7 Bridges to headline next Rockin’ on the Mon show

The band plays the music of the Eagles, along with solo songs by Joe Walsh.

For this weekend’s Rockin’ on the Mon summer concert series show, the Monongahela Aquatorium will feature headliner 7 Bridges, a nationally acclaimed Eagles tribute band, with the acoustic trio Submerge as the opening act.

Gates will open at 6 p.m. Saturday. Tickets cost $10 per person and can be purchased at the event or online. As always, the venue will have food trucks and other vendors.

7 Bridges, largely based in Nashville, Tenn., covers the music of the Eagles as well as some tracks from band member Joe Walsh’s solo career. Richie Scholl, originally from Australia, portrays Walsh, alongside Bryan Graves as frontman Glenn Frey with the other band members portrayed by Devon Pangle, Keith Thoma, Brian Franklin and Vernon Roop.

“It’ll sound just like the Eagles, and … it’ll be a little more visually appealing,” Scholl said. “It’s an entertaining show. Our front guy, Bryan Graves, he’s our Glenn Frey, he’s quite a character actually. He could be a comedian.”

Scholl moved to the United States in 2007 with lofty ambitions of being a country star. In 2019, he joined 7 Bridges, which had already been around for years. He’s a longtime fan of the Eagles, so it made for a nice fit.

“I’ve always loved the Eagles, since I was a kid. I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just the fact that they’re a crossover of the country and rock thing,” Scholl said. “Blended the two camps that I’ve always loved musically.”

The band attempts to recreate the music as faithfully as possible. Scholl said some people have told him that upon closing their eyes, they felt like they were actually listening to the Eagles. He added that it’s not an easy sound to reproduce.

“Especially when you have multiple vocals going on,” Scholl said. “We have like five-part harmonies going on in a couple of songs. It’s a lot of working out. You can’t just jump up there and wing it. You gotta put in the work to learn it and rehearse it.”

7 Bridges played the Aquatorium a few years ago, and Scholl remembers it being a fun show.

“I thought it was great … it’s cool, all the boats around there,” he recalled. “It was a great show, I remember the last time we were there. Looking forward to it.”

Submerge will play a wide mix of different genres of popular music by the vendors to open for 7 Bridges.

“It’s a big variety. Country, pop, rock,” guitarist Bob Giacometti said. “Little bit of everything.”

The three-piece acoustic band also features Ryan Luko on a cajon drum and the vocals of Shannon Watson. Submerge didn’t originally have the cajon piece in the band, according to Giacometti.

“It makes it fuller, having the cajon in there,” he said.

Submerge originally came as a spinoff of a full-electric band called Shannon and the Merger, which combined two previously separate bands. Submerge has opened for Aquatorium shows in years past.

“It’s fun,” Giacometti said. “You get to meet a lot of people, and you get to play for a lot of people.”