When I knew I was going to be reviewing The Alter Eagles at the Spa Pavilion, I recalled my days as a teacher in Turkey, stood in front of a class of intermediate students all desperately trying to learn English.

As part of their curriculum they had to attempt to learn some songs in English and one of those songs was Hotel California.

Indeed, it was not only Turkish teenagers who became familiar with this song.

Whenever I went travelling around Turkey, or to other parts of the globe, the one song that people seemed to know when it came on the radio was Hotel California. Hardly surprising I guess when it had sold over 32 million copies worldwide.

With this thought in mind it was perhaps fitting that The Alter Eagles chose to open their show with the sound of someone turning the dial on a radio until they found the music of The Eagles. The band then began the evening with a brilliant rendition of Life in the Fast Lane.

The Felixstowe audience and I found this six piece band a joy to watch. Fronted by Keith Lemon lookalike, Jay Stezaker on both guitar and vocals, The Alter Eagles demonstrated what extremely talented musicians they all are. Not only are they talented, they clearly have a passion for performing the hits of The Eagles.

Along with Jay’s incredible vocal range, we were treated to the sound of the two lead guitarists, Mike and Dean, playing duo. On keyboards, guitar and vocals there was Alan Tomkins, Rob Beattie was on bass and vocals and Matt Hobson on drums.

It would be fair to say that many of the Eagles songs were covered in the evening’s show.

I personally enjoyed their performance of James Dean and the moving ballad Desperado which was sung by Jay whilst Alan played the keyboards.

However, the other crowd-pleasers included Lyin Eyes, Witchy Woman, and Jay’s personal favourite, Dirty Laundry.

After the interval, The Alter Eagles decided that they would encourage a little friendly competition among the audience and asked the men, followed by the women, to sing a chorus of Take it to the Limit to see who could sing it the best.

I take great pride in reporting that the females won, with the band seeming genuinely impressed.

When The Alter Eagles brought the show to an end and had exited the stage, the audience cried out for an encore.

There was one song which had not yet been covered, that one song that has imbedded itself in many cultures around the world, Hotel California.

The band emerged and Hotel California was executed as accurately as The Eagles would have performed it. It meant the evening had ended as wonderfully as it had started.