by Ashley Janes
Morinville – Hotel California will fill the main hall of Morinville’s Community Cultural Centre (MCCC) Feb. 22 with the songs of The Eagles. Known as the original Eagles tribute band, they have performed for audiences of all ages, showing off musical styles including R&B, New Country, and Classic Rock.
Performing since 1986, Hotel California is made up of Dean Young on drums, Andy Lapointe on bass guitar, Mike Dimoulas on electric and acoustic guitar, as well as keyboard and talk box, and Rick Spyder, also on electric guitar. All members of the band contribute to vocals, and Young and Lapointe are renowned for sounding identical to Eagles singers Don Henley and Joe Walsh.
Having shared the stage with popular acts such as the Doobie Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, and Gretchen Wilson, their prominent reputation as talented entertainers has taken them around the world. They have performed in Dubai twice, in Japan, where they played for the US and Japanese Navies, in India, Bermuda, and considerable performances across Canada and the United States.
Lapointe recalled some of the band’s larger gigs. “The biggest show we’ve ever done was with Styx. It was 100,000 people in Blue Ash, Ohio. It was pretty neat. It was kind of surreal, but hey, I just rolled with it!” It was also in Blue Ash that the Doobie Brothers invited Hotel California to join them on stage in front of an audience of 80,000 fans. “You guys sounded great. Loved your vocals. We’d like to invite you to sing our last song on stage with us.”
Hits to appear on their Morinville playlist include Lyin’ Eyes, Tequila Sunrise, Take it Easy, Hotel California, Already Gone, Desperado, and Life in the Fast Lane, among many others. “That’s pretty much the core,” Lapointe said. “We do the most popular ones. And we work on getting the crowd going, you know, singing as much as possible and getting people up to dance in the theatre or anywhere we perform. It’s all danceable material.”
Despite the height of their success, Hotel California remains a humble and approachable group of entertainers determined to recreate the experience of The Eagles live. Lapointe emphasized how much they all enjoy speaking with the fans, so be sure to stick around and introduce yourselves. “We’ll do a meet and greet after the show. We don’t have any CDs for sale, but we’ll give out some posters and chat with the folks and say hi and thanks for coming down.”
Without a doubt, an evening spent in the warm light cast by this talented group will be a memorable experience for all local music lovers. Doors will open for their Morinville show at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are available through the MCCC with adult tickets priced at $25.00. For more information, call 780-939-7888.
