves of the set were packed with the expected classic Eagles songs and my hopes were fulfilled by them playing a couple of non-Eagles hits too: we got Don Henley’s ‘Boys of Summer’ and ‘Dirty Laundry‘ (although, sadly, no ‘End of the Innocence’) but even better, Joe Walsh’s ‘Rocky Mountain Way’, complete with talk box vocal effect. At the end of the second set we knew that there was an encore coming and everybody in the house knew what one of the songs was going to be but, rather than Mrs P., it was me who correctly predicted that it would be ‘Desperado‘; a nice quiet one to leave us with. With a non too flashy light show, and a projection screen which hinted at the songs they were playing, the band pulled off a very successful gig and also announced that they would be back in 2023, news which was well received by their fans. I wonder whether we’ll go?
As an aside, can anybody tell me why people go to this kind of event and then promptly sit and talk to one another all the way through? I say “talk“, but I actually mean shout. I had a couple next to me who turned up late for both halves of the show and proceeded to shout at one another throughout the first half, presumably passing comments about how good the band were. Well, I shot them disapproving glances, as did the couple on the row directly in front of them, all to no avail, so when they arrived late again for the second half – stinking of cigarette smoke, I might add – and started to shout again, I turned and gave her both barrels. Of course, she acted as if she had done no wrong, but it did at least have the desired effect of shutting them both up for the remainder of the gig. Again, I ask, why do people feel the need to do this sort of thing? 🤔
Setlist: Set 1: The Long Run; Tequila Sunrise; Best of My Love; Peaceful Easy Feeling; Seven Bridges Road; New Kid in Town; The Last Resort; Pretty Maids All in a Row; Wasted Time (reprise) / Victim of Love; One of These Night; Boys of Summer Set 2: Long Road Out of Eden; Rocky Mountain Way; Dirty Laundry; Lyin’ Eyes; I Can’t Tell You Why; Take it to the Limit; Take it Easy; Witchy Woman; Life in the Fast Lane; Encore: Hotel California; Desperado
Blurb from the Newark programme/brochure…
And a double-sided glossy flyer…
Tony Vegas plays Joe Walsh’s ‘Rocky Mountain Way’ (below)…
The band play ‘Long Road Out of Eden’…
And take their bows.
Gigs'n'Stuff 