By Andy Brophy

WESTPORT–Desert Highway, an Eagles’ tribute band, played to a packed house at the Levitt Pavilion for the last time on Saturday, July 25; they have one upcoming concert on Long Island, before they disband after 15 years.

“The Levitt was just a special place,” Larry Lippman, the band’s drummer and a lead vocalist, said in a phone interview Monday. He said the band played at the Levitt Pavilion about six times and particularly liked the Levitt’s location and atmosphere and the response from concert attendees.

“We’ve always sold out and always loved playing there and got a wonderful response,” Lippman said.

The band’s final concert will take place at Eisenhower Park in Long Island, N.Y on Saturday, Aug. 1, at 8:30 p.m.

Since its founding 15 years ago, the Long Island-based band also played venues in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, Lippman said.

The six-member band has 41 Eagles’ songs in its repertoire, according to its website, and the band’s name derives from the lyrics to “Hotel California,” one of the Eagles’ biggest hits, Lippman said.

Crowds at the Levitt always looked forward to Desert Highway playing “Hotel California” and the song’s famous guitar solo, which was played by Desert Highway’s Rich Naso and Edgar Betancourt, Lippman said.

“They always played it note for note, and people always wait for that solo to occur and that song to occur,” he said.

Additional band members include Mike Green, guitar and lead vocals; Carl Bova, bass and vocals; and Reggie Bell, keyboards and vocals, Lippman said. As a nine-member band, Desert Highway included Mark Feinberg, alto and baritone saxophone; Phil Granger, trumpet; and Rob Cutts, tenor saxophone.

Desert Highway is disbanding because its members want to pursue their own projects, Lippman said. He said he plans to retire as a public school teacher and move to western New York.

The Eagles, one of the most celebrated rock bands of all time, sold more than 120 million albums worldwide, had five #1 singles in the United States and won six Grammy awards.

While Desert Highway is disbanding after its final concert in New York on Saturday, the Eagles are performing a farewell tour entitled “The Long Goodbye,” with its final concert scheduled in Las Vegas in December.