Sable Riley
Staff Writer
Claudia Crosby Theater came alive Monday night as 7 Bridges, a prominent Eagles tribute band, performed an accurate rendition of “Hotel California,” originally performed by the Eagles.
The Troy Arts Council presented “7 Bridges: The Ultimate Eagles Experience” in concert Sept. 21 at 7 p.m., where the attendees spanned all ages.
“I’m a big fan of live music, and I’ve grown up listening to the Eagles,” said Noah Finley, a sophomore undeclared major from Silverhill. “I wanted to check the band out to see how good they were.
“They were very, very good. The musicians, each one, was extremely talented and played their roles as the original Eagles members very well, and they put on a very good show.”
The group began playing with its current lineup in 2013 and has gained a nationwide reputation due to its ability to authentically reproduce hit songs by the Eagles, such as “Take it Easy” and “Desperado.”
7 Bridges has been described as the “best Eagles tribute on Earth” by Rolling Stone Magazine.
Tony Haan Jr., a singer/guitarist from Short Gap, West Virginia, portrays Joe Walsh from the Eagles. Haan said members of 7 Bridges, based out of Nashville, Tennessee, are all fans of the Eagles and met each other through a series of random circumstances but now consider each other “family.”
While they tour mostly on the East Coast, Haan said, “We’re trying to go all over the country. If we go out to California, that’s where the Eagles started; we would probably go over pretty well there.”
Haan’s independent album “Tony Haan Audio/Visual” can be found on Pandora and Spotify.
“We like to entertain people; that’s the biggest thing,” said Jason Manning, a singer/guitar player from Corsicana, Texas, who portrays Glenn Frey of the Eagles.
“We love the Eagles, too, because they have a lot of different genres, a lot of different styles of music, and it’s all ages,” Manning said.
The Troy Arts Council put on the show and is a volunteer organization, open to the public and dedicated to educating youths about the cultural arts.
“All the money we raise and all the support we receive from grants from the city, county and the state and corporate sponsors goes towards bringing cultural arts events into the schools in our community,” said John Jinright, Troy University associate professor and active member of TAC.
“We try to bring artistic talent that will go out into our local schools and do programs for those children at no cost.”
To help pay for these kind of programs, TAC hosts a public concert on the Troy campus. In exchange for a rent-free theater and technical support, TAC offers Troy University students 120 free tickets on a first-come, first-served basis.
Jinright said the members of 7 Bridges held an instructed sound check for music industry students to observe and ask questions.
“They displayed outstanding showmanship,” Jinright said.
“There was comedy, there was history, and they were telling stories about the music business and about folk life, about the origin of their name ‘7 Bridges.’
“That’s the hallmark of being a great entertainer because they engaged the audience and connected with everyone on several different levels.”
TAC is currently looking for student volunteers in marketing and graphic design to help publicize upcoming cultural arts events.
