Few can boast about a career resume like the one Don Henley has, from his initial work with Linda Ronstadt to forming one of the biggest bands ever assembled in The Eagles with late partner Glen Frey. When The Eagles broke up in 1980, Henley continued on as a solo artist creating masterpieces “Building the Perfect Beast” and “The End of the Innocence.” Fast forward to the end of The Eagles summer tour in 2015, Henley geared up for his first country release later in September of that year. The release was called “Cass County” and it was his first release of any kind since “Inside Job” in 2000. Henley made his first appearance in Canandaigua in 25 years to a crowd who enjoyed a true career retrospect on one of the most storied careers ever.
It was a night of Don Henley and there were no openers. Henley and his 9 piece backing band took the stage at 7:30 pm sharp to sing the opening of “Seven Bridges.” It was a taste of things to come musically for Henley as his vocals still remain crisp and spot on as ever. Dressed very sharp with a dress shirt with a vest, Henley not only sounded great but also looked great too.
As I stated earlier, the setlist was a dream for not only a fan of Henley’s career but any fan of music in general. Besides playing hits like “Sunset Grill,” “Heart of the Matter” an “Boys of Summer,” Henley is touring in support of his latest effort and made sure the set included songs off of “Cass County.” In fact he incorporated 6 of them. How you can tell new songs from an album fare well with fans is the amount of attention they are given. I believe the fans appreciated the songs as much as the staples. He had 3 backup singers and invited each one up to co-sing leads on “That Old Flame,” “Words Can Break Your Heart,” and “When I Stop Dreaming.”
He paid homage to his longtime bandmate in Frey as he dedicated “Desperado” to his memory. Henley didn’t play the drums at all but went back and forth between playing a guitar and singing a capella all night.
Now let’s talk about Henley’s interactions with the crowd. You can say they were less than desirable. One of the wealthiest drummers on the planet made sure he had to tell the crowd not to videotape during the performance. This was right after the opening number. He then proceeded to talk about the lawyers in a Beverly Hills office who search YouTube all day looking these things. He also talked about how he could have made more money touring if he had “went solo but it’s not about that, it’s about having fun right?” Both statements should have been left out as they were unnecessary. He did have an issue with talkers during the show and told them to shut the fu*k up at one point as well. This was justified but could have been handled in a classier way.
For future reference maybe Henley should leave any communication with the audience to another or just not say anything at all.
Setlist:
Seven Bridges Road (Steve Young cover)
Dirty Laundry
That Old Flame
Sunset Grill
Witchy Woman (The Eagles song)
Words Can Break Your Heart
One of These Nights (The Eagles song)
When I Stop Dreaming
New York Minute
Shangri-La
Bramble Rose (Tift Merritt cover)
It Don’t Matter to the Sun (Garth Brooks cover)
I Don’t Want to Hear Anymore (The Eagles song)
The End of the Innocence
The Last Resort (The Eagles song)
Train in the Distance
The Heart of the Matter
How Bad Do You Want It? (The Eagles song)
Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears cover)
The Boys of Summer
Encore:
Life in the Fast Lane (The Eagles song)
Hotel California (The Eagles song)
We would like to thank Lynn Freida of C Brands for her assistance in obtaining the credentials to review the show.
