Illegal Eagles at the Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells Review
Illegal Eagles
Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells
16 April 2015
Reviewed by Amanda Hayes
Last night we had another fantastic evening watching the Illegal Eagles at the Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall. I love the Eagles music and having had the pleasure of watching the Illegal Eagles perform previously we couldn’t wait. They certainly didn’t disappoint.
If you can choose seats I would recommend getting one near the front so you can watch the amazing guitar players at work. There are five musicians playing guitar and one on drums but they all seemed to be able to play everything and often swapped between keyboards, guitars and drums. Between them they also played banjo, mandolin and saxophone so there was a huge range of different instruments and sounds.
The guitar playing really was incredible and I lost count of the amount of times the roadie brought in different guitars, each with its own unique sound. Having played together off and on for 18 years, with the exception of one newer member, the harmonies were pitch perfect, so much so that sometimes you couldn’t tell who was singing..
The set started with Take It Easy, and went through all the hits such as Take It To The Limit, New Kid in Town and Tequila Sunrise, Peaceful Easy Feeling and Heart of the Matter. They played for a good hour and then after a twenty minute interval were back with the Long Road to Eden, Desperado and some 80’s tracks, such as Don Henley’s Boys of Summer and The Heat is On, complete with shades!
One of the highlights was an improvised acoustic version of the Long Road Home it really showcased their impressive musical talent.
Before playing each song was introduced by one of two members of the band, Al and Phil, with some dates and facts about when and why they were written. Each band member was also introduced with some history about who they had played with in the past. They obviously had a great friendship as well as being bandmates which showed in the way they spoke and acted on stage.
The set was well laid out with plenty of the Eagles ballads where the audience was dead quiet just listening to the singing and guitar playing, followed by more upbeat tracks where everyone was up out of their seats dancing and clapping.
The second set finished with Heartache Tonight and they left the stage with everyone shouting and stamping until they came back on and ended with the epic Hotel California.
Having seen this band before, and several of my friends having gone multiple times you will realise that I don’t even need to think about the rating it’s a definite 5 out of 5. I highly recommend you see this band if you get a chance.
Rating: 5/5 
The Illegal Eagles are touring the UK, for more information and tour dates visit www.illegaleagles.com.
For other shows at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells visit www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk.
Assembly Hall Theatre, Crescent Rd, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2LU | 01892 530613
