David Byrne - Hammersmith, Apollo - June 20th 2018

People sometimes ask me what the best gig I ever saw was and I never know what to say...

The memory plays tricks over 40 years of gigs. I can recall ones which exceeded expectation (Suzie and the Banshees at Poole Arts Centre in 1981, Franz Ferdinand in Bournemouth in 2009, New Order at Brixton in 2015, The Beat at Sub89 in Reading in 2015, too) and a few which disappointed (Bob Dylan, massively, a few years ago. Madness and Spandau Ballet, somewhat, in the 1980s), but mostly I've enjoyed them and so it's always seemed hard to say that any one was 'the best'.

That, I think, has now changed...

I've always liked David Byrne from his Talking Heads days (A couple of TH albums in my LP collection - and a later solo CD - testimony to that, as I've not yet boarded the vinyl revival train, so they're all from the late '70s to early '90s), but I wouldn't call myself a diehard fan, but he doesn't tour often and for a few years now, since starting to go to gigs again, I've definitely had him on my radar, so it was with some pleasure that I bought myself a ticket to see his "American Utopia" tour at Hammersmith.

I'd heard, and liked, the new album and seen his assertion that this tour was going to be his 'most ambitious since Stop Making Sense' (The film of which I have somewhere on DVD and the CD, too, and think is a pretty amazing piece of work), but that seemed a mighty claim for a man now in his mid '60s.

Still, he's never dull, as more recent stuff like "Lazy" and the latest album proved, so I figured it'd be an entertaining enough evening.

I arrived early and queued for about 20 minutes before getting in.

The support act was Laura Mvula, who seems to have a good reputation, but I'm afraid her performance left me unimpressed, but, as so often seems to be the case, the sound for her set was dreadful, so I'll just have to say the guy on stage with her, Troy someone, was a pretty impressive drummer.

Hammersmith Apollo (I'd not been before) has a surprisingly low stage, with a floor that is flat for about 20 metres and then slopes up towards the doors to the lobby, overhead is an area of seating, but who wants to sit when you can dance?

As Laura left, the stage hands moved away her equipment and untangled a curtain of fine chains around the stage, leaving a wide open area with nothing, but a small table and a lone chair in the middle. A large brain sat on the table...

At about 8:45, the lights went out and then a spotlight illuminated a steel grey suited David Byrne in the chair, contemplating the brain and it began.

The first song was 'Here' from American Utopia, which is a fairly slow, melancholy song, and as it progressed he was joined by similarly dressed singers and musicians, the latter who were all carrying their instruments, no impressive, fixed drumkits or banks of synths, there were 4 or 5 people carrying a single percussion instrument (In fact, during an encore EVERYONE had a drum!).

The minimalist set was impressively lit, given lie to the fact that you need loads of lazers, lights and pyrotechnics to make an impressive set. The chain curtain let his fellow performers swim in and out of the stage. It sounds a little silly, but the effect was rather magical and I was just simply mesmerised - I think I could have watched the performance with no sound and enjoyed it immensely!

Fortunately, that wasn't required and David moved swiftly into one of the many songs from his back catalogue that he included, starting with the recent-ish 'Lazy', which changed the pace, invigorated the band and snapped the audience into another frame of mind.

'I, Zimbra' and 'Slippery People' from the Talking Heads period, followed and, if anyone in the audience was wavering (aside from the man near me who never seemed to so much as tap a toe!), got them firmly into the mood for a great time.

The response to most songs (especially the better known ones, such as 'This Must Be The Place' and 'Once in a Lifetime') was rapturous, more akin to that you experience at the end of a gig, but this was after nearly every song!

'Everybody's Coming to My House', his most recent single, stood up well amongst the classics, but there were some songs in there I was less familiar with, but all the better for it.

'Burning Down The House' was the main set finale and nearly bought the house down, but, of course, everyone does an encore these days, and we got 'Dancing Together' and 'The Great Curve' (A Talking Heads song which I didn't know, but was truly magnificent!) and then a second encore, which was 'Hell You Talmbout', a Janelle Monáe song that lists Black Americans killed by the police. Somehow, I suspect it has more resonance in the States as, to be honest, most of the names meant nothing to me, so the odd few that were familiar stood out.

Personally, I think that might have been a bit of a miscue, but in a way it was a perfect ending, as the whole team were lined up, drums in hand, taking an equal part in the performance. Yes, we'd come to see David Byrne, but there was no doubt that everyone on the stage played their part.

