Frank Reno grew up listening to the Eagles – specifically an album featuring the legendary band’s greatest hits.
He had no choice, he said. “It played constantly in my house. My dad was a huge Eagles fan.”
It’s no surprise then that Reno, a musician following in his father’s footsteps for 30 years, leads the group, Eaglemania, called by some the world’s best Eagles tribute band.
Eaglemania comes to Genesee Theatre Jan. 28, and Reno said if the audience members close their eyes, they might just think they’re actually listening to the Eagles.
That’s because he and the band members painstakingly listen to and analyze every melody, harmony, drum sound and guitar rif to produce a nearly exact replica of how the Eagles performed the pieces, he said.
Reno started Eaglemania about five years ago after getting tired of the nightclub music scene.
“I started exploring tributes and realized the Eagles appeal to a large demographic,” he said. “Twenty- to 90-year-olds come to our show.
“Another reason is because I personally love and know the music. I listened to it all the time. It’s very melodic, the harmonies are just unmistakable. It’s smooth and perfect. There’s no mistake. You hear an Eagles song, you can easily identify it.”
Reno said it took about a year to audition musicians to create the right sound. “Each and every one of them was very good in their own right. But it was a matter of finding the right combination of voices, the voices that blend. Finding that nice smooth perfect harmony – that was probably the most challenging thing.”
He added he also needed to find musicians who were dedicated and disciplined enough to spend hours picking apart the albums and analyzing each song and how it was played.
“Persistence paid off. I’ve got a bunch of great guys now. They’re great as a band and we’re like a big family.”
Some of them like Reno work full-time as musicians. Reno also writes background music for ABC TV and Disney, he said.
Other band members have full-time jobs. “We have a surgeon in the band. We have a teacher, we have a couple guys who own businesses,” Reno said.
Eaglemania is popular on the East Coast and hasn’t performed in the Midwest until now. “We’re really excited about coming to this area and having the opportunity to play in front of a new audience,” Reno said.
He said the Eagles’ music has stood the test of time because it’s so well-written and produced.
“They were amazing songwriters,” he said.
“I think the Eagle’s music has been the soundtrack to a lot of people’s lives. It’s really easy to listen to ‘Desperado’ and remember when you heard it or why that song meant something to you – you heard it all over the radio growing up. It was part of the fabric of people’s lives.”
Reno said it’s difficult to get all the great songs the Eagles produced into one show. But certain songs need to performed including “Take It To The Limit,” and “Take it Easy.”
“People know the words to all those songs. They sing along with us all night long. It’s a great feeling,” Reno said.
“What we strive for each and every show is to make the audience feel as close as they can get to being at an Eagles concert. We realize we’ll never have a perfect performance. But we really do go out of our way to cover the Eagles the way the Eagles would cover the Eagles. Our lead singer sounds just like Don Henley. He’s that on.”
Reno said Eaglemania’s audience is growing and about 84 percent of the time the shows are sold out.
“That tells me people are still loving this music and as long as that keeps happening, we’ll ride this thing as long as we can and keep the music alive.”
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
Eaglemania
When: 7:30 p.m., Jan. 28
Where: Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan
Tickets: $22.50-$62.50
Information: 847-263-6300; www.geneseetheatre.com
