ILLEGAL EAGLES
ALHAMBRA, Dunfermline
April 05th 2019
What is the difference between going to see Illegal Eagles and Eagles?
The answer is very simple a huge amount of money. The most costly tickets for the upcoming Eagles tour are well over £500. In Dunfermline on Friday night I was thoroughly entertained by the Illegal Eagles for under £30. No contest at all. Formed around twenty years ago the current line-up consists of Tony Kiley drums, Trevor Newnham bass & vocals, Gareth Hicklin piano & guitar & vocals, Mike Baker vocals & guitar & piano, Christian Philips vocals & guitar and finally Greg Webb vocals & guitar. In terms of accuracy and interpretation of all those classic songs we know and love so well you simply couldn’t slide a sheet of paper between the two bands. Really you have to trust me on this point as they are tremendously strong in all areas of musicality. However close the harmonies are required to be these guys nailed them completely. It should be said though that whilst they are a tribute band they are not just copyists.
There is enough space within the songs for self expression and within reason extemporising whilst remaining true in spirit to the fabulous original tracks. The atmosphere throughout from the stage was respectful whilst also enjoying good bit of crowd banter and humour. As you would expect over the course of a two hour plus show there could be few people, in the almost capacity house audience, who did not hear that special song they wanted.
So yes Heartache Tonight, Peaceful Easy Feeling, Desperado, Take It To Limit, New Kid In Town, Lyin’ Eyes, Life In The Fast Lane, Tequila Sunrise etc plus a couple of rarer cuts in Good Day In Hell and Midnight Flyer and of course something about a dark desert highway were all present and correct. For me though the highlight was beyond doubt an extraordinary version of the monumental track The Last Resort with five shared lead vocals. Absolutely outstanding! So for sixteen great nights go see Illegal Eagles or you could choose just once with the Eagles.
Graeme Scott, K107FM