If I had any complaint, I might say a few of my favourite TH songs (and "Gasoline and Dirty Shirts", my favourite from American Utopia) were missing, but this isn't an artist doing a 'greatest hits' tour (or a reprise of the 'Stop Making Sense' tour, much as I suspect most would have loved that), so the fact that back catalogue material was liberally sprinkled amongst the new stuff was to be enjoyed, not moaned about.

At one point, David made a remark that a friend had asked him if the performers were miming earlier in the tour., but, no, he said, everything we heard was coming live off the stage, by the performers there.

However you look at it (And you can find plenty of videos of the tour online - I was glad I hadn't bothered to check them first though, as I suspect some of the impact would have been lessened), it was a remarkable performance.

The presentation, choreography and lighting were imaginative, even breathtaking at times and the sound and, indeed, David Byrne's voice, were excellent.

Maybe I'll feel different in 6 months or a year's time, but I think I've just seen the best gig I've ever been to!

After writing this, and a month later still mesmerised by this gig (I was looking to see if a DVD was going to be available of this tour at all), I found this NME article, which pretty much agrees with what I tried to say, but says it more eloquently!

Setlist:

Here
Lazy
I Zimbra
Slippery People
I Should Watch TV
Dog's Mind
Everybody's Coming to My House
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
Once in a Lifetime
Doing the Right Thing
Toe Jam
Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
I Dance Like This
Bullet
Every Day Is a Miracle
Like Humans Do
Blind
Burning Down the House

Encore:
Dancing Together
The Great Curve

Encore 2:
Hell You Talmbout(Janelle Monáe cover)

Joan As Police Woman - Rough Trade East - February 12th 2018

I went along to see Joan As Police Woman at the Rough Trade East shop.

This wasn't a 'gig' as such, but a record signing with a bit of live performance as a bonus.

The far end of the shop was cleared and a tiny stage setup, in front of which we all gathered (I'd guess there was around 200 people there, maybe less).

Joan came on wearing a fake fur jacket and red leather trousers and sat at her keyboard (A guitar was also placed on the stage).

She said "Hi" and explained she would perform as much of her new album, "Damned Devotion" as was 'possible and appropriate' to her performing solo.

This equated to about 2/3rds and she sang for about 45 minutes.

I'm quite new to her material and I was very impressed with her voice in such close proximity, you could really her every note and even the whispered passages seemed on key to me (I wouldn't claim to have any professional skill in this respect, but there was no hiding place!).

The songs, too, were good with the familiar "Warning Bell" and "Tell Me" being accompanied by other tracks from the album.

For most of the songs, including those she didn't perform, she explained the background and what they song was about.

It was quite different to your usual, bigger venue performance and all the better for it.

Even better, we only paid the cost of whatever format of the album we bought (I got a CD for £10.99, others bought the vinyl for £19.99) and there was a chance to get Joan to sign them, but as I had a 2 hour journey home, I decided not to wait, as I'd really come along primarily to hear her and I left happy that I had.

Someone videoed the event and put it on Youtube.

An excellent performer, who I shall make a point of seeing again somewhere.

The Beat & The Selecter - G-Live, Guildford - 22nd December 2017

One of the best gigs I've ever been to was Ranking Roger's "The Beat" at Sub89 in Reading just a few years ago

So, when I saw they were playing in Guildford, I bought myself and Lauren a ticket.

The tour was a co-headlining one with "The Selecter", who I'd seen once, many, many years ago in a dreadful performance in Bournemouth (That night saved by the exuberance of "The Bodysnatchers" in a 3 hander Two-Tone gig - I can't recall who the third band were!)

On the Friday evening before Christmas, there were a lot of people looking to enjoy their evening. The audience had its fair share of fat 50 somethings in pork pie hats, but also plenty of youngsters, and not all there with their parents.

The Beat were up first and, with a tight timetable, Ranking Roger wasted no time, starting at 8 sharp with "Whine & Grine" medleyed with "Stand Down Margaret" to the delight of the crowd.

After that he explained that his son, "Ranking Junior", was suffering from the flu, so he was on his own tonight, but that "Junior" might appear at some point (He did, for "Side to Side", to a warm reception from the crowd).

