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Talon : Best of Eagles – Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, 4th October 2019
Talon : Best of Eagles – Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, 4th October 2019
It’s hard to grasp that Talon : Best of Eagles have been a going concern for only three years less than the 25 that have passed since Hell froze over and the Eagles skated away to a second wind of success.
Nor are the Eagles showing any signs of stopping, even with the sad passing of Glenn Frey in 2016 (Messrs Henley, Walsh and Schmit are still the Eagles in name but it’s as accurate to see them as managing directors of the Eagles & Son with Deacon Frey).
That franchise styled identity isn’t too far removed from what Talon have become, a musical business and quality brand as much as a quality band, playing tribute to one of the most popular and successful ever rock/ pop groups.
Given that Talon were performing the Eagles Greatest Hits on their 2019 tour it was fitting that the main set, as performed in Glasgow at the Pavilion Theatre (just a few seats short of a sell-out), opened and closed with two songs from the final album of the Eagles hit-filled 70s era, The Long Run – an on-point rendition of the title track and the full audience clap-a-long and big beat fun of 'Heartache Tonight.'
Those numbers bookended a set that focussed on the hits that ran from the Eagles debut album through to the aforementioned The Long Run, with a handful of notable others.
The Steve Young song 'Seven Bridges Road,' performed by the Eagle in their earliest shows, was given an acoustic and pitch perfect five-voiced outing featuring Talon co-founders Chris Lloyd and Peter Anderson, lead guitarist Tony Vegas (the Joe Walsh of the band), bassist Jonny Miller and multi-instrumentalist Keith Richard Buck.
The band are all talented musicians (keyboardist Freddie Miller and drummer Charlie Kenny complete the septet) but vocally, as witnessed/ heard on 'Seven Bridges Road,' best of luck finding harmonies better, or as well-blended, within any other touring rock or pop band (tribute or otherwise).
The band, via Chris Lloyd in his Don Henley guise, also delivered a rockin’ 'Get Over It' from Hell Freezes Over and a brace of Henley hits in the shape of 'Boys of Summer' and 'Dirty Laundry,' the latter allowing Tony Vegas and Peter Anderson to flex their six-string muscles.
It should be vocally noted however Chris Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Jonny Miller (and Tony Vegas when covering Randy Meisner's 'Take it to the Limit') don’t try and force any sort of Eagles vocality (Vegas however does have a vocal timbre spookily close to that of Joe Walsh, as heard on his Barnstorm-ing (one for the Walsh fans) rendition of 'Rocky Mountain Way').
Each is very much their own, extremely strong, singer; it’s more accurate therefore to say they vocally phrase in tribute to the Eagles and the original vocal lines.
Nor are the Eagles showing any signs of stopping, even with the sad passing of Glenn Frey in 2016 (Messrs Henley, Walsh and Schmit are still the Eagles in name but it’s as accurate to see them as managing directors of the Eagles & Son with Deacon Frey).
That franchise styled identity isn’t too far removed from what Talon have become, a musical business and quality brand as much as a quality band, playing tribute to one of the most popular and successful ever rock/ pop groups.
Given that Talon were performing the Eagles Greatest Hits on their 2019 tour it was fitting that the main set, as performed in Glasgow at the Pavilion Theatre (just a few seats short of a sell-out), opened and closed with two songs from the final album of the Eagles hit-filled 70s era, The Long Run – an on-point rendition of the title track and the full audience clap-a-long and big beat fun of 'Heartache Tonight.'
Those numbers bookended a set that focussed on the hits that ran from the Eagles debut album through to the aforementioned The Long Run, with a handful of notable others.
The Steve Young song 'Seven Bridges Road,' performed by the Eagle in their earliest shows, was given an acoustic and pitch perfect five-voiced outing featuring Talon co-founders Chris Lloyd and Peter Anderson, lead guitarist Tony Vegas (the Joe Walsh of the band), bassist Jonny Miller and multi-instrumentalist Keith Richard Buck.
The band are all talented musicians (keyboardist Freddie Miller and drummer Charlie Kenny complete the septet) but vocally, as witnessed/ heard on 'Seven Bridges Road,' best of luck finding harmonies better, or as well-blended, within any other touring rock or pop band (tribute or otherwise).
The band, via Chris Lloyd in his Don Henley guise, also delivered a rockin’ 'Get Over It' from Hell Freezes Over and a brace of Henley hits in the shape of 'Boys of Summer' and 'Dirty Laundry,' the latter allowing Tony Vegas and Peter Anderson to flex their six-string muscles.
