Don at DAR Constitution Hall: DC 11/5/15

[Keith]

It was a strange experience to walk by The White House to see Don in concert. As concert venues go, this one was unusual. It did not seem commercial or consumer driven at all, kind of like entering a theater inside the Lincoln Memorial. Luckily, the solemn atmosphere went away, once inside.

I really enjoyed Shawn Colvin's opening act. Admittedly, I am a sucker for mature females and Martin guitars. Maybe, it would be impossible for me to dislike the two together, but, I insist it was her talent that made for a great performance. Steuart Smith being on stage with her is also a big deal for Eagles fans. They had some fun interactions. She even had to do an amusing clarification after expressing her love for him during band introductions.

After seeing some Eagles shows without an opening act, I was thankful for this one, especially at this show and venue. The seating chart was changed after the tickets went on sale. So, there was a lot of confusion with people finding their seats, which I'm very thankful didn't happen in the middle of "7BR".

Mr. Henley was great. I am a natural critic, but I recognize that I am extremely biased when it comes to this Legend. He was very talkative, and seemed to interact with the crowd more than seems "normal" for him. One lady yelled that she loved him. He laughed and replied how he never knows what to say in that situation. Then he said, "I love you, too. We don't know each other, do we?" This got more laughter from him and the crowd.

The set list was a good mix of old and new. It would probably be too heavy on new material, if the audience wasn't familiar with the new, via a "free" CD. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing "7BR", with vocal participation from the majority of the band, as well as, "It Don't Matter To The Sun", in the same vocal band configuration. The highlight for me was to hear "The Heart Of The Matter" live. Fate was kind to allow me that experience twice. He received a strong standing ovation for that one, and graciously thanked his co-authors.

He closed with "All She Wants To Do Is Dance", which he prefaced with, "Let's dance this out of here."

Such a great experience. I wish Glenn good health, and have high hopes for 2016.:rockon:

[DivineDon]

Great review, Keith - so glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully one day I'll have the pleasure of seeing this LEGEND live too :smile: ... and of course I'm not biased either lol..... I mean my username doesn't give me away does it????? ;-)


...and if he told me he loved me back, I think I'd DIE THERE AND THEN!!!!!!!:heart::heart::heart:

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Thanks for your review Keith. Last week was so hectic that it totally slipped my mind that you were going to this show. Where were you sitting? I didn’t have time to meet before or after the show, but I would have loved to have met you and chatted a bit during the break.

I enjoyed the show as well even though I was a lot later getting there than I planned. It’s a long story and this isn’t all about me so I’ll give the abbreviated version of my trip. My plans to leave work early totally failed so I got off to a much later start than I had hoped. Because of that, when I ran into typical D.C. traffic problems on the way up, I decided to pull off and grab a quick dinner. It was almost 7:30 when I got to the venue. And then, after stopping folks on the street to ask where a parking deck was and three of them told me, I never could find one where they described. In any event, I finally found one about six blocks from the venue that I wasn’t happy about, but, oh well. I parked and made my way to the venue, although I didn’t feel totally safe because the crowd was mostly all inside by then. I got to the box office and got a pretty decent seat – 7th row, 2nd seat from the inner aisle so something was finally going my way. However, I was very disappointed that I missed all of Shawn Colvin's set.

Well, that set up was as abbreviated as I could get, however, I finally took my seat and made it in time for the main event. I agree with Keith, Don was talkative and very engaging. I enjoyed the show although the set list wasn’t exactly my favorite. Honestly, I missed the Eagles songs and thought there were too many covers. But, hey – it was Don so you can’t be too disappointed no matter what he sings. I honestly am pleasantly astonished that he has been able to stay with a 23 – 24 song set list throughout this tour. In all my confusion getting to the venue, I didn’t have any paper to write down the set list, but this looks correct …

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/don-henley/2015/dar-constitution-hall-washington-dc-53f5c345.html

Keith, please correct me if you remember differently. In any event, since this was the only show I get to see on this leg, I am glad I went despite the challenges in getting there. If he tours some more next year, I hope Shawn Colvin is with him again so I can see her set. Rock on, Don! :heart: :rockon: :heart:

[Keith]

Great review, Keith - so glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully one day I'll have the pleasure of seeing this LEGEND live too :smile: ... and of course I'm not biased either lol..... I mean my username doesn't give me away does it????? ;-)


...and if he told me he loved me back, I think I'd DIE THERE AND THEN!!!!!!!:heart::heart::heart:

Thanks, DD. I hope you get the chance to see him live. An Eagles concert would be another reason (a.k.a. excuse) for me to tour your country. Hope springs!

[Keith]

Thanks for your review Keith. Last week was so hectic that it totally slipped my mind that you were going to this show. Where were you sitting? I didn’t have time to meet before or after the show, but I would have loved to have met you and chatted a bit during the break.