I'd been to see Squeeze at G-Live a couple of months earlier and it's a good venue, modern and a nice size (not too big), but I found the sound then of the vocals was pitched at the wrong level for me on the floor and the same, sadly, was true for this gig. The vocals weren't totally inaudible, but not at the right level to be clear above the instruments. I don't know if the sound is better further back or maybe up in the balcony, but this might well put me off going to see anyone there in future.

With only an hour, The Beat delivered a cut down set (The headliners alternated on this tour and "The Selecter" got the role - and the extra time - at Guildford), but it was enjoyable and energetic, as we'd expected from Ranking Roger, but, good thought it was, it didn't match the energy and excitement of that Reading gig, partly, I'm convinced, because at Sub 89 there is no real stage and the, small, audience and the band share the floor! The sound, too, had been better balanced at Reading.

Stand outs for me were "Hands Off...She's Mine","Too Nice to Talk to", "Click Click", "Ranking Full Stop", "Tears of a Clown" and "Can't get used to losing You", but once again Ranking Roger's energy was infectious and the set was very enjoyable, if, by comparison with Sub 89's a bit detached.

So, a very enjoyable performance from "The Beat" by most standards, but not a match for the last time we'd seen them.

There was a 30 minute or so break, while the stage hands switched the branding and we (and everyone else) queued forever for a drink.

We managed to get back in before "The Selecter" started and my first thoughts were that I wasn't going to enjoy them for a second time.

Pauline Black is a very mannered performer ("Weird" Lauren described her as and I won't quibble), whilst long time band-mate, Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson acted as a good foil to her and provide some welcome balance to the vocals (The sound balance seemed better, if not ideal, for them).

The rest of the band looked like young session players, but the sound was familiar, from the opening "Avenger's Theme", through recent track "Frontline" and "Three Minute Hero", but even with the familiar tracks, I wasn't warming to them really.

It wasn't really until "On My Radio", a good 2/3rds of the way through, that they hit their stride for me and I really started to enjoy myself and it and "Too Much Pressure" were the undoubted highlights for me (along with "Madness" performed as part of the excellent encore with Ranking Roger).

I personally wouldn't pay to go and see "The Selecter" alone again (to be fair, I rarely see bands repeatedly), but they 'got' me in the end and I would say their set overall had been enjoyable and added to, rather than detracted from, my enjoyment.

By the time we left, humming our favourites and discussing the gig, I was definitely in a festive mood.

Selist:

The Beat
From another gig, but pretty close to G-Live, although they played "Side to Side" and "Too Nice to Talk to" as well and obviously dropped a few - I don't recall "Rough Rider" or "Said We Would Never Die".
Whine & Grine/Stand Down Margaret
Hands Off...She's Mine
Twist & Crawl
Doors of Your Heart
Save It for Later
The Tears of a Clown(Smokey Robinson & The Miracles cover)
Click Click
Can't Get Used to Losing You (Andy Williams cover)
Rough Rider(Prince Buster cover)
Said We Would Never Die(The English Beat cover)
Best Friend
Ackee 1-2-3
Sole Salvation
Ranking Full Stop / Mirror in the Bathroom
Jackpot(The Pioneers cover)

The Selecter
I know the order is wrong here, it's from another gig on the tour as "Missing Words" was played earlier and they played "Frontline" at one point too.
The Avengers Theme(Laurie Johnson Orchestra cover)
Out on the Streets
Three Minute Hero
They Make Me Mad
Breakdown
Celebrate the Bullet
Danger
See Them A Come
Black and Blue
It Never Worked Out
Street Feeling
Train to Skaville(The Ethiopians cover)
James Bond Theme(Monty Norman cover)
Missing Words
On My Radio
Too Much Pressure / Pressure Drop

Encore:
Carry go bring home / Time Hard / Murder
My Collie (Not a Dog)
Madness(Prince Buster cover) - With Ranking Roger

Peter Hook & The Light - Salisbury City Hall - 8th December 2017

I'd seen Peter Hook a couple of times before and had slightly mixed feelings...

The first time was when he performed the two Joy Division Studio albums back to back and a few New Order tracks as a bonus.

I had really enjoyed that gig, but a second visit, to see him perform the first two New Order albums felt a bit flat, especially for the first album.

At the time, I suspected some (at least) of that was due to the material - that first NO album falls rather uneasily between a JD album and the different direction New Order would take as they came to terms with the loss of Ian Curtis.