It should be vocally noted however Chris Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Jonny Miller (and Tony Vegas when covering Randy Meisner's 'Take it to the Limit') don’t try and force any sort of Eagles vocality (Vegas however does have a vocal timbre spookily close to that of Joe Walsh, as heard on his Barnstorm-ing (one for the Walsh fans) rendition of 'Rocky Mountain Way').
Each is very much their own, extremely strong, singer; it’s more accurate therefore to say they vocally phrase in tribute to the Eagles and the original vocal lines.
Talon take the Seven Bridges Road to the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow
Mention of 'Boys of Summer' highlights another highly significant Talon trait – every little nuance and piece of album instrumentation is in the mix and on the mark.
On 'Boys of Summer' the song's gull cry guitar remarks are expertly delivered by Keith Richard Buck, while Charlie Kenny has the rhythmic pattern down pat.
Elsewhere there’s the descending mandolin chords toward the end of 'Lyin' Eyes' (the Glasgow audience giving it plenty on the choruses)… the chop guitar that permeates throughout 'Hotel California' and wouldn’t be the same without… Jonny Miller’s funky bass lines that follow the little guitar break on 'Life in the Fast Lane'… and many more subtle but effective touches.
That such nuances were heard with such clarity, and perfectly balanced within the sound mix, is down to the band’s eighth member, sound man Craig Wainwright.
An on-stage member of the band in the past, Craig Wainwright has an exceptional audio ear – he also has the extraordinary gift of seemingly being able to ensure no two instruments are ever clashing or fighting for the same frequency, while placing each lead vocal or instrument in its own audio space.
The rest of the set was as you would expect for a Greatest Hits show, all performed in tight, tidy and talented Talon fashion, from the acoustically framed 'Peaceful Easy Feeling' and the precise harmonies of 'New Kid in Town' to the heavier tones of 'One of These Nights' and 'Witchy Woman,' through to 'Take it Easy' and an encore of 'Hotel California' and 'Desperado.'
This review opened with a nod to the Eagles quarter of a century since their reunion and Talon’s own 22 years of award winning tribute business.
The Eagles 25 years is significant because Chris Lloyd, in pre-show conversation with FabricationsHQ, confirmed that not only is he now enjoying the Talon experience more than ever, he, Peter Anderson and the band are already sketching out plans for 2020, 2021 and, significantly, their own silver anniversary in 2022.
In other words, and in much the way they started their Eagles Greatest Hits set in Glasgow, Talon are in it for the The Long Run.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Photo credit: Anni Lloyd
On 'Boys of Summer' the song's gull cry guitar remarks are expertly delivered by Keith Richard Buck, while Charlie Kenny has the rhythmic pattern down pat.
Elsewhere there’s the descending mandolin chords toward the end of 'Lyin' Eyes' (the Glasgow audience giving it plenty on the choruses)… the chop guitar that permeates throughout 'Hotel California' and wouldn’t be the same without… Jonny Miller’s funky bass lines that follow the little guitar break on 'Life in the Fast Lane'… and many more subtle but effective touches.
That such nuances were heard with such clarity, and perfectly balanced within the sound mix, is down to the band’s eighth member, sound man Craig Wainwright.
An on-stage member of the band in the past, Craig Wainwright has an exceptional audio ear – he also has the extraordinary gift of seemingly being able to ensure no two instruments are ever clashing or fighting for the same frequency, while placing each lead vocal or instrument in its own audio space.
The rest of the set was as you would expect for a Greatest Hits show, all performed in tight, tidy and talented Talon fashion, from the acoustically framed 'Peaceful Easy Feeling' and the precise harmonies of 'New Kid in Town' to the heavier tones of 'One of These Nights' and 'Witchy Woman,' through to 'Take it Easy' and an encore of 'Hotel California' and 'Desperado.'
This review opened with a nod to the Eagles quarter of a century since their reunion and Talon’s own 22 years of award winning tribute business.
The Eagles 25 years is significant because Chris Lloyd, in pre-show conversation with FabricationsHQ, confirmed that not only is he now enjoying the Talon experience more than ever, he, Peter Anderson and the band are already sketching out plans for 2020, 2021 and, significantly, their own silver anniversary in 2022.
In other words, and in much the way they started their Eagles Greatest Hits set in Glasgow, Talon are in it for the The Long Run.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Photo credit: Anni Lloyd