There are a lot of impersonators in Branson. You can’t sling a cat without hitting an Elvis. Many of them are pretty good. Many acts that people think are impersonators, however, are not that at all, rather many acts label themselves as tributes. What’s the difference, you ask? An impersonator takes on the persona of the original. They not only attempt to sound like the original, they attempt to look like, dress like and speak like the original. A tribute, though, is a totally different story. In a tribute show, the talent does not pretend to channel the voice of the original. They simply take you by the hand and lead you down memory lane. Of the many tribute shows in Branson, one of the most overlooked is, Take It To The Limit, a tribute to the Eagles.
Friday night, while the shuttle at the Dick Clark Theater was taxiing people from parking lots a quarter mile away and packing them into see Legends, the Eagles tribute at God and Country Theater drew barely a hundred people. It is a shame that more people don’t know about the show, for it is one of the best tribute shows in Branson.
A fun thing about tribute shows: the audience usually doesn’t have to be prompted to sing along. The Eagles tribute is no different; nearly every person in the audience knew the songs by heart. The only exceptions were when, in the beginning of the second half of the show, the band presented two songs from the 2007 Eagles album, Long Road Out of Eden. It was my wish – and I believe many in the audience would agree – that they would have skipped the two newer songs, and sang the verses that they had omitted earlier in the show. As fans, we are glad the Eagles reunited, glad they toured again, and we may have even bought their new album, but we came to hear the songs we grew up with, and we want to hear every word, even when it comes to Lyin’ Eyes, at 6:22 in length.
Most shows in Branson try to change things up from one year to the next, which may explain why the Eagles tribute added the two songs from the new album. Cast and crew changes are inevitable, but can sometimes mean a bumpy start to a new season. That happened this season. Just two weeks into the beginning of April, the Eagles tribute still has bugs to work out. The tech working the sound and lights seemed uncertain of himself, and lead singer, Jon Sousan (who does many of Don Henley’s parts) had to interrupt the show several times to give verbal assistance. It didn’t make the show less enjoyable, but it was not professional. With their cast changes came the loss of one vocal part. The Eagles have always been noted for two things, twin lead guitars and five part harmony. Larry Holiday is the finest guitar player in Branson, and one of the best in the world (He is as nearly as fun to watch as Joe Walsh when singing Walsh’s hits). When the tribute band added Drew Webber this year, they got a guitar player who seems to have the potential to be Holiday’s peer, so they have the twin lead guitar thing covered. They lost a vocalist, though, for Webber doesn’s sing. So they cannot duplicate the Eagles famous harmonies. The show is still great, and still sounds good, but do me a favor, and put a dead mic on Webber and tell him to sing along. At least I would think it is five part harmony.
I was glad to see Larry and Jon were still with the show, and I hope that inevitable cast changes never lead them away from this band. They are the band, and it is a great one. That said, Larry and Jon are irreplaceable. So, I was disappointed when Jon Sousan walked off the stage three or four songs before the finish. He is their strongest voice and it is his love of the Eagles that shines through in the show. So when a cocky, all too cute, and irritatingly smug former member of Country Tonight finished the second set for Jon who left the stage without explanation (Later, he told me his throat was irritated from allergies), I was extremely disappointed. No one but Henley, himself, could finish a set for Jon. Sousan neither mimics the Eagles’ lead singer nor tries to interpret him. His voice is similar to Henley’s, so he sings it like Henley would, presenting their songs in a straight-forward manner. Stepping out before his big finale, though (Hotel California and Desparado), Jon not let us down (unavoidable though it may have been), but he put a kid on stage who made himself the center of attention and not the music. The kid cared only about putting his own interpretation on the music but didn’t care enough to memorize the lyrics.
Take It To The Limit is one of the best tributes in Branson, but Friday night’s show was not one of their best, by far.
2012 Branson Passport Rating for Take It To The Limit (out of 5):
Family Friendly – 5
Entertaining – 5
Musical Abilities – 5
Vocal Abilities – 5
Professionalism – 3
Total Score – 4.6
Take It To The Limit plays at God and Country Theatre in Branson, MO on Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm. Visit http://godandcountrytheatre.com/ or http://eaglesbranson.com/
Branson Passport 