When I saw that Hooky was to perform the two Substance albums (effectively the first 'greatest hits' albums of the two groups), I decided this wouldn't suffer that problem and booked myself a ticket, deciding to drive the 50 miles to Salisbury (a city I used to visit frequently in my early years, but have only, rarely, passed through more recently) rather than face the rush to catch a train home from London.

I set out early and got to Salisbury about 6:15, time to grab a Nandos and wander briefly around the few Christmas market stalls still open and decide I really do need to go to Salisbury for a day sometime again, before making my way to the City Hall.

I'd been here once before, with my son, to see Milton Jones, so I knew what to expect.

Arriving about 45 minutes early for the scheduled 8PM start ("No support" - There was a lot of material to cover, so no loss there!), I decided to take a seat as it was unallocated standing or seating as I wished. My plan was to sit for a while and get up and go to the floor once they appeared on stage, but somehow I never did and I had the relative novelty of sitting throughout the event.

Whether that changed my view of the gig is hard to say, but this is what I felt.

Hooky and his band appeared about 8:10and went straight into a trio of early New Order tracks, "In a Lonely Place", "Procession" and "Cries and Whispers", before starting into New Order's Substance proper with "Ceremony" and "Everything's Gone Green".

I can't ever shake the feeling that Peter Hook isn't Bernard Sumner vocally and, whilst some of the tracks were great, especially "Everything's Gone Green", "The Perfect Kiss", "State of the Nation" and the little played "1963" that rounds out New Order's Substance, and Hooky's base is unmistakable and missed from the current New Order lineup, despite his replacement's best efforts, it didn't really sound like New Order.

It was good, but, given the choice, I'd rather see the current New Order perform Substance, just because Peter Hook, and one of his colleagues who sang a few of the songs, just don't sound like Barney.

I'd imagine it's a bit like seeing Queen, with someone other than Freddie Mercury singing (Not a band I've ever liked, but it seems doubly pointless to see them without their iconic frontman). Also, as NO tracks become more electronic, there are parts where Hooky's bass isn't employed and at times he looked at a bit of a loss, waiting for his chance to return to the fray.

After the New Order set, there was a 15 minute or so interval and then they were back, starting into "No Love Lost", "Komakino", "These Days" and a couple of other early tracks, before launching into the original Substance LP order with "Warsaw" and "Leaders Of Men".

I think it's true to say that Peter Hook does "Joy Division" better than "New Order" - His vocal style on these tracks does mimic Ian Curtis' to a degree, but does so well, and so they sound more like the recordings and whilst you couldn't quibble about the enthusiasm Hooky put into the NO part of the gig, he seemed more comfortable and engrossed in delivering the JD material.

The workrate was relentless, for both albums the tracks followed on instantly from the end of the previous one (A constraint of time, I guess) with few chances to interact with the crowd, except to put one heckler down very effectively early on, wonder at the gap between the audience and the stage and to a have a bit of a joke at one point when the other bass guitarist was having sound issues briefly.

For much of the gig I wondered at the wisdom of performing New Order before Joy Division, but the last 15 minutes of the gig proved Hooky knew what he was doing.

Ending the night on "1963" would have been anti-climatic, even with "Bizarre Love Triangle" and "True Faith" directly before, but by ending on the LP order of Joy Division (actually the latter release of the two, so perhaps another reason for the order, given Factory's obsession with numbering everything!) we were treated to a finale of "Atmosphere" followed by "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

If maybe Hooky doesn't do some New Order tracks as well as the remaining members, they certainly can't hold a candle to his performance of "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

You could have forgiven even a generally dreadful performance for the sheer brilliance of that, but of course, there was nothing to forgive as it had been quality entertainment throughout, even if I'm more convinced than ever about where Hooky's ultimate strengths lie.

As the last note died, he wished the audience a thank you and a Merry Christmas, before the lights came on and we left - No encore required - Nothing could top that finale!

Selist:

New Order
In a Lonely Place
Procession
Cries and Whispers
Ceremony
Everything's Gone Green
Temptation
Blue Monday
Confusion
Thieves Like Us
The Perfect Kiss
Subculture
Shellshock
State of the Nation
Bizarre Love Triangle
True Faith
1963

Joy Division
No Love Lost
Novelty
From Safety to Where...?
Komakino
These Days
Warsaw
Leaders of Men
Digital
Autosuggestion
Transmission
She's Lost Control
Incubation
Dead Souls
Atmosphere
Love Will Tear Us Apart

PS If my review sounds a bit negative on the New Order performance, don't let me put you off. I've been to see Peter Hook and the Light 3 times since he left New Order and I rarely see a band twice.