I enjoyed the show as well even though I was a lot later getting there than I planned. It’s a long story and this isn’t all about me so I’ll give the abbreviated version of my trip. My plans to leave work early totally failed so I got off to a much later start than I had hoped. Because of that, when I ran into typical D.C. traffic problems on the way up, I decided to pull off and grab a quick dinner. It was almost 7:30 when I got to the venue. And then, after stopping folks on the street to ask where a parking deck was and three of them told me, I never could find one where they described. In any event, I finally found one about six blocks from the venue that I wasn’t happy about, but, oh well. I parked and made my way to the venue, although I didn’t feel totally safe because the crowd was mostly all inside by then. I got to the box office and got a pretty decent seat – 7th row, 2nd seat from the inner aisle so something was finally going my way. However, I was very disappointed that I missed all of Shawn Colvin's set.

Well, that set up was as abbreviated as I could get, however, I finally took my seat and made it in time for the main event. I agree with Keith, Don was talkative and very engaging. I enjoyed the show although the set list wasn’t exactly my favorite. Honestly, I missed the Eagles songs and thought there were too many covers. But, hey – it was Don so you can’t be too disappointed no matter what he sings. I honestly am pleasantly astonished that he has been able to stay with a 23 – 24 song set list throughout this tour. In all my confusion getting to the venue, I didn’t have any paper to write down the set list, but this looks correct …

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/don-henley/2015/dar-constitution-hall-washington-dc-53f5c345.html

Keith, please correct me if you remember differently. In any event, since this was the only show I get to see on this leg, I am glad I went despite the challenges in getting there. If he tours some more next year, I hope Shawn Colvin is with him again so I can see her set. Rock on, Don! :heart: :rockon: :heart:

Sorry I missed you, Dreamer. Great last-minute seat you got there. We were on the third row, on the aisle, to the far right (a.k.a. Joe's side). I think that set-list is correct. The only thing I would have definitely changed would be to exchange "Let's Burn Down The Cornfield" for one of his hits, such as "Not Enough Love In The World". But, as you implied, I gladly took what I got.

[sodascouts]

Thanks for the reviews, Keith and Dreamer!

Dreamer - sorry you missed Shawn and had so much stress, but what a great seat!

[sodascouts]

I just noticed that "Shangri-La" has replaced "Where I Am Now." What the freak??? That's one of my bottom five Henley songs EVER, and "Where I Am Now" is thematically appropriate as the closer before the encore.

If he has to drop "Where I Am Now", OK, but he's replacing it with one of the worst songs in his catalogue! "Where I Am Now" is hardly my favorite Henley song but it's worth 100 of "Shangri-La."

ETA: I realize he must think it's a great song or he wouldn't have recorded it, and my low opinion of the song might not be shared by others... it's just that there are probably only a half dozen or so Henley songs that I actively dislike and that's one of them. Oh well. Glad he didn't do it at my shows.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I'm sorry I missed you as well, Keith. I would have loved to meet you, but maybe we'll get another chance at another show.

Anyway, I have to agree with you about Let's Burn Down the Cornfield - I can think of numerous other songs from Don's solo catalog that I would have preferred, and like Soda, Shangri-La isn't one of them. That is one of my least favorite of his solo material as well. Just for starters, Talking to the Moon or Long Way Home would fit in beautifully in this show. I was also disappointed that he dropped Where I Am Now - that is one of my favorites off of Cass County.

[Keith]

The addition of "Shangri-La" was possibly a step towards offering a variety of styles. He introduced it as "a funk song that he snuck onto The End Of The Innocence." But, like you two, there are many others that I would have preferred.

[Brooke]

Dreamer, glad you made it to the show and got such a great seat! :cool:

Love Don's chatter. Must agree about Shangri-la. Why, Don? And I hate to hear about him dropping CC songs. Sounds familiar. (like the LROOE songs on that tour)

[Freypower]

I just noticed that "Shangri-La" has replaced "Where I Am Now." What the freak??? That's one of my bottom five Henley songs EVER, and "Where I Am Now" is thematically appropriate as the closer before the encore.

If he has to drop "Where I Am Now", OK, but he's replacing it with one of the worst songs in his catalogue! "Where I Am Now" is hardly my favorite Henley song but it's worth 100 of "Shangri-La."

ETA: I realize he must think it's a great song or he wouldn't have recorded it, and my low opinion of the song might not be shared by others... it's just that there are probably only a half dozen or so Henley songs that I actively dislike and that's one of them. Oh well. Glad he didn't do it at my shows.

I share your opinion of Shangri-La, Soda. It's my least favourite Henley song along with The Genie. Where I Am Now is one of the few CC songs which actually seems to be about him.

[Funk 50]

Shangri-La is, pretty much a nonentity on the End Of The Innocence LP/CD but I thought it was great live. All those vocalists should make it into something special.

How Bad Do You Want It sneaking into the set list is more of a surprise to me.

Good on Don, for mixing the set list up, playing unheralded album tracks, playing 2 hours plus and dealing with unwelcome hecklers.

I just hope the Don Felder supporters club don't band together to cause major disruption at future Henley concerts.