Taking it to another limit at Kilbeggan Drive-in Concert!

“It was just fantastic to be back on stage, we are still on a high,” said a delighted Tom Sheerin this week after a sell-out concert by the Eagles Tribute Band 'Take it to the Limit' played to a packed audience at a drive-in concert in Kilbeggan on Saturday night last to mark American Independence Day.

Tom is one of seven members of the multi-talented Sheerin family, who took the stage in the American Green Barn in Kilbeggan for Saturday night’s concert which attracted huge crowds of fans from places as far away as Cork, Tyrone, Donegal and Kerry.

Under strict instructions to “arrive in your car, stay in your car, and leave in your car” the first live music gig for the 10 members of the 'Take it to the Limit' tribute band was “a huge success” according to Tom Sheerin, who is not only a member of the band but is also their manager.

He was joined on stage in Kilbeggan on Saturday night by five of his brothers, Paul, Des, Danny, Kieran and Simon and nephew Ciaran, along with the Band’s three front men, Simon Casey, Johnny Brady and Nigel Connell for an unforgettable two and a half-hour set which included hit after hit from the enduring American country rock legends, the Eagles.

Tom Sheerin admits that the tribute band, which have proved to be a resounding success from their first gig in 2018 “might never have happened at all” had it not been for the persistence of one fan who used to sit behind the stage at the regular Monday night music gig by the Sheerin Family Band in Cooney’s Hotel in Ballymahon.

“He was always asking us to sing an Eagles song so after six or seven years of this I decided to organise an Eagles Tribute Night in the hotel so I approached Simon Casey, Nigel Connell and Johnny Brady and we did a few rehearsals before the gig, and on the night you couldn’t get into Ballymahon and over 150 people were left standing outside the hotel and they couldn’t get in because it was packed to capacity,” recalls Tom Sheerin.

Despite the fact that seven of the eleven members of the Sheerin family are full-time musicians, they actually never played together until their Dad, Dan, was 70 years of age! “We asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said he’d love if we all did a bit of a concert for him, so we set up a marquee in the back garden and that was the first time we all played together as, up to that, we had all been playing in different bands up and down the country,” says Tom.

That event led to the residency in Cooney’s Hotel every Monday night since 2012, which, in turn led to the “Take it to the Limit” Tribute Band, which was playing to sell-out audiences (including 1,300 people in the INEC in Killarney) until the coronavirus pandemic silenced the live music industry for the past 16 months.

“To tell you the truth, we never thought, in our wildest dreams, that the whole seven of us would be unemployed since March 12 of last year,” admits Tom Sheerin, who says he has taken no bookings for the Eagles Tribute Band until 2022. “I was sick and tired of postponing gigs all last year and putting them into this year, so I decided to wipe our books completely and take no bookings until 2022, and I think it is going to be well into next year before we get back to anything approaching normality in the music industry,” he says.

The 'Take it to the Limit' show played their only gig of 2020 in the American Green Barn in Kilbeggan on July 4, which was also a drive-in event, and it was such a huge success that Tom Sheerin said they decided to replicate the concert again this year.

“We had 23 guitars on stage on Saturday night and there was an unbelievable buzz about the whole event, we are all equals on stage, there are no egos and everyone gets paid the same amount,” says Tom, who feels there is a huge appetite out there for the return of live music events.

“It is very hard to predict when live music will return, but it was just an unbelievable experience for all of us to be back on stage in Kilbeggan on Saturday night, and to see such a huge crowd enjoying themselves as much as we were, it was just unforgettable,” he says.

TOP: Simon Sheerin, Des Sheerin, Johnny Brady, John Byrne, Paul Sheerin, Nigel Connell, Tom Sheerin, Kieran Sheerin, Ciaran Sheerin, Simon Casey, Danny Sheerin Taking a bow after the Take It To The Limit Drive-In Concert held at the American Green Barn Kilbeggan.