Squeeze - G-Live, Guildford - 17th October 2017

I'd seen Glenn Tilbrook in the tiny West End Centre in Aldershot and greatly enjoyed the evening, where he'd chatted and taken requests from the audience!

I'm not an avowed Squeeze fan and I ummmed and ahhed for a while before buying a ticket to see him and Difford reunited as Squeeze at G-Live in Guildford.

I arrived a bit later than usual, so only caught the final half of the last song by support act, Nine Below Zero. The audience gave them a rousing ovation, though, so I guess most people had enjoyed them.

About 8:50, after the usual roadie/soundcheck shenanigans, the lights dimmed and Squeeze appeared on stage.

Their opener, "Please Be Upstanding" sounded like a song written to start a gig with, but was catchy and cheerful and soon got the audience on their side.

The next track, the classic "Pulling Mussels", had everyone singing along, although I have to say at times I found the large displays behind the stage distracted me from the actual performance on stage.

Some of the audience seemed to recognize all the songs, but I'll admit I only know their early stuff, so some passed me by.

The classics, though, were performed with enthusiasm and energy, and Tilbrook's voice still sounds good to me, although at times, down near the front and centre of the stage, the sound balance meant I couldn't make out all the words of the songs I didn't know (Someone's posted up some videos on Youtube from the balcony and it appears the sound was pretty good there!)

"Hourglass", "Cool For Cats" (with Chris Difford on vocals for a change), "Take Me I'm Yours" (A great performance with the drummers standing and playing marching drums (See the photo above), "Tempted", "Goodbye Girl", "Up the Junction" and "Labelled with Love" were all fantastic to my ears and reminded me of how clever lyrically Squeeze were/are.

They ended with a 3 song encore, finishing on "Is That Love" and, finally, a 15 minute rendition of "Black Coffee in Bed", that included a name check for all the band.

Well worth seeing and a quality performance by all, especially noteworthy, I thought, was the keyboard player.

All that said, I think I enjoyed the evening with Glenn Tilbrook more!

Set list:

Please Be Upstanding
Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)
Patchouli
Hourglass
A&E
Rough Ride
Annie Get Your Gun
Innocence In Paradise
Cradle to the Grave
Nirvana
Cool for Cats
Another Nail in My Heart
Departure Lounge
Albatross
Take Me I'm Yours
Tempted
Wicked and Cruel
Goodbye Girl
Up the Junction
Labelled With Love(with Mark Feltham)
Slap and Tickle(with Dennis Greaves)

Encore:
Open
Is That Love
Black Coffee in Bed(with Dennis Greaves)

The Hoosiers - The Boilerroom, Guilford - 5th October 2017

This was another of those double take moments...

In my regular 'upcoming Gig emails' I saw that The Hoosiers were playing at the Boilerroom in Guildford, where I'd seen Ben Watt play early in the year.

As it's tiny venue, I couldn't see how a full band could actually fit in, but some investigation confirmed that, yes, it was THE Hoosiers (And not just one of them!) and, yes, they were playing The Boilerroom as part of a small tour to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their first album, the excellent "The Trick To Life", which was being re-released in a special edition (along with a first time vinyl release, how times change!).

I quickly bought a ticket, but still wondered what this would be like in the cramped venue.

When I arrived a support band were finishing (I recall there were two, but little about them, except that one had a very mannered lead singer who actually seemed to spoil a fairly decent set of musicians. I guess he'd call that charisma!

Eventually, about 9PM, by which time it was already pretty toasty and I'd sunk two pints of Asahi, The Hoosiers appeared on stage (which is really a little alcove at one end of the bar - This was one a pub and the layout isn't really that great for music, if I'm honest!)

They performed the whole of Trick To Life from end to end (as bands are wont to do when celebrating the anniversary of releases.

I must say, they were very good, looking and sounding very like they had in their heyday (not that long ago to be fair) and the songs sounded fresh and energetic,as they had then.

This was a band that both myself and Lauren and Ryan really liked and it was definitely more their age group that made up the audience. One group I spoke to agreed they were surprised to see them playing there, one lad saying "I couldn't believe it, there was my 14 year old self getting to see my favourite band!"

After they finished the tracks from Trick to Life, they played a number of other songs, which I didn't know, but the audience received enthusiastically and seemed very much of a similar style.

They even popped in a cover of "We didn't start the fire" by Billy Joel, which I did recognize!

The place was absolutely packed with 20 somethings (I reckon I was the oldest person there by 15 years, at least!) and it got very, very hot, but everyone seemed to have a good time, although I had to beat a retreat to nearer the bar towards the end to cool off (I found one or two people who'd been standing near me earlier had done the same though!).

A good evening, with a great performance by The Hoosiers, but perhaps they were just a bit too big a draw for the tiny Boileroom?

Setlist:

The Feeling You Get When
Worried About Ray
Worst Case Scenario
Run Rabbit Run
Goodbye Mr A
A Sadness Runs Through Him
Clinging on for Life
Cops and Robbers
Everything Goes Dark
Killer
The Trick to Life

Encore:
The Feeling You Get When
Money to be Made
Somewhere In The Distance
Pristine
I Can't Feel My Face(The Weeknd cover)
We Didn't Start the Fire(Billy Joel cover)
Choices

The Illegal Eagles - Princes Hall, Aldershot - 13th July 2017

I'd never been to see a 'tribute act' before and I'll be honest it was with some trepidation that I did, but you're never going to see "The Eagles" perform again and it was very local and I'd read very good reports of "The Illegal Eagles", so I decided to take a chance.

I'll be honest, I've never much liked the idea of 'tribute acts' - People performing other peoples' songs 'pretending' to be them was my perception, but it didn't really feel like that on the night and I can see the appeal to people who won't ever have the chance to see their favourite acts perform live.

So, what was it like?

First off, The Illegal Eagles (line up Phil Aldridge, Trev Newnham, Al Vosper, Christian Phillips, Greg Webb and Gareth Hicklin) are a very personable bunch to spend an evening with. As Trev observed at one point, "We don't take ourselves too seriously" and they also don't try to 'be' The Eagles.

I'm not a musician, but I thought musically they were excellent, delivering some of the intricate Eagles' numbers solos with precision and feeling. They also seemed to have the harmonies perfected and these two areas (instrumental solos and harmonies) were where they worked best for me.

The downside I feared with a tribute act that I did find was that they don't SOUND like The Eagles. Vocal performances are very hard to replicate with perfection and I don't think they try to mimic the originals, although they do aim for a similar sound, which is probably a better idea.

Some vocal performances, to my ear, worked better than others, even some of those where a solo voice front and centre (Gareth, especially, was excellent on a couple of songs) and it would be unfair to say they were anything other than very good - This certainly isn't your average bunch of musicians doing covers, they really master the instrumental, harmonies and overall 'sound' of the records, but ultimately, you can't sound exactly like the original singer.

Does this really matter? Well, obviously not to the majority of people there. I'm sure most happily listen to their Eagles CDs and Vinyl, but can enjoy the Illegal Eagles for their quality of performance and (the now impossible with the originals) chance to hear their favourite Eagles tracks performed live and let's be honest, lots of older performers no longer sound like they did (in a few cases they can sing better, but some big stars have voices that are totally 'shot' and yet they still attract big paying audiences!)

A good half of the audience responded that they'd seen the band live before and I suspect a good number of those who hadn't will next time.

The band started with a couple of Eagles songs I didn't recognise(I'm not a hard core fan), but they hit their stride with some of the big hits, including "New Kid In Town" (a favourite of mine for reasons I find hard to explain to myself!), "Lyin' Eyes", "I Can't Tell You Why", "Life in the Fast Lane" and rounded off their two song Encore with "Desperado".

For me, the highlight of the performance came after the interval (it was an older audience on the whole, who probably needed a toilet break!) when they started with "Hotel California" - Al's intro was spine-tingling and the whole band absolutely 'nailed' this classic track (as I posted on their Facebook page!).

I still can't say I'm 100% sold on the tribute act as a concept and won't rush to see others, but The Illegal Eagles performed these great songs brilliantly and with clear regard, skill and dedication, so I came away humming and very happy with my evening out.

If you like live music and like the Eagles, I can't imagine there's a better way to enjoy these songs than to go along and see the hardworking, talented and entertaining "Illegal Eagles".

Setlist:
Unfortunately I couldn't find a setlist, but if you have one, let me know